Global Response to Wartime Rape
Sexual Crimes Addressed in International Criminal Law
Rape and sexual slavery have been a part of warfare since the beginning of time. However, it was only during the last decade that sexual crimes were elevated to the level of a war crime or a crime against humanity (when committed systematically). The international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are greatly responsible for this legal evolution; and the International Criminal Court has included rape as a war crime under its jurisdiction.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Human rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of Muslim women and girls were systematically raped during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Many were deliberately impregnated so as to bear Serbian babies and advance the cause of ethnic cleansing. In 2001, for the first time, mass rape and sexual enslavement was confirmed as a crime against humanity after a landmark ruling from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The ICTY then proceeded to sentence three Bosnian Serbs to 60 years in jail.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Outreach has also recently been employed as part of the international response to impunity for wartime sexual crimes. For example, various armed factions have fought for control of the DRC and its resources since 1998. Some observers have confirmed that rape has become a primary weapon in this conflict. Rape, they affirm, is designed to destroy the community because husbands, families and villages often shun rape victims, and a weak and divided community is easier to conquer. A new victim outreach program begun by the International Criminal Court is being tested in the DRC for this reason.
On September 13, 2008, the village of Iga Barrière, in the DRC, hosted its first information session on the International Criminal Court for 46 female victims of sexual violence during the armed conflicts that have hit this community. This meeting was the result of the ICC’s collaboration with community leaders who have been trained as focal points in villages that have not yet benefited from outreach. The discussion focused largely on the creation of the ICC, its role, and its activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Particular attention was given to the roles victims can play at different stages of the proceedings before the ICC.
Darfur, Sudan
In 2004 Amnesty International reported on the unusually high levels of systematic rape in the war ravaged region of Darfur, Sudan. These crimes have both continued and increased up to the writing of this article. Human rights experts worldwide have expressed a concern that these crimes will go unpunished. They hope that international legal precedents set by the ICTY and the ICTR combined with the involvement of the International Criminal Court may be able to play a significant role in ending impunity for these crimes.
End of Impunity
The poet Adrienne Rich once said that: “Rape is a part of war; but it may be more accurate to say that the capacity for dehumanizing another… is carried over from sex into war”. This problem, however, has been targeted for change through global activism at many levels. Whether it is through courts or outreach, the international community is developing means through which the presence of rape and sexual slavery in warfare may be prevented, investigated, and the guilty parties punished.
Women and Children After My Lai Massacre 1968
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