Oosterveld, Valerie, L.

This article discusses the process by which the crime of sexual slavery was included in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) through the inclusion of the crime in the Court's "Elements of Crime" document. The author begins in Part I by discussing the ICC negotiation process and the crime of sexual slavery, contrasting this to the treatment of sexual slavery by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In Part II the author addresses the negotiation process of the ICC's Elements of Crimes and offers a critique.

This author examines the longstanding feminist legal debate regarding the role of international humanitarian law (IHL) in respect to civilian women in armed conflict. The "enforcement" school argues that women bear so many tragic effects of armed conflict because legal rules are not observed or enforced. UNSCR 1325 reflects this view by calling on parties to fully respect IHL as it applies to women and girls. In contrast, the "revision" school agrees that enforcement is important, but posits that IHL reflects masculine assumptions that do not adequately

The call for countries to adopt consistent standards for admission of women fleeing gender-related persecution was largely based on the experience of Canada and, more recently, the United States in formulating guidelines for refugee decision-makers. This article briefly outlines the background to the adoption of the Guidelines on Women Refugee Claimants Fearing Gender-Related Persecution issued by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board in 1993.

This article discusses how the term "gender" came to be incorporated in the final text of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). "Gender" is identified as a troublesome term, subject to some of the most difficult and contentious negotiations at the Rome Conference. Discussion of the negotiation process - in which the author took an active role - forms the basis for Part I of this article. Part II looks to the various definitions of gender used by the United Nations in the areas of refugee law and human rights.