Download Boxed Inserts on Comparative Criminology and Gender

Boxed Inserts on Comparative Criminology and Gender
Invisible Woman, 3rd Ed.
Joanne Belknap
2005
Chapter 11
Women’s Advocacy Changing the Justice and Power through International
Criminal Courts
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The Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice in the International Criminal Court
(ICC): In 1997 women advocates and activists from across the globe formed this
group to work together to design, create, and mainstream gender into the
Coalition for an International Criminal Court. This group helped ensure this
court’s independence from the United Nations Security Council so that it would
not end up as led or unfairly influenced by this organization.
The 1998 Rome Statute: The treaty that formed the basis of the future ICC. The
Rome Statute “explicitly codifies for the first time many crimes of sexual and
gender violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity” (2003, 1234). The
jurisdiction for the ICC is cases when a country is “unwilling or unable to
genuinely investigate and/or prosecute” a violation (2003, 1235).
The ICC: The International Criminal Court (ICC), which began operating in
2003, is a major step in an international human rights law. The ICC “is the
world’s first permanent international criminal tribunal set up to prosecute
individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and, eventually,
aggression” (2003, 1234).
The Specification of Human Rights Violations typically or always Unique to
Women and Girls: Due to the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice in the ICC, the
Rome Statute emphasizes the prosecution of sexual and gender violence (2003,
1238). Specifically, the following war crimes against humanity:
o Rape
o Sexual Slavery
o Enforced Prostitution
o Forced Pregnancy
o Enforced Sterilization
o Sexual Violence
Women and Gender Experts on the Court: The Rome Statute requires that the
court have an adequate representation of women serving as judges, but also that
experts on gender and violence against women also serve on the court.
Conclusion: The ICC will be a critical component of an international framework
of accountability aimed at closing the political, practical, and jurisdictional gaps
that have long fostered a culture of impunity. It is to be hoped that the Rome
Statue will have the more positive effect of ensuring adherence to international
law among civilian and military officials and encouraging the pursuit of justice,
rather than war, as a response to future acts of genocide, war crimes and the
crimes against humanity” (2003, 1248).
Source: Pam Spees. 2003. Women’s Advocacy in the Creation of the International
Criminal Court: Changing the Landscapes of Justice and Power. Signs: Journal of
Women in Culture and Society 28:1233-1254.