Waging War on Sexual Violence in Conflict: Interview with Baroness Joyce Anelay

Wartime rape, whether committed wantonly or used systematically as a cynical weapon, is a serious breach of international law that brings lifelong devastation to its victims. Baroness Joyce Anelay, British Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, leads the United Kingdom’s Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). Visiting the OSCE in Vienna in July, she presented it to the Permanent Council, the Forum for Security Co-operation and at a conference on ending violence against women. 

The United Kingdom set a milestone in the fight to end sexual violence in conflict when it hosted a global summit in London in 2014, which resulted in the adoption of the International Protocol on Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Why was that important?

The Protocol is important because it gives a practical guide to NGOs, civil society and governments about how to collect information about the crimes that have been committed. We collect that information in a way that is sensitive in the treatment of those who are victims but also robust enough to make sure we have the evidence in storage that will be needed many years later when a trial goes to court. For example, in Syria it may be a long while before those who have suffered so badly at the hands of Daesh find that there can be an end to impunity.  But I want them to be confident that there is a system which can help them. So what we’ve done is provide this guide, which can be used around the world. It has been translated into ten languages, including Kurdish, Arabic, Albanian, Lingala, and Swahili.

The Protocol has been effective in the Western Balkans, for instance, in the areas that suffered so badly during the conflict 20 years ago. It was used to collect the evidence which has made it possible, first of all, to persuade governments to change their law, so that perpetrators can be called to account. Secondly, it has given NGOs guidelines about how to collect information and how to assist the victims as they go through the legal process – if that is what they want. Often, victims say to me, “it’s not a matter of money or compensation or seeing the person who did this to me going to jail for a long time. What I want is to be believed.” It’s that dignity, I think, we can give them.

Also, I hope the Protocol gives some reassurance to victims that they can tell the story once and then that’s it. Often in the legal systems around the world, victims of sexual violence find themselves put in an appalling situation where they have to repeat the same story again and again and they say: “I feel as I’m reliving the trauma again every day of my life.” We mustn’t let that happen.

How can the international community help victims to overcome the personal stigma of wartime rape? 

We have worked over the last two years to address the issue of stigma, but this year we decided to concentrate on it very strongly. I remember very well last year when I was talking to some ladies in Kosovo, and one of them said to me: “I was a victim of sexual violence, of multiple rapes. Now my life has improved.” And the words she then used shocked me.  She said, “my family has forgiven me.” For me that meant that she still saw herself as the guilty person, which she had never been.

It’s important to work with communities, so that we can help them to see that the victims, whether they are men, boys, women or girls, are not implicit in the appalling violence. We need to work to ensure that they can see themselves as part of the community again. I visited northern Nigeria and spoke with those who are campaigning for the Chibok girls to return. Thinking about the women that have returned from the clutches of Boko Haram and the stigma they faced has made me more determined than ever that we should work with the communities around the world to remove that stigma.

The best way to combat sexual violence in conflict is, of course, to prevent it from happening in the first place. What steps should be taken in this regard and what can the military do?

First of all, there is long-term work to be done in communities about the perception of women as such. It’s a gender issue, a case of making sure that a woman is not seen as being the property of a man or a group, that she is a fully functional member of the community in her own right. That is a long term project.

In the short term, we can carry out training of those who are in the military forces and the police. We can train first responders to be sensitive to the kind of trauma victims have faced and to ensure they find the assistance they need. This also includes providing training to those who are in the international humanitarian relief field. I’ve had good conversations with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent about these very matters. In the United Kingdom we have a really strong PSVI champion in our Ministry of Defence, General Gordon Messenger. By the end of this year, any British forces that are deployed overseas will have received PSVI related gender training. We have already provided this kind of training to more than 700 Peshmerga in northern Iraq and thousands in Africa, with the assistance of the African Union.

This is an area where the United Nations should play an even greater role. We are all shocked by the allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse that have been leveled against members of the peacekeeping forces. I’m very determined that the United Kingdom should be able to work on this with the United Nations, to make sure that these cases are dealt with and that there is zero tolerance, as Ban Ki-moon says.

What role do you see for the OSCE in preventing sexual violence in conflict?

The OSCE has a niche role to play. It’s a regional organization with a strong voice. It can use it more strongly, on behalf of the role of women in society and the work of preventing sexual violence in conflict. After all, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security clearly states that it covers regional organizations, including the OSCE.

I am very much encouraged by the interventions made both yesterday and today and commitments by the participating States about the role the OSCE can play in a practical way, not only in discussing the theory of what should be done, but practical steps of what the OSCE can do. It has a great reputation in its monitoring missions. I think it can demonstrate even more than it does now its commitment to ensuring that there’s genuine equality across the board and respect for all, no matter what their sexual orientation, no matter what their gender, no matter what their faith and no matter what their nationality or race.