UN Human Rights Council 47: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
The UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered this statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Madam President,
I would like to thank the Special Rapporteur Dubravka Šimonovic for her work on this agenda. Rape and other forms of gender-based violence, have no place in our society. We support the recommendations made by Ms Šimonovic, in particular the importance of lack of consent as the basis of the definition of rape.
This year, the UK will publish new and ambitious Violence against Women and Girls and Domestic Abuse Strategies, which will target perpetrators, and put victims and survivors at the heart of our approach. New laws enacted in the UK will also go further, incorporating emotional and economic abuse into the definition of domestic abuse, and recognising the impact of abuse on children.
Internationally, we will support the scaling up of proven approaches to prevent violence, and pioneer new solutions in areas where evidence has previously been lacking, such as in conflict settings and for marginalised groups.
Through our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, we will work to increase the prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence and support survivors, including children born of sexual violence in conflict.
Special Rapporteur,
How can the international architecture around conflict-related gender-based violence be strengthened?
Thank you.