Investigative and Charging Considerations for International Crimes Targeting Individuals on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (2022)
JICJ (2022) 911–942
International crimes targeting persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity have been documented since at least the Nazi persecution and murder of LGBTIQ+ persons in World War II, and continue in modern campaigns by ISIS in Iraq, among other places. Yet few, if any, perpetrators have ever been held accountable for such crimes, and there remains a dearth of specialized practical guidance for investigators or prosecutors. Attempting to fill this gap in scholarship and practice, this article outlines the legal basis for possible crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as investigative and prosecutorial guidelines for them.
Victory for Women and LGBTIQ Rights under International Criminal Law: Gender in the Draft Crimes against Humanity Treaty (2022)
Chapter in: Gender and International Criminal Law, Valerie Oosterveld, Indira Rosenthal, and Susana SáCouto, eds. (Oxford Univ. Press, 2022)
Authors discuss how the Rome Statute’s opaque and outdated definition of gender has hindered accountability for gender-based crimes and explain how a coalition of advocates prevented its inclusion into the proposed treaty on crimes against humanity.
Queering the Global Governance of Transitional Justice: Tensions and (Im)Possibilities (2021)
In recent years, scholars and activists have been asking queer questions about transitional justice. Queer perspectives advocate for the recognition of anti-queer violence within transitional justice; the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in transitional justice processes; and the development of queer decolonial critiques of transitional justice. Informed by this research agenda, this article develops a queer perspective on the global governance of transitional justice.
Dusting off the Law Books: Recognizing Gender Persecution in Conflicts and Atrocities (2021)
20 NW. J. HUM. RTS 1 (2021)
This article explores the concept of the crime of gender persecution under the Rome Statute, It breaks down the concept of gender persecution in three sections: (1) Understanding gender persecution as a crime; (2) Analyzing gender persecution in conflict situations; and (3) Recognizing gender persecution survivors’ rights to participation in peace processes. The article concludes with practical recommendations for the international community and local communities to increase recognition, prevention and redress for gender persecution and promote a survivor-centered approach for peace and transitional justice processes.
‘Territory is Everything’: Afro-Colombian Communities, Human Rights and Illegal Land Grabs (2020)
4 HRLR Online 290 (May 2020)
This article explores the plight of rural Afro-Colombian women who are battling multiple forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on race and gender, as they fight for their land rights against land occupations and state development plans. Nevertheless, Afro-Colombian women are at the vanguard of land rights advocacy in Colombia. This article documents their struggle for vindication.
Making Rights a Reality: Access to Health Care for Afro-Colombian Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (2020)
51 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 670
This essay discusses the failure of the Colombian government to fully implement the 2016 peace accord’s protections against gender violence and to rectify disparities in the availability, accessibility, and quality of women’s health services throughout Colombia.
Gender Violence Against Afro-Colombian Women: Making the Promise of International Human Rights Law Real (2020)
4 HRLR Online 249
This essay highlights the ongoing issue of gender violence in Colombia – particularly affecting Afro-descendant and Indigenous women and their communities – despite the inclusion of racial and gender justice provisions in the 2016 peace accord with the FARC.
In the Crosshairs: Centering Local Responses to SGBV in Afro-Colombian Communities (2020)
4 HRLR Online 268
This essay discusses the demobilization of the FARC in Colombia and how it led to a power struggle among various forces, leaving Afro-Colombian areas vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from multiple actors.
Understanding Threats Against Afro-descendant Women Human Rights Defenders: Re-envisioning Security (2020)
4 HRLR Online 336
This essay discusses Colombia’s high rate of assassinations of human rights defenders, with women defending Afro-descendant and Indigenous territories particularly at risk.
Third Party at the Table: Afro-Colombian Women’s Struggle for Peace and the Inclusion of a Racial-Gender Justice Analysis in Colombia’s Peace Process (2020)
4 HRLR Online 324
This article discusses how conservative politicians and evangelical religious leaders in Colombia used the concept of “gender ideology” to strip the 2016 Peace Accord of its provisions protecting the rights of women, Afro-Colombians, Indigenous Peoples, LGBTIQ, and non-binary and gender non-conforming persons. It also discusses how the harbinger of conservative opposition to human rights viewed justice for these groups as a threat to their grip on power and argues for the necessity of leadership from Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities in the implementation process.