(Ne)adekvatna ocena olakšavajućih i otežavajućih okolnosti pri odmeravanju kazne učiniocima krivičnog dela silovanja u praksi Višeg suda u Novom Sadu

The article explores the main problems of the application by the national courts of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of law. Analyzing the rules of the law and examining the views of the Supreme Court have highlighted the problematic issues of the obligation to apply the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to national courts as a source of law. The researchers' positions on the obligation of national courts to apply the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against other states are examined and the importance of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is highlighted. Analyzing the views of scholars and experts, we have proposed ways to address the issues of the binding application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights by reviewing the plenary sessions of high courts. The problems of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights by national courts, such as the selective application of the case law of the Court, references to general principles and interpretations, ignoring the conditions of their application, absolutization of the binding position of the Court, application of the decisions of the Court by analogy, reference to the practice Court in the presence of clear and consistent provisions of national law, etc. The following ways of solving these problems are proposed: 1) revising the concept and content of the Law of Ukraine "On the implementation of decisions and application of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights" and amending the legislation in order to bring it in line with the provisions of the new procedural legislation and modern ideas of theorists and practitioners about the legal nature of decisions The European Court of Human Rights; 2) preparing a resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court on the application of the Convention and the case-law of the Court, which should be based on a thorough analysis of the shortcomings and peculiarities of the case-law of the national courts. The problematic issues of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in the absence of official translations of the Court's decisions are examined. Analyzing the views of scholars and experts, we have proposed ways to solve these problems by creating a single electronic database that will contain official translations of Court decisions in the Ukrainian language that will ensure their accessibility and dissemination.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011

Sexual violence associated with poor mental health in women attending Australian general practices

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was adopted in 1998 and came into force in 2002, enumerates a broader range of sex crimes than any previous instrument of international criminal law. These include rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation and ‘any other form of sexual violence’ of a comparable gravity, as war crimes and crimes against humanity. In applying the new residual crime of ‘any other form of sexual violence’, judges and prosecutors in the ICC have had to confront the complex question of what makes violence ‘sexual violence’, and how can the ‘gravity’ of sexual violence be determined, where that is a legal requirement. This article examines how these questions have been addressed in two cases currently before the ICC, from the situations in the Central African Republic and Kenya, where attempts have been made to prosecute forced nudity, forced male circumcision and mutilation of the male genitals as ‘sexual violence’ within the meaning of the Rome Statute.

Sexual violence constitutes a set of offences established by international law, particularly after the establishment of the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals and the permanent International Criminal Court. This chapter presents an overview of the situation regarding gender-based violence in the recent and ongoing Russian-Ukrainian dispute over Crimea. Especially in the regions of Eastern Ukraine, many cases of human rights violations, including evidence of sexual violence in the areas affected by military operations, are recorded in the reports of various international bodies. Meanwhile, Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working for gender equality have presented findings highlighting incidents of sexual violence that are punishable under the International Criminal Court’s statute, including threats of rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as methods of ill-treatment and torture in the context of sexual abuse, primarily against women and men. Considering that the Russian-Ukrainian war is still under preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court, the breakdown in the rule of law in conflict-affected areas in Ukraine has increased the vulnerability towards sexual and gender-based violence, including both crimes related to the jurisdiction of the Court, and also domestic sexual violence. The related reports have shown that there is not much information on the armed conflict situation in Ukraine in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically employed against civilians in general. As documented, most incidents of sexual violence have taken place under a regime of the illegal detention of women, often followed by various forms of sexual violence against them by members of illegal armed forces. The International Criminal Court is conducting an in-depth analysis of received information related to this conflict in order to establish a reasonable connection between the alleged crimes and the jurisdiction of the court. The main question in the case of the Russian-Ukrainian war is whether the International Criminal Court, as a permanent and established holdover of international criminal justice will continue to face, in addition to its statutory provision, crimes against sexual violence to the extent they deserve, given their heinous nature and the particular and growing needs of the victims.

Reports of sexual violence by men against men emerge from numerous confl icts, ranging in time from Ancient Persia and the Crusades to the confl icts in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite these accounts, relatively little material exists on the subject and the issue tends to be relegated to a footnote. This article ascertains the extent to which male sexual violence is committed in armed confl ict. It considers factors that explain under-reporting by victims and lack of detection on the part of others. The particular forms of male sexual violence are also examined: namely rape, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence, including enforced nudity, enforced masturbation and genital violence. The dynamics present in these offences are explored, with issues of power and dominance, expressed through emasculation, considered. Thus, attention is paid to ideas of feminization, homosexualization and the prevention of procreation. The symbolic construction of male and female bodies in armed confl ict is also explored.

Ambiguity and conflict in sentencing research: Partial resolution through crime-specific analysis

This study aims to determine what forms of sexual violence against wives are based on Law no. 23 of 2004 and Islamic Law. To find out what forms of sexual violence against wives in the decision of the Bangil District Court No. 912/Pid/B/2011/PN.Bgl, Denpasar District Court Decision No.89/Pid.Sus/2014/PN.Dps and Medan District Court Decision No.264/Pid.Sus/2018/PN Mdn. To find out what were the basis for the judge's consideration in giving a decision at the Bangil District Court, the Denpasar District Court decision, and the Medan District Court decision regarding sexual violence against wives. Qualitative research was conducted with a revelatory approach, a statute approach, a case approach and a comparative approach. The results of this study indicate that: (1) forms of sexual violence against wives based on Law no. 23 of 2004 and Islamic Law is any act in the form of coercion of sexual relations, in an inappropriate and/or inappropriate manner, forcing sexual relations with other people for commercial purposes and/or for specific purposes. (2) the forms of sexual violence against wives in the decisions of the Bangil District Court, Denpasar District Court decisions and Medan. (3) The consideration of the Bangil District Court judge.

In their article, Peterman et al. use Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data to estimate rates of rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).1 Measuring and reporting on sexual violence (SV) in crisis-affected populations has well-known challenges,2–4 and survivors of SV are not limited to women of reproductive age.5,6 In March 2010, we assessed the prevalence of all forms of SV in a population-based cluster survey of adults in eastern DRC territories of South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri.5 Our data covered the 1994–2010 time period. Peterman et al. used data from the 2007 DHS, a population-based cluster sample of all DRC provinces, which contains a number of limitations in determining SV prevalence (e.g., a limited numbers of questions on SV and a lack of clear distinction between rape and other forms of SV). Although they exist for the purpose of SV research, standardized definitions, measurement modalities, and ethical standards are not always used, thus making comparisons difficult.7,8 This photograph by Steffi Graham dates from 1999 during the height of what was then called the “garden preservation crisis,” when New York City policy favored auctioning off community gardens and in some rare cases, converting them to the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation or selling them to The Trust for Public Land and the New York Restoration Project. Printed with permission. Peterman et al. provide important insight into higher rates of rape in the conflict-affected eastern provinces among women aged 15 to 49 years in 2006 to 2007. Our study—limited to the Kivus and Ituri—also found significant rates of SV among women and men of all ages (not included in the 2007 DHS study). To calculate a comparison, we had to assume an equal yearly rate of SV among women (> 18 years) and men while using standard definitions and including all forms of SV. Over the last 16 years in the Kivus and Ituri, 38 per 1000 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 25.63, 50.89) women (> 18 years) experienced SV and 13 per 1000 (95% CI = 9.28, 17.47) men experienced SV. However, the prevalence of SV varies by year and province. (These data were derived from a secondary analysis not yet published.) Despite recent attempts at surveying men, the DHS needs to be revised to reflect current evidence-based work that documents SV and includes women older than 49 years as well as men of any age. Everyone, whether male or female, is at risk for SV and should have equal access to documentation of ills. Whatever the prevalence, SV is a horrific public health and human rights problem. Survivors deserve responses informed by sound data and analyses such as those included in Peterman et al. and our study. It is unfortunate that policy and programmatic responses to SV are often based on sensational, misinformed, and irresponsible advocacy and media reporting. Researchers, advocates, and the media should work together to ensure sound research findings are reported responsibly and contribute to evidence-based responses.

This is an extended Arabic Translation of the abridged version of Aron Zaltz's interview with Dr. Hilmi Zawati. It was conducted during the international conference on “Sexual Violence in the Recent Conflicts in Libya & Syria: Challenges to Protecting Victims & Protecting Accountability,” held at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, February 8th, 2013. The abridged version this interview was published in Rights Review,” (March 2013) 6:2, under the title: “Gendering the Arab Spring: The Challenge of Prosecuting Wartime Rape under Libyan Transitional Justice.”In this interview Dr. Zawati provides that wartime rape is adventitious to Muslim societies, and raping a Muslim woman means sentencing her to death, physically, psychologically and socially. Assaulted Muslim women might be killed (honour killing), abandoned, or socially rejected. In wartime, a Muslim woman might be killed by her family or committed suicide as a preventive measure of being raped. This is due to the fact that there is a huge gap between the traditional practices of Muslims and the norms of Islamic law, particularly on women and family issues. Islamic law — which has prosecuted and punished wartime rape, as early as fourteen centuries before the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 1993 — considers the right to life, and prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment (hifz al-nafs) as one of the most fundamental rights protected by (al-hudud), which are penalties established by Almighty Allah and left a judge no discretionary authority. Any Muslim fighter who may commit fornication, rape and other forms of gender-based sexual violence is subject to stoning to death or, to lashing, according to the gravity of the crime and to his status as single or married. In this respect, it might be important to mention that Muslim countries, despite declaring Islam as the religion of the state and Islamic law as the primary source of legislation, they have utterly failed to incorporate the latter in the norms of their domestic laws. Most of these countries adhere more to positive and modern international law than to Islamic law. Accordingly, Dr. Zawati calls upon the Libyan government to immediately declare and recognize wartime rape survivors as heroines, as they were targeted and assaulted during the Libyan people’s battle for liberation and democracy. Labelling rape casualties as “deeply wounded” combatants instead of rape victims would be helpful in softening their grief, particularly in rural areas, where thousands of women were systematically attacked. This reconceptualizing will also help them in managing shame and associated stigma in a way that would make them more comfortable while seeking treatment, talking to investigators, or testifying at trials. Moreover, he asserts that despite the international law conventions’ and post-WWII criminal tribunals statutes’ fine-sounding norms, rape and other forms of sexual violence has been increased in recent civil and transnational armed conflicts. He believes that this is due to several factors, including poor implementation of the above laws, abstractness of the statutory laws of the international criminal tribunals and courts, and to the fact that politics rides over justice in many cases. A case in point is the failure of the Security Council to take a decision to stop the two years war in Syria and refer the case to the ICC under Chapter VII. As well, the failure of the Prosecutor at the ICC to initiate a proprio motu investigation in respect of such crimes under Articles 13 and 15 of the Rome Statute. He added, the worst of the above is the promotion of the culture of impunity by the international organization. For example, the UN Security Council Resolution 1487 (2003), has exempted the American troops and personnel serving in any UN force in Iraq from prosecution for international war crimes under the Rome Statute of the ICC.

The article deals with the ways of regarding the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine, which is relevant both in terms of the criminal procedure as a science and for the practice of law enforcement. The purpose of the article is to formulate the concept of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine. The paper justifies the opinion that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is developed and based on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights, regardless of the country in which they were adopted (i. e. has a polyterritorial jurisdiction over states being the participants of the Convention). The article proves that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is draws upon the decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights regardless of the time of adoption, i. e. it includes the decisions adopted before Ukraine ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The author points out the appropriateness of classifying decisions that have acquired the status of final as «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». It is also mentioned that there is a need to include final decisions in the case (as the matter of fact), which have a decisive nature and contain a legal position in this case, into the scope of the category «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». Moreover, the article substantiates the necessity to include the decisions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights in full, i. e. not only the set forth legal positions, into the category of «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». Following the results of the study, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine is defined as a set of decisions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights, which have entered into force and contain legal policies which either clarify or specify the provisions of the Convention as for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and relate to human and citizen’s rights and freedoms.

The Recidivist Wants to Be Punished - Punishment as an Incentive to Re-Offend

Sexual violence has become a topic of significant interest for biblical interpreters. This is perhaps not surprising; after all, the Hebrew Bible contains many examples of sexual violence, including rape, rape threats, sex trafficking, gender-based violence in warfare, femicide, and other forms of sexual exploitation and violence. While early work on the topic was often part of larger studies of women, gender, or violence, more recent work tends to focus specifically on sexual violence. Feminist biblical scholarship has played a significant role in elevating sexual violence as a matter of importance for study. More recently, the #MeToo movement and increased popular awareness of rape culture have influenced the development of the field. “Rape culture” refers to the idea that rape is not an isolated or individual event, but rather part of a larger continuum of forms of sexual violence that encompasses both everyday microaggressions and extreme acts of sexual violence. Along with “rape culture,” “rape myths”—the false cultural assumptions about rape that uphold rape culture—often appear in these discussions. Following broader trends in feminist and womanist scholarship, many analyses of sexual violence also explore postcolonial, anti-imperial, and intersectional perspectives. Key texts for scholarship on sexual violence include the rape of Dinah (Genesis 34), the rape of Tamar (2 Samuel 13), the gang-rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine (Judges 19–21), Bathsheba and David (2 Samuel 11), the “marriage metaphor” in the prophetic books (especially Hosea 1–3, Jeremiah 3, and Ezekiel 16 and 23), and the rape of Daughter Zion (Lamentations 1 and 2). Texts describing the treatment of female captives in warfare and other intersections of sexual and martial violence also draw significant attention, as do the laws regulating rape. However, scholarship is not limited to these texts, as the bibliography shows. The study of sexual violence in the Hebrew Bible is a dynamic, important, and still-growing field, and it should prove of interest to all attentive readers of biblical texts.

During the past year, the UK Government has become the lead advocate for a perhaps surprising foreign policy goal: ending sexual violence in conflict. The participation of government representatives from more than 120 countries in a London Summit in June 2014 was the clearest manifestation of this project. This article offers an early assessment of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and situates it within the history of global action against sexual and gender-based violence from UN Security Council Resolution 1325 onwards, with a particular focus on three key developments. First, the PSVI has embraced the already common understanding of rape as a ‘weapon of war’, and has stressed the importance of military training and accountability. This has exposed the tensions within global policy between a focus on all forms of sexual violence (including intimate partner violence in and out of conflict situations) on the one hand, and war zone activities on the other. Second, the Initiative has placed great emphasis on ending impunity, which implicates it in ongoing debates about the role of international and local justice as an effective response to atrocity. Third, men and boys have been foregrounded as ignored victims of sexual and gender-based violence. The PSVI has been crucial to that recognition, but faces significant challenges in operationalizing its commitment and in avoiding damage to existing programmes to end violence against women and girls. The success of the Initiative will depend on its ability to navigate these challenges in multiple arenas of global politics.

The article is devoted to the study of conflict-related sexual violence during armed aggression against the state, which is equivalent to the destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, religious group as such, which is a component of a crime against humanity. The Russian invaders have created many victims of criminal offences against peace, human security and international law and order, life and health, humanity, personal integrity and freedom. The relevance of the study is to highlight and analyse sexual violence during a full-scale invasion, as the number of cases of such acts is increasing every day. At present, our law enforcement agencies and courts cannot control the temporarily occupied territories, which creates favourable conditions for committing criminal offences against sexual freedom and personal integrity. An attempt is made to study the impact of military operations of the armed conflict of such socially dangerous acts on the most vulnerable groups of the population, including monitoring of human rights violations, in particular, against women and children. These groups require special conditions that are difficult to provide during hostilities, especially with regard to pregnancy and maternity, as well as risks such as human trafficking and genocidal violence. The authors expresses concern over the fact that the issue of so-called ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ remains relevant even in the twenty-first century, especially in the context of our country. The authors believe that such crimes should be regarded as violations against humanity due to their extreme cruelty, massive scale and intentional nature, which poses a serious threat to the humanitarian situation both in our country and in the world as a whole. Keywords: sexual violence, violent acts of a sexual nature, rape or other forms of sexual violence, genocide, armed aggression, crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity.