CJTF-HOA works to prevent, combat sexual violence in East Africa

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Regional Training Facility hosted training on addressing sexual violence within the military justice system recently in Kampala, Uganda.

According to the ICGLR, the Great Lakes Region in Africa has a history where sexual violence against women and children has been used as a weapon of war. In an effort to combat these crimes, approximately 25 members of the military justice system, which included prosecutors, police units, judicial officers, social workers and medical officers, learned about how to address sexual violence, in order to strengthen the capacity of military justice systems to investigate and prosecute cases of sexual violence and related offences.

“The training made military officers aware of the elements of sexual violence and provided standards on how such crimes should be handled when they occur,” said Uganda People’s Defence Force Col. Godard Busingye, Legal Services deputy chief. “Overall, the training improved the capacity of the military to handle sexual violence crimes in their jurisdictions. My country's record in handling sexual violence crimes will improve, because occurrence of such crimes will, where possible, be nipped in the bud, and where they have occurred, be handled expeditiously and in a more transparent manner.”