Abstract
The traditional exclusion of sexual violence and rape from the ambit of international humanitarian law stems from the long-established masculinist perception of war and the exacerbated invisibility of women and girls in that context. International criminal law tried to recognize this traditionally invisible suffering and pain in armed conflicts by characterizing rape and sexual violence as war crimes. This contribution explores the effect of the recognition of rape and sexual violence as war crimes on conflicts and societies as a case study to explore the use of war crimes and international criminal law—rather than International Humanitarian Law (“IHL”) norms—as a means of, if not regulating, at least framing, perceiving, and communicating about practices of warfare and the suffering they engender.
In order to respond to this inquiry, this contribution asks whether the recognition of rape and sexual violence as war crimes led to a better acknowledgement of women’s experiences during armed conflicts. This contribution argues that it is impossible and undesirable to search for the deterrent effect of international criminal law in general, and war crimes in particular or to demonstrate that they prevent harm during armed conflicts. However, I suggest that they offer a powerful vocabulary that holds the potential to better acknowledge suffering and formulate counter-narratives accounting for the stories and lived experiences of victims. The war crimes vocabulary and the way it is shaped and populated by judges and scholars determines the extent to which suffering is visible and discussed beyond the courtroom.
Recommended Citation
Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi,
War Crimes as Vocabulary Shaping the Visible,
68
St. Louis U. L.J.
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol68/iss2/4