While some of the questions lay out the trajectory of our
discussions, they do not seek to synthesise, but rather to
share some reflections, disruptions and question marks,
in the hope that this contributes to ongoing humble,
reflexive activism in pursuit of accountability for sexual
and gender-based violence.
Intersecting oppressions, languages and
actions of gender, justice, victimcy, and survival
8. Is the language used in discussing victims,
perpetrators, survivors, sexual and genderbased violence acceptable? To what extent
is it informed by patriarchy?
9. To what extent does this language impose
on those who have experienced sexual and
gender-based violence identities not of their
choosing? What gives some people the right
to define these terms for others?
10. In what ways do language and action
regarding binary definitions of gender and sex
foster inclusion and exclusion? Who is left out?
Have transitional justice practitioners, the ICC
and academics held themselves accountable
for the trans-antagonism fostered by gender
binaries in definitions of sex and gender in the
Rome Statute and other instruments of justice?
11. Have we held ourselves accountable for
the ableism often present in approaches to
accountability? How, for example, do deaf
women experience the international criminal
justice system? Are measures taken to ensure
that all victims and survivors have access
to justice?
12. How might accountability mechanisms better
address sexual and gender-based violence
against men, particularly in contexts where
sexual violence against men is so stigmatised?
against LGBTQI people? Are accountability
mechanisms doing enough to address the
needs of those with marginalised sexual
identities?
14. What are the distinctions between sexual
violence and gender-based violence? What
are the roles, potential and limitations of
these distinctions and where are the areas
of intersection?
15. Why have mainstream approaches to
accountability for sexual and gender-based
violence included, for the most part, so little
interaction with the contributions of black
feminisms and, particularly, intersectional
approaches that take multiple intersecting
identities and power relationships seriously?
Which approaches would be fostered by this
inclusion? What does the lack of inclusion
suggest about power and race in the field
of research and work in international justice
and sexual and gender-based violence?
16. Very often, adversarial processes continue
to reproduce patriarchal harms for witnesses.
At the ICC, drawing on jurisprudence from the
International Criminal Tribunals, for example,
defences related to victims’ sexual history
are excluded. This is particularly important
in disrupting gendered oppression. In the
Bemba case, this was particularly pertinent.
How can the gains in this regard, in the
Bemba case particularly, be maintained?
How might the exclusion of such factors
foster better reporting?
13. How might accountability mechanisms better
address sexual and gender-based violence
Questions answered and unanswered
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