Contemporary Forms of Slavery: Systematic rape, Sexual Slavery and Slavery-like Practices during Armed Conflict, Update to the Final Report submitted to the UN General Assembly

This document discusses developments that have taken place in the year following the 1998 final report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Systematic Rape, Sexual Slavery and Slavery-like Practices during Armed Conflict, including Internal Armed Conflict. The update focuses on steps that have been taken at the international and national levels to ensure that those who have committed acts of sexual violence during armed conflict are held responsible. In particular, the update examines developments in international criminal law reflected in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), continuing efforts in the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) to address sexual violence committed during the armed conflicts, the right to reparation of individuals who have suffered sexual violence during armed conflict, and developments in relation to the system of sexual slavery perpetrated by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War (the Japanese "Comfort Women"). A list of recommendations is provided at the end of the report.