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An historic international agreement that rape during war is a grave breach of the Geneva Convention was announced in London by William Hague today.

In another landmark move, the G8 group of most powerful nations agreed £23 million of funding to teach the world how to deter and investigate war-time sexual atrocities and bring the generals responsible to justice.

"Our goal must be a world in which it is inconceivable that thousands of women, children and men can be raped in the course of a conflict, because an international framework of deterrence and accountability makes it impossible," Mr Hague told a summit of G8 foreign ministers.

Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood actress and United Nations special envoy, told the gathering that for too long victims of rape had been overlooked. "Hundreds of thousands of women and children have been sexually assaulted, tortured, or forced into sexual slavery in the wars of our generation," she said.

"Time and again the world has failed to prevent this abuse, or to hold attackers accountable."

But she declared: "Today I believe that their voices have been heard, and that we finally have some hope to offer them."

The Foreign Secretary, who has spent a year gathering support for an international crackdown on war-time sexual violence, compared the mission with the abolition of slavery and the moves to eradicate land mines.

"Now that we have put war zone rape on the international agenda, it must never slip off it again and must be given even greater prominence," he said.

"This declaration is a milestone in that effort, and a turning point in our collective history." Today's full agreement includes four major steps towards wiping out a "culture of impunity" shielding the perpetrators of rapes in conflict zones:

Declaring it a breach of the Geneva Convention as well as a war crime gives responsibility to G8 nations to seek out and prosecute perpetrators.

G8 states will back a comprehensive International Protocol on the investigation and documentation of such crimes to help prosecutions.

Amnesties for sexual violence must never again be included in peace treaties, so perpetrators will always be under threat of prosecution.

The G8 will improve training for military and police deployed to war zones, who are often the first to come into contact with survivors of rape.

Mr Hague revealed that Britain will now lead a debate in the United Nations when it holds the presidency from June, to seek a global deal.