Gender, Shame and Sexual Violence: The Voices of Witnesses and Court Members at War Crimes Tribunals - Softcover

Sharratt, Sara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 113826847X ISBN 13: 9781138268470

Publisher: Routledge, 2016

Synopsis

Drawing on extensive interview material gathered amongst victims, witnesses, judges and NGOs, this book investigates the prosecution of rape and sexual violence in war crimes tribunals, with special attention to The International Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and World Court in Sarajevo. It examines the testimonies of victims and witnesses and their reasons for testifying, their attitudes towards perpetrators, the consequences of testifying, their recommendations for other witnesses and conceptions of justice. In addition, it explores the attitudes of judges, prosecutors, psychologists and those in charge of protecting and offering services. Adopting a feminist approach, ’Gender, Shame and Sexual Violence’ challenges the assumption that the deterrent effect of making rape trials more visible would reduce the occurrence of sexual violence in conflict situations, contending instead that the manner in which cases are handled both increases the victims’ sense of shame and serves to propagate a representation of women's bodies that may actually serve to increase the use of sexual violence during war. A compelling analysis of the prosecution of rape as a war crime, this volume offers extensive new empirical material that will be of interest to scholars of sociology, gender studies, criminology, politics, international relations and law.

About this title

About the Author:

Sara Sharratt is Emerita Professor of Psychology from Sonoma State University in California and Professor of Gender and Peace Building at the University for Peace in Costa Rica

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 113826847X
• ISBN 13: 9781138268470
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 196