Women at the Borders: Rape and Nationalism in International Law

While recognizing that the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) suggests that, unlike in previous wars, the rape of women in this conflict will be condemned and some violators prosecuted, the author argues that it fails to meaningfully challenge the gendered nature of humanitarian law in which violence against women will always remain secondary to the prevailing dictates of military necessity. The author asserts that humanitarian law - and its application by the ICTY - defines women in such a way that rape becomes accepted as a normal part of war and women remain marginal figures whose suffering is seen as regrettable but inevitable. By focusing on the ICTY, the author explores how the discourses of law, war and nationalism have constructed troubling and sometimes contradictory images of women and rape. [Descriptors: Armed Conflict, International]