Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship - (In)Visible Crime

Introduction

The project “(In)Visible Crime: Dealing with Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in International and National Contexts. A Case-Study of Ukraine” is implemented by Dr. Iuliia Anosova who is a postdoctoral fellow under the MSCA4Ukraine fellowship scheme.

The project period: 01.06.2023 – 31.05.2025.

Project description

Conflict-related sexual violence is a complex phenomenon affecting lives of millions of people around the world, who either became its direct victims or whose communities suffered from its consequences. However, unlike many other international crimes, as of now conflict-related sexual violence did not receive proper recognition at the international level, be it a special international treaty or comprehensive caselaw of international courts and other international bodies. As the war rages at the territory of Ukraine, the question that becomes more and more forefront is whether, considering current international developments, the sexual violence atrocities committed amidst Europe will be properly prosecuted and fairly punished. And if the existing legal instruments are not sufficient enough to do that, whether the Russian-Ukrainian war might constitute a necessary momentum for initiating the substantive changes.

The project is aimed at exploring formal and informal impediments precluding effective response to conflict-related sexual violence at the international level and within the current Ukrainian context. It will be first in its kind comprehensive exploration of Ukrainian experience in dealing with sexual violence related to the Russian-Ukrainian war, applying the top-down (descending from international to the national level) and multidisciplinary approaches.

Objectives

These are the objectives of HEUMPF2023000901 – (In)visible crime:

Objective 1. Exploring existing normative instruments and institutional mechanisms at the international level within the framework of international humanitarian, criminal and human rights law, which address conflict-related sexual violence, and formal and informal factors precluding their effective functioning
Objective 2. Analyzing Ukrainian context of dealing with conflict-related sexual violence committed in the course of Russian-Ukrainian war in the light of the effects of and interaction with the international normative and institutional system

Role of Ghent University

The project is conducted within the Justice Visions team at the Human Rights Center of Ghent University under the mentorship of Prof. Tine Destrooper (Ghent University, Belgium).