Trafficking Terror and Sexual Violence : Accountability for Human Trafficking and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence by Terrorist Groups under the Rome Statute

Title: 
Trafficking Terror and Sexual Violence : Accountability for Human Trafficking and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence by Terrorist Groups under the Rome Statute
Journal Citation: 
52(1) VANDERBILT JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW, 43-74 (2019)

In May 2018, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the United Nations Security Council that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) was investigating human trafficking crimes by terrorist groups in Libya. This article emphasizes that further international legal action must acknowledge the link between terrorism, human trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in order for offenders to be held accountable for the full extent of the wrongdoing. In the first section of the article, the authors explain the normative and practical ways in which human trafficking and SGBV against trafficked persons are linked as instruments of terrorism. In the second section, the authors analyze the Rome Statute provisions that relate to human trafficking, SGBV, and terrorism. The authors also explore how these interconnected crimes may be characterized as genocide under the Rome Statute. In the third section, the authors recognize the obstacles faced by the OTP in investigating and prosecuting these crimes. In the final section, the authors describe the importance of prosecuting these crimes under international criminal law.