Roundtable on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence with WPS Leads in Embassies and High Commissions
On Thursday 19th March 2026, the APPG on Women, Peace and Security, in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada, held a roundtable with leads on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) from Embassies and High Commissions in London. This roundtable was the 6th of its kind held by the APPG on WPS and focused on responses to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
Baroness Hodgson, Co-Chair of the APPG on WPS, opened the meeting, welcoming participants and guest speakers. The purpose of the discussion was to understand how responses to CRSV have shifted in recent years and to bring together policymakers to discuss the best strategies to continue to support effective actions to both respond to and prevent CRSV.
Professor Christine Chinkin, Founding Director of the Centre of Women Peace & Security at LSE, provided an overview of how CRSV has come to be recognised within international legal and political frameworks, including as part of the WPS agenda. Despite progress in recognising CRSV as a tactic and instrument of war within law and policy, including through survivor-informed approaches, CRSV not only continues but is increasingly prevalent. Chinkin emphasised an ongoing need to recognise how militarism and militaristic values can create an environment in which sexual violence in armed conflict becomes acceptable. WPS resolutions have arguably failed to address this link in recent years, but it is more crucial than ever as militarism rises globally.
Simon Collard-Wexler, Minister Counsellor at the Canadian High Commission, also provided remarks. During a moment of great turbulence globally, multilateral institutions are under pressure and global responses to CRSV have weakened. Preventing CRSV is a core element of peace and cannot be viewed as a separate or standalone issue. In the current global context, countries must show collective leadership, strengthening their commitments to tackling CRSV and advancing the WPS agenda more broadly. In Canada, the latest WPS National Action Plan (NAP) was launched in 2024 and has CRSV and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as key areas of focus.
During broader discussion among participants, a representative from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office discussed ongoing work in the UK as part of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) while a representative from the Ministry of Defence shared the work being done by the department to tackle CRSV, including through the UK WPS NAP which is currently being refreshed. Participants also discussed justice and accountability for perpetrators of CRSV. Stigma around CRSV is a central issue that limits access to support for survivors and hinders justice and accountability efforts, and different states have adopted survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches to respond to CRSV and prosecute perpetrators.
The meeting closed with Baroness Hodgson thanking the High Commission of Canada for partnering on the event and thanking their participants for their attendance and contributions.
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact: appg-wps@gaps-uk.org