(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
It is a part of war that has far-reaching consequences.
Rape in war affects many people, especially women, with the damage sometimes extending for generations.
And, now, it is the focus of a summit taking place in London, the first of its kind, to look specifically at the issue of sexual violence in war.
Peggy Giakoumelos reports.
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"We must send a message around the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence, that the shame is on the aggressor. We must work together in new and unprecedented ways across borders and religions, bringing governments and people together and tackling the problem from every possible angle. And by doing this, we can end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war once and for all. We really can do it."
That was the message of hope for survivors of sexual violence from United States movie star and United Nations special envoy Angelina Jolie.
She was addressing the opening of an international conference in London addressing sexual violence in war.
Representatives from 140 countries are attending the conference, including Australia, represented by its ambassador for women and girls, Natasha Stott Despoja.
Ms Jolie has told the summit that action must be taken to change the view that sexual violence is an inevitable part of war.
"There is nothing inevitable about it. It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians. It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power. It is done to torture and humiliate innocent people, and, often, very young children. I have met survivors from Afghanistan to Somalia, and they are just like us -- with one crucial difference. We live in safe countries, with doctors we can go to when we're hurt, police we can turn to when we're wronged and institutions that protect us. They live in refugee camps, or bombed-out streets, in areas where there is no law, no protection and not even a hope of justice."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has also attended the conference.
He used it to announce the establishment of a fund to address the issue, and he is urging other countries to do the same.
"We want countries to commit new funds for tackling sexual violence in conflict-affected countries, like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to do more to protect women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, and to increase their support for human rights defenders who campaign for justice and help for survivors. And I'm pleased to announce this morning that the United Kingdom will pledge a further 6 million pounds to support survivors of sexual violence in conflict, a further 6 million pounds to help them rebuild their lives and rebuild communities."
One of the aims of the conference is to increase and improve the documentation of rape in warzones to allow more prosecutions.
Jacky Sutton is a spokeswoman for UN Women Australia.
She says the prosecution of war crimes relating to sexual violence has only happened since the conflict in the Balkans in the early 1990s.
"It wasn't until 1992 in Yugoslavia that the issue of rape used as a weapon of war came to the attention of the Security Council. And since then, obviously and sadly, there have been many instances of conflict, and rape has still been used as a weapon of war. And I think, recently, the high-profile kidnapping of girls in Nigeria has really come to the attention of the international community. And the fact that this is the first international conference of its nature that's specifically addressing the issue of sexual violence in conflict means that, really, the world has decided enough is enough."
The group Human Rights Watch says there is an emerging body of research and documentation showing men are also targeted.
Research by Human Rights Watch shows, in Libya and Syria, sexualised torture is commonly used against men in detention.
But the reality remains that sexual violence is a problem primarily inflicted by men on women, resulting in issues such as forced pregnancy, prostitution and physical and psychological trauma.
Eman Sharobeem is director of the Immigrant Women's Health Service in south-west Sydney.
The service helps immigrant women, many of whom have escaped from conflict zones.
She says, in many cases, women who have been raped go into survival mode and it is not until they are in a safe place that the trauma is re-experienced.
"Women, after the assault itself, they don't focus on themselves as the victim in the situation, but they focus on the family to save the family from where they are. But as soon as they settle in Australia, or in a place where they recognise where they are, and they recognise that the safety around them, they start to revisit what happened to them. And the revisitation itself, it brings trauma back to life. It brings the whole drama of what happened, and the history of the evidence, or the actual issue of what happened, it comes back to life."
Eman Sharobeem says, even in the relative anonymity of a safe place like Australia, the long-term effects can linger.
"Some of these women have children out of the sexual assault or rape, and, also, that's a complication on these women and their lives where it effects their community presence and their honour in the community."
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