Rape, Torture and the European Convention on Human Rights

In this article, the author examines the legacy of Aydin v Turkey ten years after the European Court of Human Rights' decision. In Aydin v Turkey, the Court held that rape could constitute torture (and did in this case). The author argues that while all rapes should be found to satisfy the minimum threshold for Article 3 on the ground that European societies treat rape as a crime of particular gravity, rape does not per se satisfy the severity of harm criterion for torture. She argues, however, that where the severity of harm criterion is established, the purposive element of torture is satisfied in all cases of rape due to the fact that all acts of sexual violence are gendered and therefore, discriminatory. Finally, the author remarks that while the Court has broadened the scope of State responsibility for rape, progress remains to be made so as to further broaden the range of situations and circumstances in which rape is recognized as a form of torture.