EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said the European Union and all its parts would continue to actively participate in the fight against sexual violence in war.
Addressing the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ashton said that “ending the silence on this issue is the first step towards stopping it.”
“It is about our willingness to take more steps, to protect those who are at risk, to assist those who have been targeted and to end the impunity of those who commit these crimes,” Ashton said.
“We know that these terrible crimes feed on areas of instability. We have seen the escalation of sexual violence in Sudan, in Mali, in Colombia, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Libya to name just a few examples. And we know that only by acting together can we stop it,” she added.
“From the European Union, so many nations of the EU represented here today, we have been working with individual countries, with the United Nations, with the African Union and with other organisations to bring about change,” Ashton said.
The EU and Member States support systematic inclusion of the prevention of sexual violence in every UN mandate as well as fund activities to support victims and to prevent further crimes at national, regional and international level, the High Representative said.
“So I say to all of you: the European Union, its Member States, its Institutions, is and will remain a strong partner in the fight against sexual violence in conflict,” Ashton said.
The full Ashton remarks are available here:
http://www.eeas.europa.eu/statements/docs/2014/140612_04_en.pdf
