9 - Building a Feminist Justice Approach to International Criminal Law in Practice

Summary

This chapter examines how to build a feminist approach to international justice in practice. It argues that this feminist approach requires developing new justice norms, practices, and institutions. Building on the feminist legal concepts outlined in Chapter 8, the chapter explores two key interconnected strategies for developing a feminist approach to international criminal law in practice, using the example of conflict-related sexual violence. These are feminist ‘transitional’ strategies that use international criminal law for political struggles in concrete situations and build upon new legal opportunities opened by previous feminist struggles for gender justice. These strategies include (1) developing substantive, procedural, and institutional norms for an alternative feminist legal framework and (2) applying the legal framework to sexual violence as an international crime, which includes developing framework principles for sexual violence prosecutions and for an international convention on sexual violence as an international crime. Using conflict-related sexual violence as the basis for developing this feminist approach to international criminal justice also usefully illustrates potential strategies and challenges for addressing other gender-based crimes.