UK to launch anti-rape scheme in war zones

An initiative aimed at tackling sexual violence in war zones across the world was set to be launched by the British government Tuesday, it was announced. A team of UK experts will be trained to deploy at short notice to gather evidence in conflict-hit areas, the government said. It is hoped the scheme will mean more perpetrators of sexual violence can be pursued in international courts. Rape is often used as a tactic of war against men, women and children in conflicts across the globe. The team of experts will be selected from professions including the police, psychologists, doctors, lawyers, and forensic experts. Apart from gathering evidence, they will mentor international organisations fighting sexual violence, and help to draft effective legislation. An audience of public figures and human rights campaigners will witness the launch of the scheme at an event hosted by the UK Foreign Office in central London. The actress Angelina Jolie, a special envoy for the United Nations, is expected to give her support to the launch before a screening of her new film, "In the Land Of Blood and Honey" - a love story set in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Sexual violence was frequently used as a weapon of war, but conviction rates were still too low. Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo will be the project's biggest concern. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague was also using the launch of the initiative to speak about "horrifying reports now starting to emerge" of rape in Syria, the Foreign Office said. In the run-up to the scheme's launch, Hague said in a statement: "Sexual violence is a problem found in every society in the world, and all countries have to do more to tackle it at home. "But it is in the context of war and conflict that sexual violence is found to the most appalling degree, and on a scale most of us cannot imagine." Last November, Margot Wallstrom, special representative of the United Nations secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, revealed that although up to 50,000 women had been raped during the Balkans conflict, there had been only 30 convictions. Around 200,000 women of all ages were raped during the war in Congo, which ended in 2003. In 2010 alone, 8,000 women and girls were raped due to continuing violence in the country. The British government said it would use the UK presidency of the G8 in 2013 to promote a global approach to tackling sexual violence in war-torn countries and bringing perpetrators to the courts.