The gender injustice cascade: ‘transformative’ reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based crimes in the Lubanga case at the International Criminal Court

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn March 2012, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the first person to be tried and convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The charges for which Lubanga was found guilty – the conscription, enlistment and use of child soldiers – belied a range of other crimes that were documented as part of the conflict in which Lubanga and his militia were involved, including acts of sexual and gender-based violence. The decision of the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor not to fully investigate, or include charges for, these latter crimes in the Lubanga case set in train what can be described as a ‘gender injustice cascade’ throughout the trial and reparations process. The ultimate effect of the cascade has been to limit victims of the sexual and gender-based crimes in this conflict from gaining direct access to any reparations measures, let alone the ‘transformative’ ones some advocates were searching for. This case highlights some key limitations of Court-ordered reparations for securing gender justice, let alone transformation, under the ICC’s framework.