Occupation of the Womb: Forced Impregnation as Genocide

This article addresses the allegations of widespread forced impregnation in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Part I asserts that forced impregnation is a crime that falls under international humanitarian law as a war crime and a crime against humanity, discussing how war crimes and crimes against humanity differ from the crime of genocide. Part II addresses the evidence of widespread rape in the former Yugoslavia and how the nature of those acts indicates a policy of forced impregnation. Part III places this evidence of a forced impregnation policy within the ethnic context of the former Yugoslavia. Finally, Part IV argues that the Serb policy of forced impregnation - if it is found to have existed - was genocide, and that the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) should prosecute such a policy as a crime of genocide. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International - Europe, International]