Sophie Countess of Wessex joined the First Lady of Ukraine at a major global conference yesterday to call for an end to the weapon of rape.
Olena Zelenska told the London summit that sexual violence was being perpetrated "systematically and openly" as Vladimir Putin ’s brutal war in Ukraine reaches its ninth month.
Phone recordings have shown Russian soldiers openly discussing rape with their relatives at home, Zelenska said.
The Duchess reflected on her recent visit to Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with gynecologist Denis Mukwege - who was also at the conference on preventing sexual violence in conflict.
The Panzi hospitals treats tens of thousands of war rape survivors. Some girls need their intestines stitched back up after soldiers have torn them apart and others need care following the most brutal gang-rapes, where they have been shot or stabbed in their vaginas.
The Countess was the first Royal Family member to travel to the DRC and said the “incredible surgeons work day and night to support the many, many people that come through the doors.”
She continued: “The level of medical care is really unparalleled, they try everything and anything they can to literally put people back together again.”
She said every single survivor should have the right to access care like that and no one should stand in judgement for what they have been through.
“For those of us that have not experienced the rapes that they have experienced, we must not stand in judgement”, she said.
Following HRH’s remarks, Ms Zelenska noted how difficult it is for victims to testify in war times because nobody feels safe.
She continued: “This is another instrument that they’re using as their weaponry. This is another weapon in their arsenal in this war and conflict. That’s why they’re using this systematically and openly.”
The Countess of Wessex said her visit to the DRC was one of the most amazing visits she had ever done and she hopes to return in the future.
Her closing remarks were met with applause, when she said: “I hope that my description brings some humanity into the room.
"We've been talking at a very high level in the last couple of hours, but we have to remember that the survivors are human.
"They need love. They need respect.”
Another Nobel laureate in attendance, Nadia Murad, who was raped and threatened with violence by the Islamic State, said a much stronger global response needs to happen to eradicate rape from war.
Representatives from around 70 countries, including more than 50 ministers, are attending the conference which continues today.
