The construction of rape as a crime against humanity: Recognition and prosecution by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

In February 2002, the Appeals Chamber of International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted three Serbian paramilitary leaders for crimes against humanity that included systematic rape and enslavement of women during war in Bosnia in 1992. Known as the Kunarac judgment, the ruling established precedence by prosecuting rape and enslavement as crimes against humanity for the first time in history. The ruling also marked the first time that rape had been prosecuted as a separate crime by an international criminal tribunal.; This study investigates the context, timing and significance of Kunarac 2002. It uses a constructionist approach to develop a comprehensive understanding of social forces that led to Kunarac 2002. The study sheds light on processes of social problem construction that generated social change through legal policy reform and its enforcement in an international war crimes tribunal. Designed as a historical case study, it culls information from written documents, fieldwork, and interviews with eighteen journalists, legal experts, women rights advocates, and Tribunal staff. I propose that historical and legal context are key to understanding the significance of Kunarac 2002. I demonstrate that despite legal restrictions, war rape has been committed with impunity throughout history. To explain prevalence, I suggest that rape serves reward, terror, and revenge purposes and can function as a component of ethnic cleansing and genocide policies.; The study finds that news media coverage, global-wide feminist mobilization against gender violence, and the presence of women in senior-level positions at the Tribunal were important to the timing of Kunarac 2002. These findings contribute to the constructionist literature on social problems and support political process models that recognize the importance of indigenous organizations and coalition networks in the development of social movements. The findings also support research on the contributions women have made to the development of international law on gender crimes.