Proposals to Combat These Forms of Violence, in Light of Existing Supranational Legislation
Abstract: The use of sexual violence in armed conflicts is a deliberate, planned, and systematic instrument of social and identity destruction, recognized under international law as a war crime and a crime against humanity. Despite numerous treaties — from the Rome Statute to the Istanbul Convention — and UN resolutions, impunity and international inertia persist. The need for a global, sanction-based approach coordinated under the auspices of the United Nations is emphasized, in order to ensure justice and prevention while valuing women as a civil, social, and economic resource.
Keywords: #sexualviolence #sexualabuse #SexualViolenceInWar #MassRape #GenderBasedViolenceInConflict #OccupiedBodies #warcrimes #crimesagainsthumanity #sexualviolenceinwar #internationallaw #internationallawhumanitarian #geopolitics #politics #cristinadisilvio #ethicasocietas #ethicasocietasreview #scientificreview #humansciences #socialsciences #ethicasocietasupli
Maurizio Colangelo: lawyer before the higher courts, holder of a Master’s degree from the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (S.I.O.I.) in European Union Law and further training at the University of San Diego. He has served as president of ministerial commissions for the Bar Exam sessions and other study commissions on EU legislation and the reform of honorary magistrates. He has performed the functions of deputy public prosecutor at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome and as magistrate by CSM resolution. He is also a writer. LinkedIn profile.
In modern armed conflicts, the female body is no longer merely a passive victim but a strategic, symbolic, and material target. Sexual violence, far from being a collateral effect, is a deliberate, planned, and systematic tool aimed at annihilating enemy communities, erasing cultural identity, and undermining the very foundations of society. This practice, recognized as a war crime and a crime against humanity, is codified in the unwritten manuals of power: it serves to dominate, humiliate, and subjugate.
From the genocide in Rwanda to the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, from the civil war in Sudan to the repression in Tigray to Afghanistan under the Taliban, the pattern is unchanged: mass rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and sterilization are not accidents but deliberate instruments of annihilation. Each act of sexual violence is a political message carved into the victim’s body: “I possess your community, I shape your future, I annihilate your memory.”
International institutions have formally codified the gravity of these crimes. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Articles 7 and 8) classifies rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, and sterilization as crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols reaffirm the binding obligation to protect civilians and establish sexual violence as a serious violation of international humanitarian law. UN Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war and a threat to international peace.
Yet, a gulf remains between law and justice. Perpetrators act with impunity, protected by opaque war contexts and command chains that erase individual responsibility, while women’s testimony is often delegitimized.
The inertia of the international community, frequently influenced by geopolitical balances, perpetuates silence and impunity. In Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed gang rapes and sexual enslavement, as documented by Médecins Sans Frontières in the report “They raped all of us: Sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan”. Among the victims, girls as young as fifteen suffered physical and psychological torture with devastating consequences for their mental and physical health. In Tigray, Eritrean forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by raping women and girls and enslaving them sexually, as reported by Amnesty in the report “Eritrean soldiers committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in the Tigray region after signing of agreement to end hostilities”.
The destruction of women’s health facilities and the restricted access to reproductive care constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The international community has reacted, yet responses remain fragmented and inadequate. Resolutions such as UN Security Council 1820 acknowledge the gravity of sexual violence, but their implementation is often symbolic. Here emerges the importance of geopolitical actors: President Donald Trump undertook diplomatic initiatives to try to halt the violence in Palestine, demonstrating how international politics can influence, albeit marginally, the protection of victims.
Sexual violence is not an archaic residue, but a structural phenomenon rooted in patriarchal systems and the commodification of the female body. In hybrid wars, prolonged occupations, and asymmetric conflicts, women become vehicles of power: to violate them is to occupy the symbolic space of the other and to destroy their intimate sovereignty. Addressing this reality requires a paradigm shift—humanitarian aid or legal protection alone are not enough. What is needed is a coordinated action intertwining diplomacy, transnational justice, education, and cultural transformation. Only by restoring women to their central role as political subjects—and not merely as victims—can the perverse link between war and gender violence be broken.
Every conflict that targets the female body undermines the foundations of humanity. Where war annihilates difference and the body becomes a violated frontier, the true measure of civilization is revealed: can we still call ourselves civilized if impunity prevails unchecked?
As for the normative framework governing this issue, in 1994 the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women was adopted — the first binding supranational legal instrument specifically dedicated to this topic. Notably, Article 10 established a reporting and monitoring mechanism through periodic “reports” on women’s rights submitted by States, reviewed by an independent intergovernmental agency created in 1928.
In Africa — a continent plagued by hybrid and fratricidal wars (Sudan, South Sudan, Congo, Darfur, Liberia, and others) — the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), adopted in 2003 and in force since 2005, strengthened the definition of discrimination against women. Article 1 expanded the concept to include not only physical, sexual, and psychological harm but also economic violence, recognizing that attacking women also destroys the cultural and economic fabric of societies where women are the cornerstone of social growth. Violence against women, therefore, is not only an ethical and human rights violation but also a destruction of social and economic systems, and remains largely unpunished.
At the international level, the Istanbul Convention (2011) represents the first comprehensive and binding legal framework against violence toward women, entering into force in 2014. It demonstrates the commitment of Member States to end gender-based violence. In 2017, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted General Recommendation No. 35, clarifying State obligations and expanding the definition of gender-based violence to include violations of reproductive rights and online abuse.
Although the United States has not ratified CEDAW, it has consistently recognized violence against women as a “global epidemic”, leading major awareness campaigns worldwide.
Ultimately, the acts of extermination and gender-based violence committed in various parts of the world must be recognized as international crimes. Greater investment is needed in education and prevention, starting in schools and involving families, as practiced in U.S. initiatives.
Victim services remain scarce and underfunded, while sexist attitudes persist globally. In a truly civilized world, women should always be regarded as a noble resource for life. Legal protections and assistance remain uneven across nations, resulting in disparities and cultural resistance that perpetuate gender-based violence.
In conclusion, the creation of a single international agency under UN authority, endowed with sanctioning powers against States that fail to implement or violate the principles of the Istanbul Convention, is essential. Such an agency should be able to impose severe economic sanctions on non-compliant countries. The United States is expected to take a leading role in promoting this initiative, as the fight against violence toward women must be a global priority.
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