EPFR toogdag 2023: Conflict-related sexual violence and criminal justice
On Wednesday 7 June, the EPFR research program had its annual research day (toogdag). The venue we had for this year was the Gravensteen, a beautiful historic building right by Pieterskerk.
This year’s format was a bit different from previous years – instead of presentations, we had the screening of a documentary, a panel discussion about it, and a public lecture by Dr. Ajla Škrbić.
About 20 people attended the toogdag from VVI, eLaw, Child Law, and Constitutional and Administrative Law. While having lunch, we watched The Prosecutors, a documentary that tells the story of three dedicated lawyers who seek justice for the victims of conflict-related sexual violence and ensure these types of crimes are not met with impunity. The documentary is filmed over five years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Columbia.
After the break, we moved to the panel discussion with Carolien Jacobs (VVI), Rehana Dole (Child Law) and Ajla Škrbić (Freie Universität Berlin). They gave their takes on the documentary, but also linked it to their own research.
We ended the toogdag with Ajla’s super interesting lecture titled ‘Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) and Criminal Justice: Challenges and Opportunities in the Fight Against Impunity.’ She made a comparative analysis of the three post-Yugoslav states – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia – and their prosecutions of conflict-related sexual violence. She conducted a comprehensive mapping and analysis of indictments and final decisions regarding wartime sexual violence from the highest courts in the three selected states for the period of 2010-2020 to explore whether these courts applied international norms and standards related to gender in conflict-related sexual violence cases.
