Gender Persecution Policy

War-time abuses against women, girls, LGBTIQ persons are not new. They are as old as human history, appearing in modern international criminal law records as far back as World War II. Yet, beyond sexual violence, gender-based crimes are rarely documented when they happen and perpetrators are hardly ever held accountable for them. As a result, these crimes are often excluded from consideration by tribunals, and in effect, are left out of history. To this end, the OTP embarked on a year-long process to develop a new policy paper on the crime against humanity of persecution on the grounds of gender. This roundtable will discuss the development of the policy paper, the legal substance and how it will guide the OTP, and the ways governments and civil society can utilize the text in national and local settings.

Speakers:

• Ana Elena Abello Jiménez, Specialized Professional Grade/Rank 33, Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP) Colombia
• Lisa Davis (moderator), Associate Professor of Law, CUNY Law School and Special Advisor on Gender Persecution to the ICC Prosecutor.
• Karim A.A. Khan, KC, International Criminal Court Prosecutor
• Jessica Stern, US Special Envoy for the Advancement of the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons
• Beth Van Schaack, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice

This session is organized by ASIL’s Women in International Law Interest Group and co-sponsored by the Public International Law & Policy Group.