Search

Sexual offences pose severe violations of human rights that necessitate criminal law intervention in every democratic society. Using a holistic and integrated approach, this book examines sexual offenses through criminal law and criminal procedure within different jurisdictions. Impunity or lenient punishment enjoyed by perpetrators appears as a fundamental concern and contribute to low(er) reporting rates. Attrition, from the perspective of criminal law, is not only caused by issues in criminal procedure, like a lack of victim support or insufficient evidence, but is primarily linked to the definition of sexual offences which is hugely influenced by society, culture, and political power. Stereotypes that are deeply rooted in society in the form of common myths such as: victim of sexual offences are always female(s), or sexual offences take place outside of marriage, or that the victim has an obligation to manifest a resistance, or a woman accepting a gift by a man shows she consented to sexual acts and many others that are impediment to combatting sexual violence. These myths are not just maintained by society, but they also affect the victim's decision to seek justice, as well as the judiciary's approach to victims and the police's attitudes towards victims. Using cases and legislation from Croatia, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey, and comparing them to United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, this book presents peculiarities stemming from society, culture, politics, historical facts and even religion, along with solutions to the global problems of sexual offenses. This book is of interest to scholars studying criminal justice, legal studies, sociology, and cultural studies

The last few decades have seen remarkable developments in international criminal justice, especially in relation to the pursuit of individuals responsible for sexual violence and other gender-based crimes. Historically ignored, justified, or minimised, this category of crimes now has a heightened profile in the international political and judicial arena. Despite this, gender is poorly understood, and blind spots, biases, and stereotypes prevail. This book brings together leading feminist international criminal and humanitarian law academics and practitioners to examine the place of gender in international criminal law (ICL). It identifies and analyses past and current narrow understandings of gender, before considering how a limited conceptualization affects accountability efforts. The authors consider how best to implement a more nuanced understanding of gender in the practice of international criminal law by identifying possible responses, including embedding a sophisticated gender strategy into the practice of ICL, the gender-sensitive application of international human rights and humanitarian law, and encouraging a gender-competent approach to judging in ICL. The authors'aim is to strengthen efforts for accountability for all atrocity crimes-war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression.

The 1998 Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), includes a longer list of gender-based crimes than any previous instrument of international criminal law. The Statute's twentieth anniversary provides an opportunity to examine how successful the ICC has been in prosecuting those crimes, what challenges it has faced, and how its caselaw on these crimes might develop in future. Taking up that opportunity, this book analyses the ICC's practice in prosecuting gender-based crimes across all cases for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the ICC up until mid-2018. This analysis is based on a detailed examination of court records and original interviews with prosecutors and gender experts at the Court. This book covers topics of emerging interest to practitioners in this field, including wartime sexual violence against men and boys, persecution on the grounds of gender and sexual orientation, and sexual violence against'child soldiers'.

Alexander Schwarz erläutert die Hintergründe sexualisierter Gewalt im makrokriminellen Kontext und unternimmt eine systematische Gesamtdarstellung des völkerrechtlichen Sexualstrafrechts. Neben sexualisierter Gewalt als Tathandlung des Genozids, werden die Anwendungsbereiche der Sexualdelikte untersucht, wie sie im IStGH-Statut als Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit und Kriegsverbrechen unter Strafe stehen: Vergewaltigung, sexuelle Sklaverei, Zwangsprostitution, erzwungene Schwangerschaft und Zwangssterilisation. Anhand des sexualspezifischen Auffangtatbestands wird nachgewiesen, dass eine völkerstrafrechtliche Erfassung weiterer Formen sexualisierter Gewalt nötig und möglich ist. Am Beispiel der Zwangsheirat untersucht der Verfasser, welche weiteren Instrumente das Romstatut bereithält, um nicht ausdrücklich kodifizierte Formen sexueller Gewalt zu erfassen. Schließlich werden Formen geschlechtsbezogener Verfolgung analysiert und die Frage beantwortet, ob die Verfolgung aufgrund der sexuellen Orientierung ein Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit darstellt.

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.

This book examines Australia's and the United States'ability to prosecute their peacekeepers for sexual exploitation and abuse. The United Nations has too long been plagued by sexual exploitation and abuse in some of the world's most vulnerable communities. Discussion within United Nations'reporting and academic scholarship focuses on policy; however, a significant concern outlined here is that peacekeepers are committing sexual offences with impunity, despite exclusive criminal jurisdiction over peacekeepers being granted to their sending states. In this original study O'Brien provides an in-depth, feminist analysis of US and Australian sexual offending law and jurisdiction over their military and military-civilian peacekeepers. Based on timely critical analysis, this book demonstrates the limitations states face in ensuring accountability for sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers – a factor which directly contributes to ongoing commission of and impunity for such offences. Calling for a rights-based, transnational law response to these crimes, this engaging and thought-provoking work will appeal to international practitioners, governments, UN policy-makers, and scholars of international, military and criminal law.

Gegenstand der Arbeit ist das Vergewaltigungsverbot im bewaffneten Konflikt. Anke Biehler behandelt die historische Entwicklung des Verbots im Hinblick auf dessen völkerrechtliche Bedeutung und Definition sowie im Hinblick auf das Problem der Durchsetzung des Verbots. Dazu wird zunächst die historische Entwicklung des Vergewaltigungsverbots im bewaffneten Konflikt nachvollzogen. Anschließend wird untersucht, was es völker- und völkerstrafrechtlich im Detail umfasst und welche rechtlichen Möglichkeiten es zu seiner Durchsetzung gibt. Hierbei ist zwischen Durchsetzungsmöglichkeiten auf individual-strafrechtlicher Ebene und auf zwischenstaatlicher Ebene – etwa durch Staatenverantwortlichkeit – zu unterscheiden. Abschließend werden Überlegungen angestellt, ob das Vergewaltigungsverbot im bewaffneten Konflikt heute nicht nur als Völkergewohnheitsrecht, sondern auch als jus cogens anzusehen ist.

In Responsibility to Protect and Women, Peace and Security: Aligning the Protection Agendas, editors Davies, Nwokora, Stamnes and Teitt address the intersections of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle and the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. Widespread or systematic sexual or gender-based violence is a war crime, a crime against humanity and an act of genocide, all of which are clearly addressed in the R2P principle. The protection of those at risk of widespread sexual violence is therefore not only relative to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, but a fundamental sovereign obligation for all states as part of their commitment to R2P. Contributions from policy-makers and academics consider both the merits and the utility of aligning the protection agendas of R2P and WPS. Ultimately, a number of actionable recommendations are made concerning a unification of the agendas to best support the global empowerment of women and prevention of mass atrocities.

This book critically examines the response of the United Nations (UN) to the problem of sexual exploitation in UN Peace Support Operations. It assesses the Secretary-General's Bulletin on Special Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (2003) (SGB) and its definition of sexual exploitation, which includes sexual relationships and prostitution. With reference to people affected by the policy (using the example of Bosnian women and UN peacekeepers), and taking account of both radical and ‘sex positive'feminist perspectives, the book finds that the inclusion of consensual sexual relationships and prostitution in the definition of sexual exploitation is not tenable. The book argues that the SGB is overprotective, relies on negative gender and imperial stereotypes, and is out of step with international human rights norms and gender equality. It concludes that the SGB must be revised in consultation with those affected by it, namely local women and peacekeepers, and must fully respect their human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to privacy and sexuality rights.