Rape - A Tool of War
Do trials of war crimes prosecute soldiers of rape and sexual violence?
The 4th Universal Periodic Review: War-Related Sexual Violence (WRSV) in
Ethiopia's Tigray Region â Submitting Evidence on Gross Violations of Human Rights, War Crimes, Crime against Humanity, and Genocide.
How Tigray war rape victims turned to Rwandan genocide survivors to heal
âYour Womb is Our Enemy!â: The Rape of Tigray as Genocidal Rape
HIV soars after a deadly war in Ethiopiaâs Tigray. Trumpâs aid cuts arenât helping
The Enduring Shadow of Weaponized Rape: Gendered Violence in the Tigray Genocide
Conflict-Related Sexual And Reproductive Violence In Tigray
Unveiling the Horrific Extent of Weaponized Rape in Tigray: An In-Depth Analysis
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Ethiopia, Populations At Risk
Whatâs happening?
There have been documented cases and reports of systematic sexual violence used as a weapon of genocide in Tigray. These sources offer harrowing testimony and factual detail. They describe extreme sexual mutilation, like the insertion of foreign objects, used deliberately to inflict physical and psychological damage and sterilize Tigrayan women. Communityâbased study via BMJ Global Health analyzed over 300 medical records and 76% of victims experienced gang rape; many cases involved serious reproductive health issues. BMC Public Health tells us among 528 survivors, over 82% were raped; nearly all endured severe physical violence and major psychological trauma. Report from Tigray Genocide Inquiry, AprilâŻ2025, give us testimonies describe sexual mutilation, rape, and use of slurs to demoralize and degrade Tigrayans. Foreign objects were deliberately inserted into genitals to impair fertility. These documented cases are not isolated, they form part of a widespread, systemic campaign of war crimes and genocidal violence targeting the Tigrayan population. Reports show sexual violence was not merely incidental but strategically used to humiliate, sterilize, and terrorize entire communities. Many victims continue to lack basic medical and psychological support. [Sources above]
Do trials of war crimes prosecute soldiers of rape and sexual violence?
Yes, absolutely, war crimes trials do prosecute soldiers and commanders for rape and sexual violence, and they have done so in several landmark cases. But here's the real kicker: it hasnât always been this way. For a long time, wartime sexual violence was ignored, dismissed as "collateral damage," or swept under the rug. The legal and moral failure was profound. But in recent decades, there's been a seismic shift in how the international legal system treats these crimes.
What is the current legal groundwork?
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002. Under the Rome Statute, sexual violence can be: War Crimes; Crimes Against Humanity; Genocide (in specific contexts). Some of the crimes which are explicitly named are Rape; Sexual slavery; Enforced prostitution; Forced pregnancy; Enforced sterilization; Other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity. This is considered as vast because it codifies sexual violence explicitly and allows victims to seek justice even when their state won't act. That means they are prosecutable under: The Geneva Conventions; The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC); Various ad hoc tribunals, like those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
History?
1. The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu (ICTR-96-4-A) â First time an international court, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), convicted someone for rape as an act of genocide. Rape was shown to be strategically used to destroy a group, not just opportunistic violence. Akayesu was the mayor of Taba, a commune in Rwanda, during the genocide. Originally, the ICTR charged Akayesu with only murder, extermination, and persecution.
But during witness testimony, women began speaking about the rape, gang rape, and sexual torture they endured and saw. The court recognized this wasnât just random cruelty, it was organized, systematic, and had genocidal intent. So guess what they did? They amended the indictment mid-trial to add charges of: Rape; Sexual violence; Crimes against humanity; Genocide through acts of sexual violence. This case was groundbreaking because this is the first conviction for rape as a form of genocide in international law. It set a precedent: sexual violence isnât just a byproduct of war, it can be a weapon of war. It acknowledged that rape was used to destroy communities, not just individuals. It established that even if a general didnât personally commit sexual violence, they can be tried if: They knew or should have known it was happening. They failed to prevent or punish the perpetrators. Akayesu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) â More than seventy individuals have been charged with crimes of sexual violence including sexual assault and rape. As of early 2011, almost thirty have been convicted. The court prosecuted rape camps, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy during the Bosnian War. It gave a clear recognition of sexual violence as a tool of ethnic cleansing.
3. The Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen (ICC-02/04-01/15) â In February 2021, Dominic Ongwen was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by the International Criminal Court of an overwhelming majority of the charges brought by the Prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the time he was a senior leader of the so-called Lord's Resistance Army (''LRA'') in Uganda. The brutal and terrifying campaigns of attacks on the civilian population, sexual slavery, forced marriage and forced pregnancy, murder, mutilation, torture, pillaging, abduction and other atrocities by the LRA with Mr Ongwen as one of its senior leaders, had horrific consequences for the civilian population in Uganda, including for women and children. The guilty verdict of more than 60 counts included important convictions on the basis of sexual and gender-based crimes and crimes against children, including for the first time, the crime of forced marriage and forced pregnancy. He was also a direct perpetrator of terrible sexual violence, including against young girls, some of whom were forcibly "married" to him.
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina â sexual violence as a weapon of ethnic cleansing: The Serbian forces aimed to ethnically cleanse Bosnian Muslims from certain regions. There was a systematic use of rape as a weapon of war; not random, not incidental, but orchestrated policy. Places like FoÄa, Omarska, Vilina Vlas became infamous as rape camps, where Bosniak women and girls (some as young as 12) were detained, raped repeatedly, tortured, and trafficked. The ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) convicted Dragoljub Kunarac and others of rape, enslavement, torture as crimes against humanity and for the first time, sexual slavery was explicitly prosecuted under international law. It mattered because it established that rape was used to terrorize and demoralize communities. It set precedent that rape and sexual violence can be central to genocidal campaigns.
Despite legal frameworks and some strong precedents, justice is patchy. Many perpetrators never face trial. Stigma and fear stop survivors from coming forward. Commanders and political leaders often escape accountability, especially in powerful countries. In some cases, peace deals give de facto amnesty, under the banner of âreconciliation.â Rape and sexual violence in war are war crimes. Trials can and do happen, and the legal tide is shifting in favor of justice. But in practice, itâs still a rough road with gaps in accountability, survivor support, and enforcement. Itâs justice, just not nearly enough of it, and not fast enough.
5. Yazidi cases against ISIS â Genocide, rape, and slavery in the 21st century: In 2014, ISIS attacked Sinjar, a region of Iraq home to the Yazidi religious minority. They killed men, abducted women and children, and sold thousands of Yazidi girls into sexual slavery. This was not random because ISIS documented and justified this in religious terms. Brave Yazidi women like Nadia Murad (who later won the Nobel Peace Prize) told the world what happened: rape, forced conversion, beatings, imprisonment. In 2022, a German court convicted an ISIS member of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including enslavement and rape of Yazidi women. It was the first time a court outside Iraq/Syria formally recognized the Yazidi genocide. An international push led by grassroots Yazidi survivors and human rights lawyers, not big governments, made this happen and highlighted accountability and cruelty for non-state actors (terror groups) under international law.
How do these prosecutions actually work?
If we try to demystify the legal machinery a bit. The challenges can be survivors have endured unthinkable trauma and speaking in court can re-trigger PTSD or shame and stigma can silence them. Defense teams sometimes aggressively cross-examine or âimply consentâ. The evidence collection is brutal. Rape survivors often face trauma, shame, community rejection. Physical evidence is rarely available in war zones. Courts depend heavily on eyewitness testimony, which can be harrowing to give. The chain of command is pretty difficult to yank. Prosecutors would often need to show that superiors either: Ordered the crimes; Knew and did nothing; Should have known. In many tribunals, victim-witness support systems are fragile, underfunded. Women often face retribution or stigma for speaking out. Most importantly, the fundamentals of international geopolitics are enough to tell us that states donât want their soldiers on trial, especially powerful ones and cooperation with the ICC is often selective or outright hostile.
Now, what can we do for Tigrayan women?
Urge the UN to recognize the Tigray Genocide
Sanction Ethiopia for using rape as a weapon of war