“Rape and sexual violence against women and girls, babies, men and boys, is used as a part of ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
We are in a new era where human rights have been replaced by trade and big businesses and they have almost entirely depleted our ability to show humanity to people on the other side.
Lucy Hockings speaks to Baroness Arminka Helic, Member of the House of Lords and campaigner for refugees and victims of war.
A former Bosnian refugee, she saw first hand the legacy of conflict-related sexual violence and the importance of ending impunity for rape and assault committed as a weapon of war. She tells of her warm welcome to the UK in 1992 and wants us always to remember the human beings behind the refugee statistics.
Baroness Helic talks about the progress in raising awareness of the crimes and her own work in launching the ‘Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative’ in 2012. She says that it’s really hard for victims to speak out because of the stigma around rape but when they do, their voices need to be heard and the crimes documented.
She also speaks about the plight of asylum seekers and the use of starvation in conflict zones like Gaza and Sudan. A Conservative peer, she’s keen to take the politics out of immigration and remember our humanity.
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Lucy Hockings
Producers: Clare Williamson, Farhana Haider
Editor: Justine Lang
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Baroness Arminka Helic. Credit: Roger Harris/House of Lords)
