One Small Step for Women: Female-Friendly Provisions in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

This article discusses the contribution of nongovernmental organizations to the process of lobbying for the inclusion of gender friendly provisions in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The article asserts that although recognition of the role that gender plays in conflicts is a necessary step towards equality in the international judicial system, there is still much to do to protect women against violence, especially wartime rape. The article briefly discusses the history of rape as a war crime and a crime against humanity. It then considers the role of cases in the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) in influencing the creation of international jurisprudence of sex crimes. Lastly, the gender friendly provisions of the ICC statute are dissected and the shortcomings discussed. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]