Rape, the Least Condemned War Crime. Human Rights are not Women's Rights

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: 16., , language: English, abstract: Rape has long been used as an instrument of war with relative impunity. The scale and horror of sexual violence against women and girls during times of conflict have gained it the recognition as serious crimes. Therefore, rape has become subject of national and international jurisprudence. The continued determination of women's rights groups and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have helped raise awareness and ensure protection from these horrific criminal acts. They effectively used international humanitarian law and put on trial some of the accusers. Rape and sexual violence against women during times of war has gained recognition as war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, treating rape as a war crime and prosecuting the accusers for crimes against humanity has not prevented these crimes from reoccurring. In order to prevent this horrific crime from occurring, war rape must be consider a violation of the most fundamental rights, human rights. Human rights do not apply to women. The language of human rights creates the illusion that everyone is equal before the law, regardless of gender. It disguises the reality of unequal gender power relations that affects all societies. When addressing the crime of rape during times of conflict, the concept of equality means much more than treating all persons in the same way. Human rights activists need to address sexual violence against women as an infringement of human rights, but the only way to do that is to challenge the belief that human rights provisions adequately address women's rights. Activists must advocate to expand human rights laws and build human rights standards to include gender specific crimes. Rape and all forms of sexual violence against women need to be clearly stated as a human rights provision. The acceptance of violence against women during times of conflict, as an abuse of human rights will provide activists with access to the ruling by international law. Because it would be universally held to have political weight, it will provide a useful set of tools. Using these tools, women can demand the State's and international protection, prevention against this horrific crimes and retribution against the perpetrators of abuse. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of all people be respected. Therefore, no women should be subject to any form of torture, degrading treatment of inhuman treatment.

I first became interested in international education while pursuing my masters in international relations and diplomacy. Through my engagement with students and diplomats from different parts of the world I concluded that the best hope for diplomacy was through the education of future world leaders. However this form of education should not be limited to those pursuing studies in diplomacy and international relations. Global awareness and international education should be available to everyone, especially educators. More importantly, I feel strongly that it is the responsibility of educators to share international awareness and knowledge with young students as early as primary school. This was the vision behind my idea of a Center for Global Education https:blogs.shu.eduglobaleducation/ which I co-founded at Seton Hall University. The Center's mission is to advance knowledge of global issues and develop the skills and understanding essentials for success in the emerging global arena. I went on to attain a doctorate in higher education leadership with research on internationalizing education. I spent several years writing grant proposals for potential projects that promoted education, development and sustainability, while teaching courses in International Relations, International Politics, Conflict Resolution and Political Sciences. The last eight years, I have been using my knowledge and experience to design, organize and manage programs that provide opportunities for international exchanges, partnerships and mutual collaborations among educators and policy makers throughout the world.