EU Project Pravo-Justice Supported the participation of the Office of the Prosecutor General in the International Conference on the Prevention of Conflict-related Sexual Violence

The EU Project Pravo-Justice facilitate the participation of a representative of the Office of the Prosecutor General in the International Conference on Combating Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, organized by the British government, which took place in London on November 28-29.

Iryna Didenko, Head of Division, Procedural Guidance of Pretrial Investigations and Support of Public Prosecutions in Criminal Proceedings on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, was the one to join the forum.

The key topics of the Conference included strengthening response to crimes; prevention of crimes; justice and prosecution; and support for victims of conflict-related sexual violence and children born as a result of such violence.

Ukraine’s participation in that international conversation through its representative allowed familiarizing with international best practices and standards of criminal prosecution of war crimes, while also sharing the experience of investigating sexual crimes committed by the Russian military.

“The civilized world should know what the Russian military brought to the Ukrainian land – killings of civilians, abuse, torture, and rape, for the sole reason – being a Ukrainian. What is it other than the genocide of an entire nation,” concluded Iryna Didenko.

The EU Project Pravo-Justice closely cooperates with the Office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine in the context of restoring justice and prosecuting all those involved in war crimes. In particular, joint work has been established with the newly created Division for investigation and prosecution in cases related to sexual violence.

In addition to strengthening institutional capacity, together with international partners, in particular Pravo-Justice, and public organizations, the Office of the General Prosecutor has developed new approaches to the investigation of war crimes, focused on the protection of victims and witnesses.

Thus, on November 25, 2022, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin made amendments to the Prosecutor’s Office Development Strategy for 2021–2023, which cemented these new approaches. In particular, the principles of the Murad Code: “do not harm” principle, respect for individual autonomy, informed consent principle, and confidentiality principle.

On November 25, the annual campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” began. This year, the context of the campaign has significantly expanded for Ukraine. In addition to gender-based violence, there is the unprecedented threat of sexual violence which Russia uses as a weapon in its brutal war.

Besides, the EU Project Pravo-Justice actively supports the motivational campaign of the Office of the Prosecutor General #YourStoryYourWeapon, aimed at encouraging victims of sexual violence and those who know about such crimes to report them to law enforcement bodies.