A London Summit Tackles A Problem As Old As War Itself
For centuries, governments around the world have often treated sexual violence as an unpreventable fact of war. Books from the Bible to the Iliad talk about rape and pillaging as an inevitable part of conflict. Now that attitude is beginning to change.
As evidence, you can look at the global outrage when hundreds of Nigerian girls were recently kidnapped. Or you can look at a conference that began in London on Tuesday. It's the biggest global meeting ever to address the problem of sexual violence in conflict.
"It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict," said conference organizer and actress Angelina Jolie. "It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians."
Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague brought together representatives from more than 100 countries for this conference, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Karen Naimer, who directs the Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones with Physicians for Human Rights, recently saw how the attitudes toward this issue have changed. She was in Congo, at a mobile court that brings justice to remote villages.
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