×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

FACTBOX-Documentary film spotlights crimes of sexual violence in war

by Emma Batha | @emmabatha | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thursday, 20 October 2016 10:01 GMT

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, it is estimated that between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped in 100 days

By Emma Batha

LONDON, Oct 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world's first prosecution for rape as an act of genocide is the subject of a new film scheduled for release in the United States on Friday.

"The Uncondemned" tells the story of the landmark prosecution of small-town Rwandan mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu for his role in the country's 1994 genocide.

Director Michele Mitchell hopes the documentary will increase pressure on world leaders to prosecute Islamic State and Boko Haram militants committing atrocities on girls and women in Iraq and Nigeria.

Here are some facts about sexual violence in conflict.

* Rape and sexual violence are forms of genocide and constitute crimes against humanity. At least 44 nations have experienced sexual violence and rape in conflict.

* The systematic use of sexual violence in conflict is a war tactic, often intended to terrorise populations, destroy communities and, in some cases, change the ethnic make-up of the next generation.

* It can also be used to deliberately infect women with HIV or render them incapable of bearing children.

* The effects of sexual violence persist even after war has ended and include unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and stigmatisation.

* Rape has been a war crime since 1919, but it was not prosecuted until 1997 when Akayesu went on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

* The ICTR was the first international court to convict a defendant of rape as an act of genocide.

* During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, it is estimated that between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped in 100 days.

* In 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia became the first international court to treat rape as a crime against humanity.

* The first case at the International Criminal Court in The Hague to focus on rape as a weapon of war ended this year when Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba was sentenced to 18 years for a 2002-3 campaign of rape and murder in Central African Republic.

* Half of victims of sexual violence in conflict are children under 18 years of age. In some conflicts, up to 80 percent are children.

* Sexual violence against men and boys is thought to be increasing, but levels of reporting are very low because of stigma. Homosexuality is criminalised in many African states, which also deters reporting.

Sources: United Nations, Women for Women

(Reporting by Emma Batha, editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->