IFSW Human Rights Commission welcomes the G8 Foreign Minister meeting in London this week and there statement on the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict. We urge Ministers to put their words into action and not only to hear from victims the trauma that will live with them through the rest of their lives. This includes severe mental health issues, difficulties in social inclusion, fed by their feelings of worthlessness brought on by the abuse of power and control through these heinous intrusive crimes and difficulty in subsequent relationships that are formed through trust and respect. The basis for making these relationships has been stolen from them. The impact for the wider community trying to find roads to recovery is a section of the population already in a highly vulnerable state. The after effects of these events will affect communities for generations.
Not only do the Ministers need to hear the journeys of the victims but they need to understand how people come to commit these crimes. The motivation for people lies in the abuse of power and control often in these circumstances fuelled by their own oppression and low self-esteem. These issues are equally important in the Prevention of Sexual Violence that the Ministers will debate.
Knowledge within the social work profession throughout the world who work with people on a daily basis recovering from these heinous crimes is available to governments and civil society and IFSW offers its resources to help combat this fundamental abuse of human rights.