UK seeks Church support in eliminating rape as weapon of war

25 Sept. 2013 : The United Kingdom is seeking Church support in eliminating rape as a weapon of war. British Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday launched a high level declaration on the need to work towards eliminating sexual violence in conflict.
The ambitious declaration, launched on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, follows on from the G8 declaration in April this year and subsequent words of support from Pope Francis in a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron. Writing in the L’Osservatore Romano supplement entitled ‘Women, Church, World’, William Hague said “the Catholic Church has an influential voice” and can help challenge the culture of impunity and silence that surrounds this horrendous crime. One of the things we've been looking to achieve before the launch of this declaration is - support from as many countries as we can possibly get for the aims of this initiative. This isn't about creating a legally binding document, but it is about countries committing themselves to very practical action to tackle sexual violence in conflict and war zones.