Title

“The Path Towards Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence”? International Responses to Wartime Rape in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

"The question of wartime rape and sexual violence has been extensively covered in academic literature starting from the 1990s onwards. A myriad of articles and books has been published on the subject, covering various legal aspects surrounding international prosecution of wartime rape and sexual violence. It is emphasized that the UN ad hoc tribunals set up in 1993 and 1994 for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda made an important breakthrough in relation to criminal prosecution of these horrendous crimes. For the first time in history, the tribunals established that these crimes could constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Political aspects of this phenomenon, however, are not so well researched. This article argues that international criminalization and prosecution of these crimes took place primarily due to the efforts of epistemic communities."

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