OTTAWA-
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said he had told Canadian officials in Ukraine and neighboring countries to make sure women sexually assaulted by Russian troops received the help they needed, including access to abortion if desired.
He said pregnant victims of sexual assault who have fled Ukraine, where abortion is legal, in Poland, which last year banned abortion in most cases, could be helped to travel to other countries. places in Europe.
“We are very aware of some of the laws in other European countries, especially Poland, so right now the department is working with our partners and figuring out how we can support these women,” Sajjan said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“We will make sure that if we do, we will even send them to another country where they can really get support.”
Sajjan said Canada would respect the laws of other countries, but noted that “our people on the ground” are finding ways to “respectfully support women.”
Sajjan said Ukrainian women could even come to Canada to receive care and be accelerated through the immigration system if necessary.
He said Canadian officials were working with local organizations that have networks to support women who may have been victims of sexual violence.
Canada, meanwhile, has sent rape teams to Ukraine to help police gather evidence against Russian troops suspected of sexually assaulting women and girls, as part of broader measures to address gender-based violence. the ongoing war.
Sajjan said the war-torn country ordered the kits. They are used to conduct forensic medical examinations of victims of sexual assault and to gather evidence to help build a case against alleged perpetrators.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has also confirmed that 10 RCMP agents who are helping to gather evidence of war crimes by Russian troops will investigate sexual violence against Ukrainians.
Canada announced last week that it will invest an additional $ 1 million to help the international community investigate alleged sex crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Joly 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.
Adoly Blanchard, a spokesman for Joly, said that Canada also supported the United Nations Human Rights Council’s investigation into sexual violence in Ukraine.
“We need to ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are held accountable,” he said.
At a meeting in Ottawa earlier this month with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, Joly spoke of the need to treat Russian troops who perpetrate sexual violence as war criminals.
Yulia Kovaliv, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, also warned members of parliament earlier this month that Russia is 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 Cotler, has concluded that Russia has been 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, of which it is a party along with 151 other countries. .
Cotler said the nations that have signed the convention have a responsibility to prevent such crimes and hold Russia accountable for its actions.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 29, 2022.