Peace and Conflict Studies
Abstract
Wartime sexual violence (WSV) has been a characteristic of violent conflict throughout recorded history, yet has failed to illicit the same international attention and condemnation as other war crimes. WSV has also been a particularly pervasive method of destruction during genocide, in which women make up the majority of victims and are targeted for both their gender and group membership. However, sexual violence is not enumerated as a crime of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Despite its absence from the formal genocide convention, legal institutions have still attempted to hold perpetrators responsible for sexual violence during genocide. This paper examines jurisprudence within the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the first international criminal tribunal to prosecute and convict an individual for rape as an act of genocide. Through analysis of key case law within the tribunal, this paper argues that by conceptualizing rape using a coercion-based definition, the ICTR was able to provide both the legal basis and further a normative understanding of sexual violence as a crime of genocide. Such developments, this paper argues, contribute to a more nuanced picture of sexual violence during conflict and provide the foundations for future jurisprudence, most notably the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s prosecution of former Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir.
Keywords
genocide, conflict-related sexual violence, gender-based violence, conflict studies, international law, international criminal tribunal for Rwanda, Rwandan genocide
Recommended Citation
Kilroy, Ciara
(2025)
"Beyond Precedent: Sexual Violence as an Act of Genocide in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 32:
No.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol32/iss2/2
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