Ahead of next year’s London summit on sexual violence in war zones Save the Children have revealed the uncomfortable truth that the majority of rape victims are children of both genders, in some cases just babies, and in some cases killed after the abuse. As well as soldiers perpetrators have been found to be opportunistic sexual predators, including teachers, religious leaders, peacekeepers and family members. Most offences go unreported, often due to the shame of the victims.

The summit, fronted by Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN special envoy for refugees Angelina Jolie will be attended by representatives from 137 countries and aims to stop the sexual violence common in war-zones being ignored for the sake of a peace treaty, also a reason why prosecutions are so few.

There were very few, if any prosecutions of Russian soldiers entering Berlin at the end of WW2 and subjecting Berlin’s women and children to the sexual violence some saw as their right, and a spoil of war One of the calls from the summit will be for all countries to revise their military doctrines and training.