The crime of rape has been prevalent in all contexts, whether committed during armed conflict or in peacetime, and has largely been characterised by a culture of impunity. International law, through its branches of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, has increasingly condemned such violence and is progressively obliging states to prevent rape, whether committed by a state agent or a private actor.

From ancient to modern times, sexualised war violence against women was tolerated if not encouraged as a means of reward, propaganda, humiliation, and terror. This was and is in defiance of international laws that have criminalised acts of sexualised war violence since the 18th century. Ad hoc international tribunals have addressed especially war rape since the 15th century. The International Criminal Court (ICC), however, is the first independent, permanent, international criminal court that recognises not only war rape but also sexual slavery and other sexualised crimes as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts of genocide in its statute and supporting documents. This book explores how the ICC definitions of rape and forced marriage came about, and addresses the ongoing challenge of how to define war rape and forced marriage in times of armed conflict in a way that adequately reflects women’s experiences, as well as the nature of the crimes. In addition to deepening the understanding of the ICC negotiations of war rape and forced marriage, and of the crimes themselves, this volume highlights relevant factors that need to be considered when criminalising acts of sexualised war violence under international law. Sexualised Crimes, Armed Conflict and the Law draws on feminist and constructivist theories and offers a comprehensive theoretical and empirical examination of the definition of rape and forced marriage. It presents the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, officials and intergovernmental organisations, and students in the fields of post-conflict law and justice, international law, human rights law, international relations, gender studies, politics, and criminology.

Sexual violence is a particular brand of evil that women have endured—more than men—during armed conflicts, through the ages. It is a menace that has continued to challenge the conscience of humanity—especially in our times. At the international level, basic laws aimed at preventing it are not in short supply. What is needed is a more conscious determination to enforce existing laws. This book explores ways of doing just that; thereby shoring up international legal protection of women from sexual violence in armed conflicts.

In Wartime Sexual Violence at the International Level: A Legal Perspective Dr. Caterina Arrabal Ward discusses the understanding of wartime sexual violence by the international tribunals and argues that wartime sexual violence often takes place without the explicit purpose to destroy a community or population and is not necessarily a strategic choice. This research suggests that a more focused approach based on a much clearer definition of these crimes would help to remedy deficiencies at the different stages of international justice in relation to these crimes.

After having ignored victims, only recently both domestic and international law have begun to pay attention to them. As a consequence, different international norms related to victims have progressively been introduced. These are norms generally characterized by a certain concept from the perspective of victims, as well as by the enumeration of a list of rights to which they are entitle to; rights upon which the international statute of victims is built. In reverse, these catalogues of rights are the states’ obligations. Most of these rights are already existent in the international law of human rights. Consequently, they are not new but consolidated rights. Others are strictly linked to victims, concerning the following categories: victims of crime, victims of abuse of power, victims of gross violations of international human rights law, victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law, victims of enforced disappearance, victims of violations of international criminal law and victims of terrorism.

In Gender-Sensitive Norm Interpretation by Regional Human Rights Law Systems Maria Sjöholm examines the jurisprudence on gender-based harm in the European, Inter-American and African regional human rights law systems from the viewpoint of feminist legal methods and theories. By offering indicators relevant for gender-sensitive norm interpretation, Maria Sjöholm identifies inconsistencies in the current regional legal frameworks with regard to the protection of women concerning such violations as domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual violence, forced sterilization and restrictions on other reproductive rights. The book offers an in-depth account not only of the manner in which such harm has been recognized through integration in general human rights law treaties, but also the categorization of such as particular human rights norms by regional human rights courts and commissions.

This book presents an interdisciplinary approach to definition of torture by bringing together behavioral science and international law perspectives on torture. It is a collaborative effort by a group of prominent scholars of behavioral sciences, international law, human rights, and public health with internationally recognized expertise and authority in their field. It represents a first ever attempt to explore the scientific basis of legal understanding of torture and inform international law on various definitional issues by proposing a sound theory- and empirical-evidence-based psychological formulation of torture. Drawing on scientific evidence from the editor's 30 years of systematic research on torture, it proposes a learning theory formulation of torture based on the concept of helplessness under the control of others and offers an assessment methodology that can reduce the element of subjectivity in legal judgments in individual cases. It also demonstrates how this formulation can help understand the nature and severity of ill-treatments in different contexts, such as domestic violence and adverse conditions of penal confinement. Through a learning theory analysis of "enhanced interrogation techniques," it demonstrates not only why these techniques constitute torture but also how they help us understand the contextual defining characteristic of torture in general. The proposed formulation implies a broader concept of torture than previously understood, provides scientific and moral justification for the evolving trends in international law towards a broader coverage of ill-treatments in contexts beyond official custody and points to new directions of expansion of the concept. With a focus on the concepts of shame and humiliation and their evolutionary origin, the book explains why inhuman or degrading treatments can cause as much pain or suffering as physical torture. Although treatment issues are not covered, the book sheds light on potentially effective treatment approaches by offering important insights into psychology of torture.

83/2/Add. 1, Criminal Court,1998)

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. Violence against women is characterised by its universality, the multiplicity of its forms, and the intersectionality of diverse kinds of discrimination against women. Great emphasis in legal analysis has been placed on sex-based discrimination; however, in investigations of violence, one aspect has been overlooked: violence may severely affect women’s health and access to reproductive health, and State health policies might be a cause of violence against women. Exploring the relationship between violence against women and women’s rights to health and reproductive health, Sara De Vido theorises the new concept of violence against women’s health in international law using the Hippocratic paradigm, enriching human rights-based approaches to women’s autonomy and reflecting on the pervasiveness of patterns of discrimination. At the core of the book are two dimensions of violence: horizontal ‘inter-personal’, and vertical ‘state policies’. Investigating these dimensions through decisions made by domestic, regional and international judicial or quasi-judicial bodies, De Vido reconceptualises States’ obligations and eventually asks whether international law itself is the ultimate cause of violence against women’s health.

International Approaches to Rape gives an overview of rape law and policy in nine different countries, including the United States and Canada. Many governments have begun to take rape more seriously than in the past and have started to implement wide-ranging reforms; this book describes those reforms and assesses the degree to which they have been successful. Introducing readers to various national perspectives on rape, the contributors outline a comparative approach that highlights the similarities and differences between countries, contexts, laws, issues, policies, and interventions.