Acts of a sexual nature imposed by force, or coercion, such as that caused by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power directed against any human being. Taking advantage of a coercive environment or of the victim’s incapacity to give genuine consent is also a form of coercion. Sexual violence encompasses: rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of a comparable gravity.
OUTLINE
LEGAL SOURCE
CASES
Sudan, Report of the UN Commission of Enquiry on Darfur (A. Paras. 333-358)
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Conflict in the Kivus (Part III, Paras. 16, 35-37)
Georgia/Russia, Human Rights Watch’s Report on the Conflict in South Ossetia (Paras. 87-89)
Democratic Republic of Congo, Involvement of MONUSCO
Mali, Conduct of Hostilities
Democratic Republic of Congo, Fighting with the M 23 Group
Central African Republic, Coup d’Etat
Women and Sexual violence
Somalia: Deeply Flawed Rape Inquiry
Colombia – Sexual violence
UN, Report of the Secretary-General on Women and Peace and Security
Libya, Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014/15)
Central African Republic: Sexual Violence by Peacekeeping Forces
USA, Al-Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc.
Central African Republic, Report of the UN Independent Expert, July 2016
ICC, Confirmation of Charges against LRA Leader
International Criminal Court, Trial Judgment in the Case of the Prosecutor V. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
Somalia, IHL violations in Somalia's long-running armed conflict
32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Sexual and gender-based violence: joint action on prevention and response
Geneva Call and the Chin National Front
Afghanistan and Colombia, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Violence Against LGBT+ and Gender-Diverse Persons
BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES
Suggested readings:
ANTONIONI Antonio, “Le viol et le droit de la guerre dans la doctrine”, in Journal of the History of International Law, Vol. 4/1, 2002, pp. 100-114.
CHINKIN Christine, “Rape and Sexual Abuse of Women in International Law”, in EJIL, Vol. 5/3, 1994, pp. 326-341.
COPELON Rhonda, “Gender Crimes as War Crimes: Integrating Crimes Against Women into International Criminal Law”, in McGill Law Journal, Vol. 46/1, 2000, pp. 217-240.
DIXON Rosalind, “Rape as a Crime in International Humanitarian Law: Where to From Here?”, in EJIL, Vol. 13/3, June 2002, pp. 697-719.
GUENIVET Karima, Violences sexuelles : la nouvelle arme de guerre, Paris, Michalon, 2001, 206 pp.
ISLAM Rafiqul, “The Culpability of Gender-Based Terrorism in International Humanitarian Law: the Rape of Women in Armed Conflicts”, in ISILYearbook of International Humanitarian and Refugee Law, Vol. 6, 2006, pp. 87-105.
KENNEDY-PIPE Caroline & PENNY Stanley, “Rape in War: Lessons of the Balkan Conflicts in the 1990s”, in International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 4/3-4, 2000, pp. 67-84.
MERON Theodor, “Rape as a Crime under International Humanitarian Law”, in AJIL, Vol. 87/3 1993, pp. 424-428.
MORRIS Madeline, “By Force of Arms: Rape, War and Military Culture”, in Duke Law Journal, Vol. 45/4, 1996, pp. 651-781.
NIARCHOS Catherine N., “Women, War, and Rape: Challenges Facing the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia”, in Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 17/4, 1995, pp. 649-690.
PAPACONSTANTINOU Maria, “Rape as Crime under International Humanitarian Law”, in Revue Hellénique de Droit International, Vol. 51/2, 1998, pp. 477-499.
PILCH Frances T., “The Crime of Rape in International Humanitarian Law”, in Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 9, 1998-99, pp. 99-119.
QUENIVET Noëlle N.R., Sexual Offenses in Armed Conflict and International Law, Ardsley, Transnational Publishers, 2005, 230 pp.
Further readings:
ASKIN Kelly Dawn, “Sexual Violence in Decisions and Indictments of the Yugoslav and Rwandan Tribunal: Current Status”, in AJIL, Vol. 93/1, 1999, pp. 97-123.
DYANI Ntombizozuko, “Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: Protection of Women from Sexual Violence during Armed Conflict”, in African Human Rights Law Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2006, pp. 166-187.
FLORES ACUNA Tathiana, “The Rome Statute’s Sexual Related Crimes: an Appraisal under the Light of International Humanitarian Law”, in Humanitäres Völkerrecht, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2006, pp. 39-51.
LAVIOLETTE Nicole, “Commanding Rape: Sexual Violence, Command Responsibility, and the Prosecution of Superiors by the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda”, in CYIL, Vol. 36, 1998, pp. 93-149.
LEWIS Dustin A., “Unrecognized Victims: Sexual Violence against Men in Conflict Settings under International
Law”, Wisconsin International Law Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2009, pp. 1-49.
RICHEY Katie C., “Several Steps Sideways: International Legal Developments Concerning War Rape and the Human Rights of Women”, in TexasJournal of Women and the Law, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2007, pp. 109-129.
SIVAKUMARAN Sandesh, “Sexual Violence against Men in Armed Conflict”, EJIL, Vol. 18, No. 2, April 2007, pp. 253-276.
SIVAKUMARAN Sandesh, “Lost in Translation: UN Responses to Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Situations of Armed Conflict”, in IRRC, Vol. 92, No. 877, March 2010, pp. 259-277.
VAN DER POLL Letetia, “The Emerging Jurisprudence on Sexual Violence Perpetrated against Women during Armed Conflict”, in African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law, 2007, pp. 1-38.
ZAWATI Hilmi M., “Impunity or Immunity: Wartime Male Rape and Sexual Torture as a Crime against Humanity”, in Torture: Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2007, pp. 27-47
