OTTAWA –
International Development Minister Harjit Sajan said he had told Canadian officials in Ukraine and neighboring countries to ensure that women sexually abused by Russian soldiers receive the necessary assistance – including access to abortions if they wish.
He said pregnant victims of sexual violence who had fled Ukraine, where abortions are legal, in Poland, which banned abortions last year in most cases, could be helped to travel elsewhere in Europe.
“We are very attentive to some of the laws in other European countries, especially in Poland, so the department is currently working through our partners and figuring out how we can support these women,” Sajan told The Canadian Press.
“We will make sure that if necessary, we will even take them to another country where they can really get support.
Sajan said Canada would respect the laws of other countries, but noted that “our people on the ground” are finding ways to “respectfully support women.”
Sajan said Ukrainian women could potentially even come to Canada to receive care and be quickly followed through the immigration system if necessary.
He said Canadian officials work with local organizations that have networks to support women who may have been victims of sexual violence.
Canada, meanwhile, has sent rape kits to Ukraine to help police gather evidence against Russian troops allegedly sexually abusing women and girls as part of broader measures to tackle the violence. based on gender, caused by the ongoing war.
Sajan said the war-torn country had asked for the kits. They are used to conduct forensic examinations of victims of sexual violence and gather evidence that helps build a case against suspected perpetrators.
Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie also confirmed that 10 RCMP officers who are helping to gather evidence of war crimes from Russian troops will investigate sexual violence against Ukrainians.
Canada announced last week that it was allocating an additional $ 1 million to help the international community investigate alleged sexual crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Jolie said Canada would provide additional funding to the International Criminal Court to help it investigate sexual violence against women, as well as alleged crimes against children.
Adrian Blanchard, a spokesman for Joly, said Canada also supported UN Human Rights Council investigations into sexual violence in Ukraine.
“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to justice,” he said.
At a meeting in Ottawa earlier this month with Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde, Jolie discussed the need to treat Russian sexually abused troops as war criminals.
Yulia Kovalev, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, also warned lawmakers earlier this month that Russia was using sexual violence against women and children as a weapon of war.
A group of 35 scholars with experience in international law, genocide and Eastern Europe, chaired by former Attorney General Irwin Kotler, concluded that Russia was involved in inciting genocide.
His legal analysis, published by the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, concluded that Russia had violated the 1948 Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which it is a party along with 151 other countries.
Kotler said the signatories were responsible for preventing such crimes and holding Russia accountable.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 29, 2022.
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