The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rwanda stated that during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda ‘rape was the rule and its absence the exception’. Indeed, rape and other forms of sexual violence as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, directed in particular against women, have taken place on a massive scale since time immemorial and are still rampant.

This study assesses the supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence, notably whether supranational criminal law (sexual violence as genocide, a crime against humanity and a war crime) and supranational criminal procedure (protective and special measures for and participation of victims of sexual violence) are adequate from the perspective of victims of sexual violence. In addition, the legal consequences of the supranational criminal law system (sentencing and reparation) are examined with the situation of victims of sexual violence in mind. The adequacy of supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence is primarily examined from the point of view of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the benchmark for supranational criminal prosecutions, with clear reference to the practice of the Yugoslav-Tribunal (ICTY) and the Rwanda-Tribunal (ICTR) in the field of sexual violence prosecutions. The study concludes with some recommendations for a more comprehensive framework of supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence.