‘War and conflict is not something that is not familiar to me. It is not an essay title, it is not a theoretical exercise. It's very real.’ 

Campaigner Baroness Helic is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner as she warns that society has become numb to sexual violence in war. 

Arminka Helic, Baroness Helic, campaigns to raise global awareness of rape as a war crime. Here she shares her extraordinary journey from fleeing the Bosnian war as a refugee to becoming special adviser to the then Foreign Secretary William Hague (now Lord Hague of Richmond) via a researcher job in the House of Commons library.  

‘It’s a weapon that is part of ethnic cleansing and genocide… Survivors are stigmatised. Perpetrators are not. That’s what we have to flip. Some of the victims are as young as two months old. And the world does nothing. We have become globally desensitised.’ 

While working for Lord Hague, she persuaded him to join forces with Angelina Jolie to highlight the proliferation of warzone sexual violence. The Hollywood actor and then UNHCR Special Envoy and actor had written, produced and directed a harrowing 2011 film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, which underscored the pervasive nature of sexual violence in war.   

Following this, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) was created, which has continued across multiple governments and is now supported by Labour minister and special envoy Lord Collins of Highbury.  

‘I heard reports of some of my friends from school being detained in what became known as rape camps. We need to understand that war is not just about armies - it’s about lives torn apart. Peace agreements don’t end trauma.’ 

In this episode, Baroness Helic warns that rising global conflict, weakened international institutions, and public desensitisation have dulled reactions to atrocities that once would have mobilised urgent action. She also discusses Israel/Gaza, and raises concerns about Russian influence in the Balkans, describing the region as a potential ‘second front’ of destabilisation through proxy actors.  

See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/  

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