Gender Violence or Violence against Women: The Treatment of Forced Marriage in the Special Court for Sierra Leone

The article considers the case for viewing forced marriage as a gender crime. This practice was a prevalent form of violence during the civil war in Sierra Leone. The article engages in a brief examination of the Special Court for Sierra Leone trials. The author argues that recognition of this practice as a form of gender violence is crucial to advancing the scope of international law. A comparison is made between the characterization of forced marriage under international criminal law and its treatment under international refugee law, where similar violence is defined as persecution in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.