Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflicts: Standard Responses and New Ideas

Abstract

This article aims to assess ways in which different justice schemes may operate together for an improved legal and political response to victims of sexual crimes in the aftermath of armed conflicts. The article will briefly present the problem of sexual violence against women in armed conflict. It will then consider the evolution of criminal justice in regard to this crime, the results of recent attempts to implement truth and reconciliation processes, as well as briefly assess reparation schemes. Finally it will suggest a series of measures for coordinating the various schemes of justice in a way that guarantees women's rights in the aftermath of a conflict.Downloaded

What Difference Does Peace Make? Intimate Partner Violence and Violent Conflict in Northern Ireland

“…While a number of other factors have undoubtedly contributed to improvements in policing of IPV, including local and global shifts in criminal justice and societal attitudes over the decades, what this research tells us is that the transition from violent conflict to peaceful political settlement plays a pivotal role. The research reinforces the argument that the end of a conflict and crucially the reforms (institutional, legislative) as part of the new political settlement provide a unique opportunity to positively transform a society (Zinsstag, 2005). While the analysis presented here has focused on the consequences of the intended reforms to policing and specifically on the impact of the changes to its religious composition, an interesting avenue for further inquiry is how the unintended changes to the gender make-up 16 following these reforms have shaped policing of IPV in Northern Ireland.…”

Understanding Politically Motivated Sexual Assault in Protest Spaces

“…Such scholarship emphasizes that sexual violence needs to be explicitly recognized in its own right whilst recognizing that it varies in prevalence, form and targets (women and men), perpetrators (individuals or collectives), motives and duration (Wood, 2008). There has been a growing body of literature on sexual violence in the contexts of armed struggles, conflict and war (Butler et al, 2007; Christian et al, 2011; Enloe, 2000; Jacobs et al, 2000; Sjoberg and Via, 2010; Solangon and Patel, 2012; Wood, 2008; Zinsstag, 2006).…”

“…Reference to the captured woman as booty alludes to notions of conquest over the enemy and attaining a woman whose body becomes the site for acting out superior masculinity. It is a term that has often been used in contexts of sexual violence in war, where capturing women is also deemed as one of the ‘spoils of war’ (Naimark 1995: 71 in Zinsstag, 2006: 139).…”

The Laws Have Changed, But What About the Police? Policing Domestic Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…In addition, acts of gender-based violence (e.g., domestic violence [DV], intimate partner violence, and sexual violence) are generally considered to be private matters that occur within the confines of one's home. As such, many believe that they do not require "due diligence" from public authorities as a whole, nor the police more specifically (Zinsstag, 2005).…”

“…However, Zinsstag (2005) argues that the "unique opportunity arising at the end of a conflict, when institutional, constitutional and legislative changes are being initiated, [can] be used to transform old-fashioned and unjust customs and laws" (p. 145). Nowhere has this been truer than in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter referred to as Bosnia).…”