Early July in The Hague saw the unveiling of an unusual artwork; the first global memorial dedicated to all survivors and victims of sexual violence in war and conflict.

Steph went to the British Embassy in The Hague to attend the ceremony and speak to sculptor Rebecca Hawkins who made the statue called Petrified Survivors.

The artwork was made in cooperation with some 20 groups of sexual violence survivors from over 30 countries. One of the organisations that helped shape the statue was the Mukwege Foundation’s SEMA Network which is a global network of victims and survivors of wartime sexual violence.

Stef also had a chance to ask to Kenyan survivor and advocate Jacqueline Mutere how she felt about the memorial. We briefly touched on justice efforts in Kenya for survivors and Janet shared that there was an update in that case which you can find here.

We’ve spoken about conflict-related sexual violence in many previous episodes including our early pods on Kenya, on Reparations, our primer on Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) and our talk with Alice Edwards on sexual torture. These are but a few episodes on this recurring theme, you can find more here.

Until the end of August you can see Petrified Survivors at the Deutsche Evangelische Gemeinde im Haag in The Hague. After that it will travel to Berlin, where it will be temporarily installed along the Ernst-Friedrich-Promenade in the Brüsseler Kiez neighbourhood until 2027 when it will find its forever home in Wassenaar, just outside The Hague.