Landmark Declaration to End Sexual Violence in Conflict

TRIAL welcomes the landmark declaration to end sexual violence in conflict endorsed yesterday by 113 states on the margins of the UN General Assembly

The Declaration recognizes that rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict represent grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. It stresses that sexual violence must be excluded from amnesty provisions and that better support to victims needs to be provided.

The 113 governments pledge to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable and to provide funding to fight against this plague is a major political milestone in the struggle to end impunity for war-time rape.

TRIAL is calling on the signing states to fully implement the Declaration and to remove all obstacles to the investigation and prosecution of international crimes, including sexual violence, in their national laws.