Can international law protect half of humanity? A new strategy to stop violence against women
| Pages | 88-100 |
| Date | 13 April 2015 |
| Published date | 13 April 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-12-2013-0036 |
| Author | Riane Eisler |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression, conflict & peace |
Can international law protect half of
humanity? A new strategy to stop violence
against women
Riane Eisler
Riane Eisler is a President,
based at Center for Partnership
Studies, Pacific Grove,
California, USA.
Abstract
Purpose – The Rome Statute, especially Article 7 on Crimes against Humanity, and the principle of
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) apply to widespread violations of human rightsthat a State fails to prohibit or
protect against. Yet far too little attention has been paid to systemic crimes that take the lives of many
millions of women and girls every year. The purpose of this paper is to detail a proposal to use international
law to hold governments and/or their agents accountable when they fail to protect the female half of
humanity from widespread and egregious crimes of violence.
Design/methodology/approach – To accelerate the movementto make women’s human rights a global
priority, it examines: first, expanding the interpretation of the Rome statute, particularly Article 7 – Crimes
against Humanity. Second, where necessary, amending the statute to include gender in addition to race
and ethnicity.
Findings – Seven crimes and their personal, social, and economic consequences are analyzed, and
legal remedies are detailed: selective female infanticide and denial to girl children of food and health care;
the sex trade and sexual slavery; female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); domestic violence (from murder
in the name of honor and bride burning to acid throwing and battery); rape; child marriage and forced
marriage.
Originality/value – This paper explores a new approach for use by scholars, attorneys, and human
rights activists to end the global pandemic of violence against the female half of humanity by invoking
the Rome Statute and/or amending it to protect women and girls. It provides a new legal and
sociological analysis.
Keywords Crimes against humanity, Economic costs of gender violence, International criminal law,
Social effects of gender violence, Violence against women, Women’s human rights
Paper type General review
This paper details a proposal for using international law to hold governments accountable when
they fail to protect the female half of humanity from widespread and egregious violence
that takes many millions of lives every year yet is not prohibited by law and/or prosecuted
(Eisler, 2013).
The Rome Statute(especially Article 7 on Crimes againstHumanity, theprinciple of Responsibility
to Protect (R2P),and a growing number of UN Conventions, Covenants, and Declarations offera
springboard for applying emerging international law principles to widespread violations of the
human rightsof women and girl children thata State condones when it fails to prohibitor establish
adequate protection against them (Rome Statute, 1998; Evans and Sahnoun, 2001; United
Nations, 1979; [1].
The principle of R2P strengthens the interpretation of the Crimes against Humanity Section of
the Rome Statute to hold those officially or unofficially acting for governments responsible when
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JOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH
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VOL. 7 NO. 2 2015, pp. 88-100, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 DOI 10.1108/JACPR-12-2013-0036
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