Written question asked by Baroness Helic (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 April 2018, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 May 2018. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 May 2018 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is their policy to include sexual violence in the designation criteria for UN sanctions, as recommended in the report of the UN Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence published on 23 March; and what representations ministers will make to the UN Security Council in this regard.

Answer: The UK has pushed for strong language on sexual and gender based violence in recent UN resolutions. Where appropriate, we will seek to include sexual and gender based violence in sanctions designation criteria more widely. The designation criteria for sanctions regimes are specific to each circumstance and situation. Where there is widespread and/or systematic cases of sexual and gender based violence, sanctions designation criterion can be used to address its perpetrators. Examples of such are found in UN sanctions regimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Preventing sexual violence, plays a critical part in achieving peace, stability and security in any country and it is vital that we continue explore the use of sanctions to achieve this goal. Ministers will continue to engage with the UN Security Council on this issue and will make efforts to ensure that it remains a high priority.

Secondary information