The Need for Greater Regional Protection For Human Rights of Women: The Cases of Rape in Bosnia and Guatemala

In this article, the author argues that the systematic rape of women in Bosnia and Guatamala illustrates the inability of international legal mechanisms to consider the perspectives of women in the enforcement of international law. This failure of formal international legal sources to prevent the atrocities which have been committed against women throughout the 20th century highlights, in the author's opinion, the need to implement specific protection for civilian women. The author maintains that existing regional organizations and economic associations provide ready-made institutional means for implementing policies and moblizing domestic, regional and international resources in order to change public attitudes and effectively provide protection. Further, human rights of women can be entrenched and legal obligations reinforced through regional treaties that promote economic integration. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International - Europe, International - Latin America]