21st SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES
6 December 2022
Name of the Event: SE: Gender Diversity and the Rome Statute System
Report by: Sindija Beta, Legal Team, PILPG
Highlights:
Gender diversity and gender equality need to be examined and discussed together.
The concept of gender is lacking a unified definition, which includes a comprehensive perspective of gender.
Gender-inclusive approaches increase the legitimacy of the Rome Statute system.
Speakers:
Chair: Evelyn A. Ankumah, Executive Director, Africa Legal Aid (AFLA); Coordinator, Gender Mentoring Training Programme for Judges
Judge Piotr Hofmanski, President of the International Criminal Court
Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, Appeals Chamber, International Criminal Court; Chairperson, Gender Mentoring Training Programme for Judges
Judge Fatoumata Dembele Diarra, Former Judge and First Vice President, International Criminal Court
Jennifer Naouri, Immediate Past President, International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA)
Alix Vuillemin, Advocacy Director, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice
Julie Heckscher, Head of Mission, Australia Embassy, the Hague
Summary of the Event:
During the event, the speakers reflected upon the term gender within the framework of the Rome Statute system. The first speaker was Judge Hofmanski. He discussed gender equality and gender diversity together arguing that both concepts are inseparable from each other.
Judge Hofmanski emphasized that gender matters in all aspects of society and that the law cannot be an exception. Gender equality and diversity are crucial for ICC's legitimacy and impact on an international level. He substantiated his point with five arguments. First, gender-diverse workflows and an organization that respects people’s differences are more likely to have a healthy workforce where staff feel appreciated and can enjoy a professional life. Second, women have different experiences and backgrounds from men and can have different perspectives drawing attention to matters that otherwise could be unnoticed. Third, diversity increases external perceptions of fairness. Fourth, diversity allows for more sensitivity to victims’ needs. Women make up a considerable proportion of victims under the Court’s jurisdiction, which means the Court needs to be able to address the special needs related to gender violence and discrimination. Fifth, it is critical that the ICC shows adherence to values of gender equality.
Judge Hofmanski further noted that the Rome Statute system cannot achieve equality by treating gender issues as women's only problem. Individuals need to not only abide by the correct principles but also need to actively promote them within our spheres of influence. He noted that to move forward, we must transform statements into policies and actions referring to the ICC-adopted strategy for gender equality and workplace culture, which will be launched on Thursday at an ASP side event. Strategy is an ambitious document with timelines and commitments for implementing gender parity in the Rome Statute system.
Towards the end of his speech, Judge Hofmanski highlighted that gender parity cannot be taken for granted and that gender diversity is a source of strength and richness for the International Criminal Court.
Then, Judge Solomy Bossa spoke about international criminal laws through a gender lens. Recalling that gender is an important part of international justice as demonstrated by articles 7(3) and 21, the inclusion of a gender definition is a recognition that gender plays an important role in shaping societal behavior, Judge Solomy Bossa argued. Judges must be attentive to power relations and the different experiences of women and men and LGBTIQ+ persons. Discrimination and persecution go hand in hand and it is the duty of judges to establish the truth to eradicate both violations of international rules. Judge Solomy Bossa further noted that when gender is interpreted in the context of society, the reasons for targeting certain victims become clear. She pointed out that gender must not lead to stigmatization or discrimination and that we need to get rid of masculine bias, which affects women negatively. Judge Solomy Bossa emphasized that judges must erode gendered roles, which inflict gender discrimination and international justice must recognize the value of all genders and minorities.
Further, Ms. Vuillemin spoke about the applicability of gender-related provisions of the Rome Statute to gender diversity. She discussed how gender is often used as a euphemism for women, a word which historically was used to raise awareness about the lack of women's inclusion and the socially constructed differences between women and men. The women's movement part of the Women’s Caucus for the Rome Statute system aimed at rebuffing the societal differences that led to a disparity in salaries and reporting on sexual abuse. Nonetheless, much has changed since the early 1990s. The ICC is now one of the many international and regional organizations that advocate for the inclusion of women. Ms. Vuillemin noted that gender perspective is key to accomplishing true gender equality and that this must include all genders, not just male and female. Individuals of any gender can be victims of sexual violence, including women, non-binaries, transgender, and other genders. Furthermore, Ms. Vuillemin referred to how men that have suffered from sexual violence are often perceived as feminine, however, as emphasized by Ms. Vuillemin, equaling feminity with sexual violence is demeaning to women.
She then turned to the lack of a single prevailing definition and understanding of what is gender. Ms. Vuillemin mentioned the different policies and definitions that are attributed to gender by policy documents and organizations, such as the ICC gender mainstreaming policy, gender persecution policy, and the IIIM policy on gender. She mentioned that there is a lot of work done in this field also by young researchers.
Two other panelists provided speeches on the topic. Judge Fatoumata Dembele Diarra spoke on interpreting crimes to ensure the protection of all gender identities and sexual orientations and Ms. Naouri discussed the principle of complementarity and gender diversity.
Lastly, Ms. Heckscher provided concluding remarks on the protection of gender diversity. She spoke about how rendering justice through a gender lens plays an important part in international justice highlighting that victims need to be supported to ensure the crimes are prosecuted. Ms. Heckscher referred to the fact that our practices need to be victim sensitive not only within the ICC but also in national jurisdictions. She said that there are many tools available to us and gender strategies for us to understand this field but most importantly we need to learn, listen, understand, and avoid our internal biases.
During the question and answer component, a representative of the Office of the Prosecutor made comments about the recognition of the fact that we talk about sexual and gender-based crimes and violence, and sometimes they overlap. She noted that we are evolving towards an explicit recognition of non-sexual forms of gender violence. We have charged gender-based persecution in three cases and two out of the three involved non-sexual violence committed against adult-aged males. Gender persecution needs an understanding of the binary perspective and also other forms of sexual orientation and identity and how they can give rise to gender discrimination. The representative emphasized that the rights, needs, and dignity of the victims need attention, protection, and respect. Nonetheless, each individual needs to be treated as unique and the approach must be tailored.
Other discussions during the question and answer component included topics related to understanding gender from the perspective of the victims, as well as the perpetrators, and projects being led in this area.
Questions and interventions further focused on the case of Darfur from the gender perspective, as well as overconcentration to formal approaches to addressing gender problems, such as legislative reforms at national levels, which miss the need for more exponential change. One of the participants pointed out that action needs to be much more on the ground referring to the importance of activism.