"[This anthology] addresses the gap betwen international standard-setting prohibiting international sex crimes and actual accountability for individuals who are responsible for such crimes. The book provides detailed analysis of the legal requirements of international sex crimes and types of fact that can be used to meet these requirements. It includes a unique knowledge-base that digests international case law on such crimes. The anthology also contains several studies of institutional and evidentiary challenges in the prosecution of international sex crimes"--Series pref.
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.
Rape is common during wartime, but even within the context of the same war, some armed groups perpetrate rape on a massive scale while others never do. In Rape during Civil War Dara Kay Cohen examines variation in the severity and perpetrators of rape using an original dataset of reported rape during all major civil wars from 1980 to 2012. Cohen also conducted extensive fieldwork, including interviews with perpetrators of wartime rape, in three postconflict counties, finding that rape was widespread in the civil wars of the Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste but was far less common during El Salvador's civil war.Cohen argues that armed groups that recruit their fighters through the random abduction of strangers use rape—and especially gang rape—to create bonds of loyalty and trust between soldiers. The statistical evidence confirms that armed groups that recruit using abduction are more likely to perpetrate rape than are groups that use voluntary methods, even controlling for other confounding factors. Important findings from the fieldwork—across cases—include that rape, even when it occurs on a massive scale, rarely seems to be directly ordered. Instead, former fighters describe participating in rape as a violent socialization practice that served to cut ties with fighters’ past lives and to signal their commitment to their new groups. Results from the book lay the groundwork for the systematic analysis of an understudied form of civilian abuse. The book will also be useful to policymakers and organizations seeking to understand and to mitigate the horrors of wartime rape.
"The Oxford Handbook on Atrocity Crimes consolidates and further develops the evolving field of atrocity studies by combining major mono-, inter-, and multi-disciplinary research on atrocity crimes in one volume encompassing contributions of leading scholars. Atrocity crimes-war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide-are manifestations of large scale and systematic criminality committed within specific political, ideological, and societal contexts. These crimes are committed by a multiplicity of actors against a large number of victims who suffer far-reaching consequences. Scholars studying mass atrocities are scattered not only across disciplines-such as international (criminal) law, international relations, criminology, political science, psychology, sociology, history, anthropology, or demography-but also across the topic-related fields, which are by definition multi- and interdisciplinary but are typically limited to a particular category or aspect of atrocity crimes. This Handbook brings together these strands of scholarship on (mass) atrocities and interrogates atrocity crimes as an overarching category of criminality, while simultaneously keeping an eye on differences among the individual constitutive categories. The Handbook covers topics related to the etiology and causes of atrocities, the actors involved, the harm and victims of atrocity crimes, the reactions to mass atrocities, and in-depth case studies of understudied situations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide"--
ŠThis comprehensive collection addresses an overlooked area: war crimes and the conduct of hostilities. It uplifts aspects that are particularly under-appreciated, including cultural property, fact-finding, arms transfer, chemical weapons, sexual viole
Although sexual violence directed at both females and males is a reality in many on-going conflicts throughout the world today, accountability for the perpetrators of such violence remains the exception rather than the rule. While awareness of the problem is growing, more effective approaches are urgently needed for the investigation and prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence crimes. Upon its establishment in 1993, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) began the challenging task of prosecuting the perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence crimes, alongside the many other atrocities committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. This book documents the experiences, achievements, challenges, and fundamental insights of the OTP in prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes at the ICTY over the past two decades. It draws on an extensive dossier of OTP documentation, court filings, trial exhibits, testimony, ICTY judgements, and other materials, as well as interviews with current and former OTP staff members. The authors provide a unique analytical perspective on the obstacles faced in prioritizing, investigating, and prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes. While ICTY has made great stridesin developing international criminal law in this area, this volumeexposes the pressing need for determined and increasingly sophisticated strategies in order to overcome the ongoing obstacles in prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes. The book presents concrete recommendations to inform future work being done at the national and international levels, including that of the International Criminal Court, international investigation commissions, and countries developing transitional justice processes. It provides an essential resource for investigators and criminal lawyers, human rights fact-finders, policy makers, rule of law experts, and academics.
Containing contributions from leading experts in the field, this Handbook explores the many ways gender and violence interact across different contexts and offers a range of disciplinary perspectives. This comprehensive volume connects micro-level interpersonal violence to macro-level structural forms of violence across three discrete but interrelated sections: concepts, representations, and contexts.
