Gender and International Criminal Law

Abstract

Abstract This book brings together leading feminist international criminal and humanitarian law academics and practitioners to examine the place of gender in international criminal law (ICL). It identifies and analyses prevailing misconceptions and narrow understandings of gender, before turning to a consideration of the impact a limited conceptualization has on accountability efforts and the protection of rights. It includes specific examples from national and international jurisprudence from which it is clear that the term ‘gender’ has not been well understood and that gender ‘blind spots’ prevail. These manifest starkly, for example, with respect to sexual violence against men and boys, gender-based crimes affecting children, and the gendered dimensions of slavery, forced marriage, and reproductive crimes. The authors consider how best to implement a deeper and more accurate understanding of gender in the practice of international criminal law by identifying possible responses, including embedding a sophisticated gender strategy into the practice of ICL, the gender-sensitive application of international human rights and international humanitarian law, and feminist reconstruction of judging in ICL. Other authors examine efforts to ensure that gender is expansively interpreted in ICL, for example in a new treaty on crimes against humanity, and that victims’ reparation awards are gender-inclusive. The objective of this book is to promote a more nuanced and expanded understanding of the concept of ‘gender’ in the field ICL in order to strengthen efforts for accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression.