ULAG at the 4th Congress of the International Mukwege Chair ‘Sexual Violence Children at War’
Iryna Kapalkina took part in the 4th Congress of the Mukwege International Chair ‘Sexual Violence Children at War’, which took place on 5-7 June 2024 in Angers (France)
On 5-7 June 2024, the 4th International Congress of the Mukwege Chair was held at the University of Angers (Angers, France), dedicated to the topic: ‘Sexual Violence and Childhood in Time of War.
The Congress brought together speakers from all over the world. Ukraine was represented by Iryna Kapalkina, a lawyer/attorney at ULAG.
The purpose of the Congress is to promote interdisciplinary research on combating rape and sexual violence against women and children during war, to identify the difficulties faced by lawyers (attorneys), investigators, judges in the justice and response to CRSVAW crimes against women and children during war, both at the national and international levels, to prevent crimes against children and women and to provide holistic care to survivors of sexual violence.
The Global Survivors Fund (GSF), with the support of the Mukwege Foundation (Chair) and the International Organization for Migration, has already launched a pilot project in Ukraine to provide interim reparations and holistic care to 500 survivors of CRSV. This is a unique event, when interim reparations are paid during an armed conflict (war), not after it ends.
The three days of the Congress were full of interesting and useful presentations by the participants and touched upon such important and problematic issues as the rights of children affected by CRSV or born as a result of rape to remedy and reparation - to receive reparations in material, symbolic, individual and collective forms; forced marriage, transitional justice; challenges of sexual and gender-based violence against children (on the example of armed conflicts in Colombia and Cameroon); problems of access to justice for child victims of sexual violence in France; the place of children in transitional justice mechanisms; holistic reparations and intergenerational harm; psychological assistance; documentation of crimes and forensic evidence, etc.
The topics covered at the Congress are important and relevant for Ukraine as never before, and therefore the experience of other countries currently experiencing armed conflicts and having gone through the difficult path of war (conflict) should help build justice in Ukraine, protect survivors of CRSV and prevent the commission of such crimes.
We are grateful to ANR VSEG, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, the Embassy of France in Ukraine (French Institute in Ukraine) for their support and assistance in organising the trip and providing an opportunity for our representative to speak at the Congress.