{"id":9636,"date":"2018-08-24T09:04:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T07:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=9636"},"modified":"2018-08-29T11:57:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T09:57:43","slug":"an-evolutionary-analysis-of-gender-based-war-crimes-and-the-continued-tolerance-of-forced-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2018\/08\/an-evolutionary-analysis-of-gender-based-war-crimes-and-the-continued-tolerance-of-forced-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"An evolutionary analysis of gender-based war crimes and the continued tolerance of “forced marriage”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northwestern journal of International Human rights\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Amy Palmer<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I. INTRODUCTION
\nForced marriage is often used in\u00a0combat situations and subjects the female population to wartime sexual violence and an\u00a0undesired marital union. In 1991, the Republic of Sierra Leone was stricken with
\npolitical and economic troubles, giving way to a state of civil war that lasted for eleven
\nyears.\u00a0During the Sierra Leone conflict, rebels forcibly conscripted women and girls
\ninto the rebel forces and\/or forcibly married them to members of their group. These
\nwomen were then held captive by individual men in the rebel groups for prolonged
\nperiods of time. Previously, situations like these were treated as those of sexual slavery.<\/p>\n

Sexual slavery is considered a crime against humanity and is prohibited by
\ninternational law.\u00a0However, there are critical differences between sexual slavery and
\nforced marriage. The most significant of these differences is that sex is not the only
\nincident of the forced relationship. Additionally, a forced conjugal association is
\nsometimes not predominantly sexual, as victims of forced marriage need not necessarily
\nbe subject to non-consensual sex. Perpetrators of forced marriage are not being held
\nresponsible for the marital aspect of their offenses if they are prosecuted in the same manner as those perpetrating sexual slavery alone. Acknowledging forced marriage as a
\ncrime against humanity sends a profound message that the exploitation of a weaker
\ngender group during wartime is a criminal act under international law.<\/p>\n

The distinction between forced marriage and sexual slavery is prevalent in the
\nconjugal duties the victim is forced to fulfill. Aside from the likely ongoing performance
\nof sexual acts, the female is required to perform forced labor, such as cooking, washing,
\nand portering (carrying ammunition and other looted items) for her rebel husband.
\nAdditionally, she is expected to bear his children.
\nThere are similarities between forced\u00a0marriage and sexual slavery, because the conjugal status is imposed on the female\u00a0through coercion or threats.<\/p>\n

However, there are differing mental and psychological\u00a0elements of the effect the label of \u201cwife\u201d has on the female. There may be diminished\u00a0capacity on behalf of the female to leave her \u201chusband.\u201d The female may also feel\u00a0societal pressure beyond the concern that accompanies raising children from the marital type
\nunion. She may be unable to reintegrate into her family and community because she
\nbears the stigma of having been married to a rebel and having assisted in rebel activities.
\nEven today, an unknown number of females still remain with their rebel husbands despite
\nthe fact the conflict is over.<\/p>\n

The international community and the Government of Sierra Leone called for both
\na Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and an independent court to address the
\natrocities committed during the eleven-year conflict in Sierra Leone.
\nThrough an act of\u00a0parliament in February 2002, the TRC began investigating the war to create an impartial
\nhistorical record of human rights abuses that occurred from 1991 to 1999. This act arose
\nout of the 1999 Lom\u00e9 Peace Agreement.10 Under the peace agreement, the TRC was to
\nbe established to \u201caddress impunity, break the cycle of violence, provide a forum for both
\nthe victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to tell their story, [and] get a clear
\npicture of the past in order to facilitate genuine healing and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On August 14, 2000, the Government of Sierra Leone and the UN agreed to
\nestablish the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in order to prosecute war crimes
\ncommitted during the bloody ten-year civil war that left an estimated 75,000 dead.12 The
\nSCSL is a separate and independent court comprised of international and national judges,
\nprosecutors and defense attorneys. It prosecutes persons for violations of international
\nhumanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law.<\/p>\n

READ MORE and\u00a0Download the article<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research: An evolutionary analysis of gender-based war crimes and the continued tolerance of “forced marriage”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,85,43,48,17,49,10],"tags":[759,942,146],"class_list":["post-9636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editor-selection","category-human-rights","category-human-rights-online-library","category-war-and-peace","category-women","category-womens-rights","category-world","tag-forced-marriage","tag-gender-based-war-crimes","tag-violence-against-women","country-world","Documents-conventions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9636"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9693,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636\/revisions\/9693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}