Sexual Violence as International Crime
Interdisciplinary approaches towards sexual violence as international crime
Opening presentations were made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Maxime Verhagen), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Navanethem Pillay), Judge Theodor Meron, Appeals Chamber ICTY/ICTR and the ICC Prosecutor (Luis Moreno-Ocampo).
Speakers noted that considerable progress (a ‘quantum leap’) had been made over the past 15 years, due to increased attention to sexual violence and gender crimes by international criminal courts and tribunals (ICTY, ICTR, SCSL, ICC), the Security Council and NGOs and individual practitioners and scholars. Violence and related offences against women are no longer seen ‘crimes against honor’ or inevitable and unfortunate collateral damage of conflict. International law has established novel substantive and procedural rules and principles to protect victims inside and outside the Court room and to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable, both in times of peace and armed conflict. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay stated that: “We must consider the impact that this approach has on the willingness of women to come forward and testify”. The legal process and the categorization of sexual violence (e.g., its use as a ‘weapon of war’, ‘crime of opportunity’ or ‘civilian crime’) continue to pose significant challenges, such as ‘shame’ and ‘denial’, risks of alienation and re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses, and security problems. A lot of these issues are not theoretical or academic, but of major importance to the global fight against impunity. ICC Prosecutor Ocampo noted that “...the protection of witnesses and judges poses a major challenge to investigations and prosecutions in the DRC”. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay concluded that there is a “[…] need to device procedures that are truly protective and supportive of the victims”.
Working group sessions In the working groups it was stated that insights from social science and practice can help victims, witnesses and their social environment to raise awareness and reduce exposure, re-traumatisation and retaliation. It was noted that investigators of sexual crimes and interpreters should be aware of the risks and impacts of victim testimony.
Experts suggested that a better inclusion of innovative social science methodologies (e.g., determination of racial epithets, statistical conflict data) and techniques in the gathering of evidence might facilitate proof of the contextual elements of crime and complement or replace individual testimonies
However, the use of social science techniques also poses challenges at the every steage of the proceedings. ICC Prosecutor Ocampo pointed out that in the situation in
Individual working groups discussed possible solutions to these challenges taking into account perspectives by lawyers and non-lawyers in their activities on the ground. Topics discussed included: the notion and treatment of ‘consent’, the attribution of individual criminal responsibility in collective crimes, best practices on creating awareness, as well as interviewing techniques and available databases.
The key note speeches are availible (see bottom) and the results of the working groups will be made available on this webpage in digital format.
Organisers The colloquium is a joint effort by the Center on Law and Globalization of the University of Illinois College of Law, the American Bar Foundation, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University/Campus The Hague and The International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT),
More information The key note speeches can be downloaded hereunder. For specific information about the colloquium you can contact Dr. |
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Opening of colloquium on sexual violence as an international crime - June 16, 2009. |
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Opening of colloquium on sexual violence as an international crime - June 16, 2009. |
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Opening of colloquium on sexual violence as an international crime - June 16, 2009. |
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Closing Remarks colloquium on sexual violence as an international crime - 18 June, 2009. |
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Between 16 and 18 June, more than 200 experts and participants from international organisations, the international justice community (Hague courts and tribunals, academia, NGOs) and related fields (aid workers, psychologists, journalists) gathered in The Hague for an interdisciplinary colloquium on Sexual Violence, held at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Grotius Centre and the Peace Palace. .jpg)
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