Reproductive Violence and International Criminal Law

This book deals with the phenomenon of conflict-related reproductive violence and explores the international legal framework’s capacity to respond to it. The international discourse on gender-based violence in conflicts tends to focus on sexualized crimes, which leads to incomplete narratives of the gendered dimensions of armed conflicts. In particular, international law has often remained silent on conflict-related violence affecting or aimed at the victim’s reproductive system.

The author conceptualizes reproductive violence as a distinct manifestation of gender-based violence and a violation of reproductive autonomy. The analysis explores the historical approaches to reproductive violence and evaluates the current potentials of international criminal law for its prosecution as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In this regard, it also develops proposals for a gender-sensitive interpretation of the existing legal framework as well as possible amendments to it. 

The book is aimed at researchers and practitioners in the fields of international criminal justice and international human rights law with an interest in gender perspectives on international law, sexualized and gender-based violence, and the discourse on reproductive human rights.

Tanja Altunjan is a former researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin where she obtained her doctoral degree in criminal law.