Citation

O'Connor M. J. Law Med. 2014; 21(3): 528-542.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Thompson - LBC Information Services)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

24804525

Abstract

Sexual violence in armed conflict has traditionally received poor attention until recent years. It has been the "least condemned of war crimes" although, with the inception of the International Criminal Court and various other international courts and tribunals, convictions of high-profile aggressors are increasing. Only recently Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia, was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity which included rape and sexual slavery. He was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. Is prosecution of these crimes sufficient to minimise sexual violence in war? That seems unlikely given the potential for such violence to be a cheap and effective strategy to terrorise a civilian population and "ethnically cleanse" the newly won territory. However, there is a remarkable variation in the levels of sexual violence in armed conflicts. Some, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have extremely low levels, whereas in Bosnia and many African states the prevalence of sexual violence is at epidemic levels. The reasons for such differences are many, however, some precipitating factors may be improved by strong military discipline, improved gender balance in armed forces, better political awareness by combatants of the aims of a campaign and pre-deployment ethical training.

Language: en