Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Concern is mounting that British aid money may be funding police who are using rape as a tool of state-sanctioned torture against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The claims emerged during last week's Ending sexual violence in conflict summit in London hosted by the UK foreign secretary, William Hague, and Angelina Jolie.

The wages of war, and of natural disasters, are obvious. We see pictures, and hear stories, of battlefield injuries, people swept away by floods, and the loss of property, homes, and lives.

However, time and time again, in periods of conflict and disaster, the most unspeakable cruelties are inflicted on the bodies of women and children. Violence against women is an ongoing cycle and threat which must be eliminated.

RWANDA, EASTERN AFRICA: To curb continuing cases of rape violence in Rwanda's refugee camps, the government of Rwanda along with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is now establishing what has been termed the new ‘one-stop' centers that will bring both police security and health care staff together in one place together to work in the prevention of and medical response to sexual violence.

Sri Lanka says the country has taken concrete steps to address the issue of violence against women, in line with its zero tolerance policy on gender based violence.

A decree issued Wednesday in Libya would recognize rape committed during that country's revolution as a war crime and pay rape survivors reparations, according to two sources who have worked closely with the Libyan government in developing the policy.

The Global Summit To End Sexual Violence in Conflict is underway in London. It is an extraordinary manifestation of UK soft power, the influence of global social movements, celebrity diplomacy and digital activism.

MANILA – “We are ready to share our experiences in the hopes of inspiring similar stories of success for our sisters—our peers—involved in peace tables around the world,” said Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles as she expressed her sentiment during a brief address in the recent cocktail reception co-organized by the embassies in the Philippines of the United Kingdom of Great Britain a

Emily was bitten, beaten and raped just a few hundred metres from the UN camp in South Sudan's capital, Juba.

Tomping camp is Emily's home - a vast, squalid sanctuary where thousands of South Sudanese now live cheek by jowl after a political fallout triggered a major military rebellion.

It has split the army in two and seen civilians targeted along ethnic lines.

There is only so much sexual violence against women I can watch before the knot in my gut and roar in my throat forces action. On this occasion I stood up and walked out. But UK Foreign Secretary William Hague didn't - apparently. And just as well.

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting women at Sunday's celebrations for the inauguration of Egypt's new president.

The arrests come amid growing outrage over a graphic video that appears to show a woman being stripped naked and attacked in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

It is not clear when it was filmed, but witnesses told the BBC similar assaults had taken place there on Sunday night.