Women's Human Rights Resources Database

In this short article, Fionnuala Aolain reflects on how international law interfaces with women’s challenges and experiences during and after conflict. She also explains ways in which feminist theory and practice can inform our response to collective violence to advance women’s rights and acknowledge women’s needs.

The author of this article argues that sexual violence during wartime has historically been omitted from the field of international humanitarian law. This article examines the Rules of Procedure and Evidence that guide the conduct of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and reviews the role of the Rules in the prosecution of sexual offences against women. The author concludes that the Rules can assist and reinforce the expansion of legal responsibility for sexual violence in times of armed conflict by reshaping cultural and legal attitudes towards sexual violence occurring during armed conflict. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International - Europe, International]

This article formed part of the 2002 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium on Crimes against Women under International Law. The article provides an overview of the development of the pursuit of accountability for gender-based crimes. First, the article shows how international law has largely failed to take account of crimes perpetrated against women and girls (Part I). Part II discusses recent efforts to prosecute gender-related crimes before international criminal tribunals, and Part III turns to an assessment of five of the key gender cases prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR). Finally, in Part IV the author discusses how the explosive development of gender-related crimes in international law and their successful prosecution speaks to the emerging recognition of sexual violence as a jus cogens norm. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article discusses the incontrovertible and overwhelming evidence of sexual violence in the majority of armed conflicts today. The article also notes however that women are increasingly playing a role in wartime violence. The author identifies that there is a real need to include women at all levels of peace-making and peace-building if a lasting peace and climate of reconciliation is to be achieved. In order to highlight this point, the author discusses Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) that aims to increase women's participation in and access to conflict resolution and to establish remedial measures for those victimized by war and criminal activity. The author also reviews the two ensuing UN reports and their recommendations. Finally, the article addresses the culture of impunity that has accompanied sexual violence and the role the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) have played in helping redress this deficiency along with the projected role of the newly established International Criminal Court (ICC). The article concludes that without more progress and the participation of women in the post-conflict period, difficulties will remain in achieving "gender justice".

In this article, Karima Bennoune assesses two competing views about the status of the protection of women in armed conflict in international humanitarian law. The first view, espoused by the International Committee of the Red Cross, holds that existing laws are adequate to protect women in armed conflict if only they are properly implemented and respected. The second view, espoused by a number of contemporary feminist critics, holds that existing laws are archaic and reflect stereotypes about women that perpetuate discrimination such that implementing them is insufficient adequately to protect women in armed conflict. Bennoune agrees with the second view. She argues that, since what the law designed to protect women says about them affects how militaries are trained, the way in which crimes against women are understood, and whether these crimes are prosecuted, the existing law should be revised to reflect our advanced understanding of violence against women.

In this article, Bewicke explores reparation policies following armed conflict, specifically in terms of their suitability to adequately address the needs of girl child soldiers. The author suggests that, even though reparation jurisprudence is well-formed, there is a conspicuous gap for girl child soldiers. The author argues for a holistic approach that places such girls at the centre of the reparation process which she views as necessary to begin the healing process. Bewicke explores factors considered in determining whether someone is a child solider including age and duties undertaken by the child. She also analyzes other challenges in providing reparations to child soldiers. Further, the author argues that the Thomas Lubanga Dyilo case decided by the International Criminal Court is an important demonstration of the tensions embedded in the current reparation jurisprudence: neglecting girl soldiers at the outset of the reparation project results in diminishing efficacy of the whole process itself.

This article discusses the impact on international criminal law of the International Criminal Court Statute's provisions on rape and forced pregnancy. The author notes that prior to the Statute, rape and forced pregnancy were considered crimes that violated honour; post-Statute, these crimes are framed in light of the harm done to the victim's bodily integrity and infringement of their agency. The author argues that "this structure signals a new paradigm for the international criminalization of sexual crimes - one based on broader principles of human dignity, autonomy, and consent". The author analyzes the Statute provisions and examines the debates surrounding the inclusion and definitions of rape and forced pregnancy. She ends with a discussion on the new legal framework for sexual crimes. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article makes inquiries into the position of women in contemporary armed conflicts and whether it has, in legal terms, changed at all since the Second World War. The author identifies that the method and scale of perpetration of violence significantly changed, such that sexual violence against women in war is no longer a side effect of hostility but has evolved to become deliberately used as a weapon of war and a means of political repression to intimidate members of an entire community or ethnic group. Moreover, the author examines the evolution of legal frameworks including the Geneva Conventions 1949, Statutes of International Criminal Tribunals and other regulations, coming to the conclusion that women’s rights in armed conflicts are simultaneously more protected and more violated, and that the efforts of international actors have not been proven effective.

This comment addresses the landmark decision of Prosecutor v Kunarac, Kovac and Vokovic issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and which established that the rape of Muslim women during the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina amounted to a crime against humanity under international law. The article provides an overview of the decision and explores the rationale behind including rape in the category of crimes against humanity. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article examines the human rights atrocities that took place during the Liberian civil war from 1990 to 1997. The article includes a section about systematic rape of women as a means of instilling terror in civilian populations. In addition to detailing human rights abuses, the author also examines the international attention that the situation attracted, how this compared with similar situations occurring in Yugoslavia, and how international institutions reacted to this tragedy. The author concludes with a question about the universalism of human rights given that the United Nations took no action on the war crimes in Liberia. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International - Africa]

This paper describes two feminist methods that can illuminate the study of international law. These methods are "searching for silences" or pointing to the ways that international law factors out the realities of women's lives and "world travelling," or seeking to respond to the many differences among women. The author then considers the questions that these two methods might raise in the particular context of accountability for human rights violations in internal armed conflict. She points out where international law has not adequately taken into account the experiences of different women in armed conflict and, how in some instances, a purely gender-based analysis can limit our understanding of womens' lives.

This paper considers international legal responses to rape and other forms of sexual abuse committed against women during the course of an armed conflict. The author identifies the relevant substantive law as well as the possible international fora where enforcement might be pursued. She then asks whether international legal remedies offer an adequate response to rape. She concludes that the international system focuses too much on punishing the wrong-doer and not enough on compensating the victim. The author also stresses that it is essential that persons of all ranks be held accountable and that individuals from both sides of the conflict be brought to justice so that the process is not tainted by notions of "victor's justice". [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article provides a comprehensive overview of how the legal treatment of sexual violence has evolved. In spite of the broad range of gender-based war crimes and their pervasiveness during armed conflict, the author argues that these crimes have not received the legal attention they rightfully deserve in the latter half of the 20th century. The author argues that the failure to prosecute is irreprehensible because this failure not only adversely affects the individual woman, but also because the harm affects the society as a whole. Part I discusses the response of the WWII war crimes tribunals to sexual assault, with Part II exploring the post-WWII developments in addressing the needs of women. Part III turns to the treatment of sexual violence by the ad hoc criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) and Part IV looks at how gender crimes are treated under the Statute of the newly established International Criminal Court (ICC). The article concludes that the foundations laid over the past fifty years provide hope that women's human rights may soon be protected and enjoyed, but only if the importance of treating sexual violence as a crime under international law is fully recognized. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article examines the evolving legal status of rape and other forms of sexual violence such as forced prostitution and forced pregnancy in war. Part I addresses whether these gender crimes are fully recognized as war crimes under the Geneva Conventions, the cornerstone of what is called "humanitarian law" or the law governing the laws of war. This process requires an examination of whether rape is viewed as a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and, whether within that framework, it is treated as a form of torture. Part II explores whether the customary international legal concept "crimes against humanity" does or should distinguish between "genocidal rape" and mass rape for other purposes. The conclusion suggests some connections between the recognition of rape in war and rape in peace time. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

This article focuses on the prevalence of sexual violence within the Syrian conflict and how these issues should be addressed in the peace process. In particular it criticizes the failure to include women in negotiations that would determine their future, despite international obligations to do so. While the pattern tends to be including “those with guns” in the peace talk, the author here emphasizes the importances of including a wide variety of voices at the table, in order to ensure sustainable measures for the prevention of gender based violence. Using the work of several NGOs and women’s organizations connected to the Syrian conflict, this author argues for a new approach to the peace process which would incorporate a gender perspective with the hope of reducing gendered-violence and discrimination post-conflict.  

This paper argues that the Dayton Peace Accords (the US brokered peace agreement concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina) should have addressed the reintegration of victims of gross violations of human rights, in particular acknowledging the need for services and funding to facilitate the process of recovery for victims of rape or other forms of sexual abuse. The author provides an overview of relevant provisions of the Dayton Peace Accords and considers whether these mechanisms are a sufficient response to the violations of women's human rights in the territory which now comprises the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. She further suggests that certain obligations should have been undertaken by the new government.

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the use of military humanitarian intervention in response to human rights abuses. The author traces the development of academic discourse, as published in the Harvard Human Rights Journal, regarding women's rights and humanitarian intervention. She then explores the trend of acceptance and justification in using intervention to tackle human rights violations and examines the international law surrounding its use. The debates of the 1990s on whether rape should be classified as genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina are analyzed in light of the current trend of intervention. The article uses this analysis as a backdrop to discuss the current situation in Darfur. Finally, the author argues that the current trend of increased intervention should be re-examined, considering its potential consequences on both those involved in and affected by the intervention, and contemplating normative considerations in international law and policy. Karen Engle, "Calling in the Troops": The Uneasy Relationship Among Women's Rights, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Intervention (2007) 20 Harv Hum Rts J 189.

This article examines some of the problems inherent in the international prosecution and adjudication of rape and other sexual assaults comimited during armed conflict and how they are being addressed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). By examining four broad areas - limits on evidence able to be led in cases of sexual assault, protection for victims and witnesses, collection of evidence and judicial education - the author argues that a progressive legislative framework is not necessarily sufficient to ensure the successful international prosecution and adjudication of rape and other sexual assaults.

The authors argue that there is evidence that women experience armed conflict in a different way than men, and that armed conflict can exacerbate existing inequalities. They assert that international humanitarian law, intended to protect victims of armed conflict, also operates in a discriminatory fashion towards women. The authors examine these two phenomena and suggest possible ways to mainstreaming gender perspectives into international humanitariam law. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]

In this article, Judith Gardam argues that the rules of the law of armed conflict which relate to the protection of women fail spectacularly to protect women in times of armed conflict and import a gendered hierarchy, i.e., the rules dealing with women are regarded as less important than the rules dealing with others and their infringement is taken less seriously. To do this, she (i) describes the effect on warfare on women arguing that, in addition to being major victims of armed conflict, women experience warfare differently from men; (ii) identifies distinctive features of the law of armed conflict which are obstacles to advancing protections for women; and (iii) and examines feminist critiques of human rights that help to explain why the law of armed conflict is inadequate to protect women. Next, Gardam offers a proposal for reform: a protocol to protect women in times of armed conflict.

This article examines the successes and shortcomings of the legal developments in the prosecution of gender crimes by the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR). The article emphasizes advances in both procedural and substantive law, including developments in the definition of rape and the prosecution of gender crimes as crimes against humanity, war crimes, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and genocide. The authors also consider how these developments have been incorporated into the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The authors argue that the institutions responsible for developing international criminal law in this area must assess and increase the deterrent effect of prosecutions and find ways to change the attitudes that lead to gender violence in war.

For decades, international legal actors have failed to bring justice to the victims of the “comfort women” system implemented by Japan during the Second World War, highlighting the gendered discrimination of the international legal framework towards non-western women. The author recounts the history of conflict-based sexual violence in Japan and the inadequacy of international response. The attitude of Japan today proves to be problematic in its refusal to acknowledge the non-consensual nature of the sex camps and the enslaved women’s suffering. This article argues that the Tokyo Women’s Tribunal (TWT), despite being a people’s tribunal, is nonetheless effective in driving accountability and transparency by amplifying the voice of survivors and position of women in international law.

This article explores the prevailing pattern of the absence of women from decision-making bodies during times of conflict because of them being portrayed as intrinsically weak and vulnerable and in need of protection. The article deconstructs the myth that women are the helpless victims of war and illustrates how it is a human rights violation to have women and children designated as de facto “vulnerable”. The article examines how not only do women frequently take up arms but also resiliently cope with the ravages of war such as sexual and physical violence, displacement, and dealing with the losses of their spouses or children. The article concludes by arguing that plurality of women’s experiences during armed conflict ought to be considered not just as victims of conflict, but also as leaders, survivors, and armed combatants. 

This comment discusses rape in Bosnia and the response of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It explores the impact of the new "gender consciousness" on the personnel, structure and procedure of rape prosecution and assesses women's place in international humanitarian law. After a brief overview of the conflict in the region (Section I), the comment turns to an analysis of the information available on the systematic mass rapes perpetrated by Bosnian Serbs against Bosnian Muslims (Section II). Section III discusses the development of a gender sensitive approach towards victims of sexual assault, with Section IV focusing particularly on the prosecution of Dragoljub Kunarac for the "Foca Rapes". Finally, Section V assesses the contribution of the ICTY's rape prosecutions to international law and women's rights.