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• compelled rape (committed by a third person compelled to do so); • attempted rape; • sexual assault; • anal and vaginal virginity tests; • violent acts to the genitalia (such as burning, electrical shocks or blows); • forced marriage; • forced pregnancy; • forced sterilization; • forced abortion; • forced prostitution; • forced pornography; • forced nudity; • forced masturbation and any other forced touching that the victim is compelled to perform on himself/ herself or a third person; • human trafficking for sexual exploitation and slavery; • castration, forced circumcision and female genital mutilation (FGM); • threats of sexual violence used to terrorize a group or a community. Explanatory Notes: Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), Trial Chamber II, Prosecutor v. Charles Taylor, Judgment, 18 May 2012, SCSL-03-01-T, in which Charles Taylor was sentenced for having subjected the civil population to a campaign of terror, and particularly for using sexual violence as an instrument of terror; Republic of South Africa, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 (2007). c. Sexual violence can constitute an international crime. Certain acts of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or crimes of genocide, such as rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution and sterilization, or forced pregnancy. d. Certain international crimes can be committed in times of peace, although they are more frequent in armed conflicts and/or in crisis situations. In armed conflicts or crisis situations, sexual violence can be used as a strategy to serve military goals or for the purpose of repression, and as a means to terrorize, punish and exact reprisals against a presumed enemy in order to force that enemy to flee, or to destroy it. In spite of the fact that sexual violence is extremely frequent in armed conflicts and crisis situations, the perpetrators of these crimes are rarely held responsible for their actions. Explanatory notes: Statute of the International Criminal Court (hereinafter the “Rome Statute”), Articles 6, 7 and 8, especially 7 (1) (g), 8 (2) (b) (xxii) and 8 (2) (e) (vi) (1998); International Criminal Court, Office of the Prosecutor, General Policy Document on sexual and sexist crimes, p. 4, par. 25-35 (2014); United Nations Security Council Resolutions S/RES/1325 (2000); S/RES/1820 (2008); S/RES/1888 (2009); S/RES/1889 (2009); S/RES/1960 (2010) ; S/RES/2106 (2013); S/RES/2122 (2013); S/RES/2242 (2015); International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict: Basic Standards of Best Practice on the Documentation of Sexual Violence as a Crime under International Law (hereinafter the “International Protocol on the Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, 2014); International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Akayesu case, ICTR-96-4; International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Kunarac case, IT-96-23 ; International Criminal Court, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo case, ICC-01/05-01/08; Extraordinary African Chambers, Judgment of Public Prosecution v. Hissène Habré, par. 1527, p. 341 and par. 1538, p. 344 (2016). e. It has been acknowledged that under certain circumstances, sexual violence can be a form of torture (rape, female genital mutilation, forced abortions and sterilizations), or can constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Explanatory Notes: Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2, application of Article 2 by States Parties, CAT/C/ GC/2, par.18 (2008); United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/HRC/7/3, par. 69 (2008); United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, “15 Years of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences” (2009); UNHCR Guidance Notes on Refugee Claims Related to Feminine Genital Mutilation (2009); ICTR, the Prosecutor v. JeanPaul Akayesu, ICTR-96-4-T, Judgment on 2 September 1998, par. 597; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Articles 8 (2) (a) (iii) and 8 (2) (b) (xxi). GUIDELINES ON COMBATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA 15

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The Guidelines on Combating Sexual Violence and its Consequences in Africa

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Document date: Oct 20, 2010

Type of document: Recommendations

Language: English

Thematic Area

Women

Document Summary: The Guidelines on Combating Sexual Violence and Its Consequences in Africa come with explanatory notes. These notes provide references on the sources used, which are the binding and non-binding African regional legal instruments; the jurisprudence of the Commission, its general comments, thematic resolutions and resolutions on specific situations in a given country; and other regional and sub-regional legal and regulatory texts, particularly those adopted by the African Union. The explanatory notes also refer to normative international instruments, such as human rights treaties; specific legislation on the promotion and protection of the rights of women; and the general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; and relevant resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations. They also refer to texts and tools produced by special human rights protection mechanisms at the international and regional levels, for example the special procedures of the United Nations and the Commission. Finally, these notes draw from the jurisprudence of international courts and other judicial and quasi-judicial mechanisms, and from texts on best practices in combating sexual violence and its consequences at the national, regional and international levels.

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The Guidelines on Combating Sexual Violence and its Consequences in Africa

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