Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from recent conflicts about the adequacy of existing international legal frameworks for addressing conflict-related sexual violence; and what changes to their policy or international engagement have resulted.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given on 17th September to Questions HL3116-3121 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament). Recent conflicts have demonstrated that the principal challenge is often not the absence of international legal frameworks, but ensuring their effective implementation, including through survivor-centred investigations, documentation and accountability. The Government has therefore strengthened its policy and international engagement in these areas, including through our work with justice providers, and promotion of the Murad Code and the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict.