Rape in International Humanitarian Law: a perspective to the understanding of Rape as a weapon of war

Abstract

Rape is a form of sexual violence punished by domestic and international law. When this violation is associated with the specific context of armed conflicts, the conceptualisation of rape and war becomes an inevitable form of violence against women. By adopting the lense of rape as a weapon of wartime, the thesis highlights the perspectives to understand and address the crime in the specific frameworks of armed conflicts. Firstly, it is considered how the surrounding socio-cultural-ethnic factors are involved in the normalisation of a discourse of rape, leading in certain cases to reach the extra-ordinary policies, up to the dimension of genocide, affecting victims as well as the society as a whole. Secondly, it is analysed the nature of the international judicial framework for armed conflicts, and in particular, it is questioned the provisions specific to women within the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their effectiveness from feminist legal perspective. Thirdly, it is regarded the achievements of the international criminal law, the recognition and the approach adopted during some cases of the ICTY and ICTR have provided a precedent in the prosecution of rape. Fourthly, it is underlined the importance of the transitional justice and the non-judicial measures, especially by the means of reparations and truth-seeking, ensuring the access to justice on a gender based approach.