An international legal perspective on conflict-related sexual violence: examining the plight of girl soldiers
| dc.contributor.author | Higo, Noriko Tasneem | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-21T09:56:45Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-10-21T09:56:45Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This paper aims to examine the extent of the legal protection of the girl soldier in armed conflicts, with a particular focus on sexual violence, within the lens of International Law. Furthermore, it is the objective of this paper to bring light to the ever-current and escalating legal issue by closing the gap and bringing special attention to the academic sphere of International Law, namely International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law and International Human Rights. The methodology of the current legal protection provided to girl soldiers in armed conflict under International Law will be provided through a desktop qualitative study. In order to explore the scope of the protection, an analysis of how International Law protects girl soldiers through legal instruments, International Criminal Court (ICC) judgments, and other significant principles and standards will be assembled. The girl soldier will be viewed from a victim’s perspective rather than a perpetrator as it will inspect the international crimes of sexual violence abuses against her, such as the war crimes and crimes against humanity by committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution and forced pregnancy, and torture of girl soldiers. Issues faced by female child soldiers prior to enlistment and conscription, during their roles as female child soldiers and the aftermath, rehabilitation, reintegration and stigmatisation of female child soldiers into society as females will be investigated. Victims who have faced sexual violence abuse are evaluated, assessing whether they are adequately addressed within the ICC and other applicable tribunals, such as the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). As it stands, the research within the legal arena of resources and laws can be predetermined to neglect the girl soldier and the sexual violence abuses faced within armed conflict. The failure to acknowledge these sensitive subjects amounts to the failure to protect children, females and those exposed to armed conflict, a trinity of vulnerability within society. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | N/A | |
| dc.identifier.issn | N/A | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21100 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | N/A; N/A | |
| dc.subject | Girl Soldiers | |
| dc.subject | Child Soldiers | |
| dc.subject | Sexual Violence Crimes | |
| dc.subject | International Humanitarian Law | |
| dc.subject | Children in Armed Conflicts | |
| dc.title | An international legal perspective on conflict-related sexual violence: examining the plight of girl soldiers | |
| dc.type | Thesis |