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Gender justice for whom? Domestic accountability for wartime sexual violence
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Lee, Sumin. Gender justice for whom? Domestic accountability for wartime sexual violence. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-e9v8-ew15

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TitleGender justice for whom? Domestic accountability for wartime sexual violence
NameLee, Sumin (author); Midlarsky, Manus (chair); Kenwick, Michael (member); Lindsey, Summer (member); Krook, Mona L (member); Simmons, Beth A (member); Rutgers University; School of Graduate Studies
Date Created2022
Other Date2022-10 (degree)
SubjectPolitical science, International relations, Accountability, Civil war, Conflict-related sexual violence, Domestic accountability, Gender justice
Extent1 online resource (198 pages) : illustrations
DescriptionWhy do some governments adopt accountability measures for wartime sexual violence during and after civil wars while others do not? Scholars and policymakers stress the importance of domestic accountability for wartime sexual violence, yet the motivations of governments adopting these measures remain unexplored. This dissertation aims to investigate why and how conflict-affected governments address wartime sexual violence through accountability measures. The central argument of this dissertation is that governments adopt accountability measures for wartime sexual violence to rebuild their legitimacy and restore their moral images. The gendered victimhood of wartime sexual violence and the international community’s commitment to end impunity allow governments to use accountability as a strategic means to promote their legitimacy. I further investigate different forms of accountability– legislative and judicial – and argue that governments use each measure to frame accountability for wartime sexual violence differently. I argue that legislative measures frame accountability around the prevention of future wartime sexual violence while judicial measures focus more on the punishment of past abuses. When governments face high culpability of wartime sexual violence, they adopt legislative accountability to frame the narrative around prevention. When their reputation is undermined, governments take judicial accountability measures to distance themselves from the violent group and promote their moral images. The proposed theories are tested on an original dataset of domestic accountability for wartime sexual violence in Africa between 1998 and 2018. This will be the first dataset that narrowly focuses on accountability measures that address wartime sexual violence and comprehensively measure those beyond prosecutions. Along with illustrative case studies of Chad, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I find empirical support that accountability for wartime sexual violence is used as a strategic means when governments face domestic demands for gender justice and rely on international support. The dissertation also finds empirical support that legislative and judicial accountability is strategically used to evade punishment and distance from the violent entity respectively.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-e9v8-ew15
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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