On April 7-8 the S took place in the Hague, organized by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, the University of Leiden, the International Victimology Institute and the department of Criminal Law of Tilburg University.

The event gave the opportunity for specialists from various academic fields and practitioners to present and analyze a phenomenon as old as war itself. What has happened in Rwanda, Bosnia and other places in recent history is no news, as it is only a sequel of “Troades”, the women-trophies of the Trojan War.

The international scene is characterized by civil conflicts, occupations, wars. These circumstances unfortunately bring to surface the issue of systematic sexual violence been used as a weapon of terror against the civilian population of the enemy. These actions take place usually as part of a general strategy of ethnic cleansing or even genocide. The immediate perpetrators act either upon orders or take advantage of the chaos and lack of order and control (which is often the case during conflicts and wars).  The battlefield is transferred to the bodies of women, children, even men and with rape (many times performed by more than one actor and for many days) come along also beatings, starvation, mutilations and other torture methods.

The weapon of sexual violence used in conflicts and wars is one with long lasting effects. It brings apart the social cohesion and stands in the way of achieving peace and reconciliation. The victims can be traumatized for life and become unwelcome even to their own society, as stigmatized. Further more, children born after these rapes are also stigmatized and sometimes unwanted by their own mothers, as they are a living memory of the violence and the rapists. The ethnic groups and population that has suffered such violence brings scars that are hard to erase.

Unfortunately the opinion that everything is allowed in war has lead until now armies and militant groups to use methods that are unethical and target civilians. Bombings, suicide attacks, in general “killing methodologies” are not the only tactics used. This is why we have to notice and study all forms of attacking, even if they do not lead to death, but still they can harm a population and terrorize it. Though it is difficult, there must be systematic research on where, in what way and to how many victims sexual violence was used as part of a wining strategy against the enemy. Of course, such research is not easy and there are difficulties regarding even the willingness of the victims to speak out. Nevertheless it is a necessity.

It is not accidental that the International Court is dealing with cases of systematic sexual violence during wars and conflicts. It has been evident that for the phenomenon to stop and to bring back war in the battle fields, there must be international condemnation and punishment. It should be noted though, that the perpetrators of such atrocities are not just the actors that violate a human body. For the phenomenon to be hindered, the perpetrators that should be brought to justice are those who ordered, gave general guidelines or encouraged for rape to be part of weaponry.

Maria Alvanou