Gender Justice or Just Gender? The Role of Gender in Sexual Assault Decisions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia^*

Abstract

This article examines gender justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by analyzing sexual assault cases and the impact that gender composition has on sentencing outcomes. Copyright (c) 2007 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.

Deborah's Voice: The Role of Women in Sexual Assault Cases at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia*,†

“…These results could reinforce what critics have said about the ICTY and sexual violence because if a defendant was found guilty of a sexual violence charge, he was sentenced to 28 months less, ceteris paribus. While the variable is not statistically significant, these results are contrary to what has previously been found about sexual violence in a study from the first decade of sexual violence cases looking exclusively at judicial gender (King and Greening, ).…”

“…We note that in model 4, women judges give, ceteris paribus, only 1.2 months less for nonsexual violence cases, but that this number increases to 32.7 months if the defendant is found guilty of a sexual violence charge. Consistent with prior research and calls for women to be included as part of the legal strategy for the effective prosecution of sexual violence cases, the results, while not significant, may indicate that female judges provide more lengthy sanctions to sexual predators (King and Greening, ; Sellers, ).…”

“…Women's groups were critical in drafting certain rules to borrow from national laws on sexual violence to provide greater protection from these assaults. Female judges have even been instrumental in convincing the OTP to amend indictments to include charges of rape (Goldstone, ; King and Greening, ). As one female judge, H. E. Odio‐Benito said: “There will be no justice unless women are part of that justice” (quoted in Hoefgen, :168).…”

Sentencing Rationales and Judicial Decision Making at the International Criminal Tribunals*

“…Decision making by international judges is gaining greater traction in the study of international relations (King and Greening, 2007;Meernik, 2003;Meernik, King, and Dancy, 2005;Voeten, 2008). Much of this research has focused on the impact of judges' attributes on decision making, which is especially relevant in the international context where both personal and national backgrounds are pertinent.…”

Law and the Evolutionary Turn: The Relevance of Evolutionary Psychology for Legal Positivism

“…Empirical studies have found statistically significant differences between male and female judges in sex discrimination and sexual assault cases (Boyd et al 2010). An analysis of the sentencing outcomes of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia shows that female judges sentence men who assault women more severely than their male colleagues (King and Greening 2007). In India, the perception that male judges were excessively lenient with male rapists led the legislature to pass a law mandating that all rape cases be heard by female judges.…”