Drawing on legal reforms across different countries and cultural contexts, the author, a legal scholar, examines how rape myths continue to shape sexual assault laws and legal outcomes and proposes measures for reform.

This article foregrounds the long-overlooked sexual violence perpetrated against Jewish women during the Holocaust. It calls for fuller integration of survivors’ testimonies of sexual violence into our understanding of Holocaust history and prompts recognition of the ongoing reality of conflict-related sexual violence today.

Iryna Dovhan, head of SEMA Ukraine, condemns the severe violence and suffering endured by countless women during the Ukraine-Russia war, which has persisted for over a decade.

The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on the Trial of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000 (hereinafter the ‘Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000’), which was hosted in Tokyo, Japan from December 8 to 12, 2000, was a people’s tribunal[1] that held the Japanese government – the perpetrating state - and Emperor Hirohito responsible for war crimes. It was viewed as the most appropriate alternative plan devised at a time when it was no longer feasible to hold a legally effective international court with any cooperation from the Japanese government. 

Women who dare to speak out about sexual violence experience overwhelming anxiety across various aspects of their lives.

Violence, militarism and war are gendered phenomena, and peace activism, to be effective, must likewise be gender analytical and gender aware.

The history of the Rohingya genocide in the world’s largest refugee camp and the hope nurtured by women amid an ongoing struggle for survival.

The World Court of Women has held over 30 sessions since 1992, hearing from survivors of violence, conflict and war from around the world.

Written by Shin Ki-young, Professor at Ochanomizu University, Japan

Clearly, liberal democratic initiatives such as the enshrinement of women's rights will continue to fail until structural inequalities, as well as the social norms that allow gender-based violence, are confronted