Sexual and gender-based violence has been a feature of war since the advent of war itself. Rape was endemic to the barbaric logic of colonialism. People of all genders have been victims of rape and sexual violence inside and outside of armed conflict throughout history. of prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes, this symposium seeks to bring together academics, activists, lawyers, policymakers, and international justice practitioners with a view to engaging with histories, processes and operational successes and challenges – as well as displacements, narratives and accountabilities – that are engendered by contemporary approaches and policies towards sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict. The symposium will feature panels on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, around policies and jurisprudence related to the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence under the rubric of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and the developments from the ICC and complementary jurisdictions. In this regard, it will look at the histories of prosecution of sexual violence, as well as the operational successes and challenges involved in the prosecution of sexual violence, and its concomitant processes. The symposium will also examine broader conceptions and incidence of sexual violence inside and outside of armed conflict. It will look at the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict outside of the conceptualisation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to consider the gendered structural violence of conflict, as well as sexual violence that is not encompassed by war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It will examine critically mechanisms for redress for sexual and gender-based violence in war, and will look at emerging issues in the framework of prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes. It seeks, thus, to situate contemporary processes around accountability within a broader context of international justice and international relations. The symposium forms part of a project at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation on accountability for gender-based violence. The Institute acknowledges the generous support of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Pretoria for the project. i FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Ms Kelly-Jo Bluen Project leader, International Justice, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation kbluen@ijr.org.za or kellyjobluen@gmail.com Tel: +27 79 448 0178 or +44 7428 702653 Ms Sithembile Mbete Lecturer, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria Sithembile.Mbete@up.ac.za or Tel: + 27 83 686 2554 Ms Tshegofatso Senne Programme Consultant for International Justice, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation TSenne@ijr.org.za or tshego311@gmail.com Tel: +27 81 591 6444 Concept note /1