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outcomes for defendants? Are female judges more likely to render lengthier sentences in cases involving
sexual assault? Have male victims of sexual assault received the same kind of justice, or is male violence
still taboo? This article examines the ICTY and the role that gender has played in sentencing defendants
accused of sexual violence. As a preliminary point, we had hoped to evaluate both tribunals, but the
number of ICTR decisions is too few to conduct empirical analysis. Moreover, virtually all of the guilty
defendants have received life sentences (rendering variation in the dependent variable null).
As such, we focus on the ICTY in four key areas. First, we analyze the treatment of gender
violence in armed conflicts and at the ICTY. Second, we examine gender-based theories about women as
decision-makers and jurists and highlight feminist concerns about inclusive policies for women at the
international level. Third, we examine several hypotheses about sentencing outcomes to determine
whether ICTY sentences have furthered the cause of retributive justice for sexual assault victims by
ending the culture of impunity. We include in our analysis a comparison of sentencing outcomes for
charges leveled against defendants accused of assaulting females as well as those accused of assaulting
males. We conclude with a discussion of whether the ICTY has advanced the cause of gender justice in
sexual assault cases. The study finds that the criticisms of the ICTY regarding its ineffectiveness and
complaints about justice for women may be misguided from an empirical standpoint, and we question
whether male victims have received “justice” in sexual assault cases.
Gender Violence, Armed Conflict & International Humanitarian Law
History is replete with accounts of sexual violence to accomplish political goals. Whether it is
the “rape of the Sabine women” that form the lore of Rome’s founding or the sexual assaults on the
women of Constantinople by the Crusaders, rape has always been tied to women’s identities and control
for power (Askin 1997). Rape as a weapon of war serves to dehumanize and destroy an important section
of the “enemy’s” population (Copelon 1994). Rather than being collateral damage in the cross-fire of
armed conflict, women are specifically targeted because of their role as guardians of social and cultural
Convention