Women's law-making and contestations of "marriage" in African conflict situations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4084362
AutoresAnnie Bunting (0000-0003-0631-6578, York University, autor de correspondencia), Heather Tasker (0000-0002-4989-4290, York University), Emily Lockhart (York University)
Año2021
Volumen55
Número4
Páginas614-633
Fecha de publicación2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLaw & Society Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/lasr.12576
OpenAlexW4200274082
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas33

International criminal law has developed significantly over the past 20 years since the establishment of the ad hoc Tribunals and International Criminal Court. Much scholarly attention has focused on the politics and jurisprudence of these courts, with particular focus on the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence. This article adds to the literature with comparative, qualitative research with survivors of conflict-related forced marriage in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, revealing context-specific understandings of marriage, consent and harm. We argue women exercise "tactic agency" in captivity in ways that are, taken together, "law-making" in their contestations over the socio-legal categories of marriage. Their contestations of marriage impact the norms within rebel groups as well as the development of new crimes against humanity in international criminal law. Building on the empirical findings, we argue that prosecution of crimes against humanity and reparation programs ought to be flexible and responsive enough to capture the varied experiences of women and girls abducted in war for purposes of sexual exploitation

Agency (philosophy · Context (archaeology · Crimes against humanity · Criminal law · Criminology · Forced marriage · Harm · International law · Jurisprudence · Political science · Politics · Sexual violence · Sierra leone · Social science · Sociology · War crime · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law