Chapter

Gender, enslavement and war economies in Sierra Leone : a case studies from the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Valerie Oosterveld

Gender and war : international and transitional justice perspectives

Cambridge [etc.] : Intersentia, 2019

p. 147-168

English

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was created to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes committed during the 1996-2002 period of the decade-long civil war. Given the prevalence of enslavement during the war, it is not surprising that the Special Court examined various forms of forced labour in some depth. It did so in cases involving former RUF and AFRC leaders, as well as the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. But did the Court's analysis recognise the gendered nature of the enslavement and thus the gendered nature of the war economy ? This chapters analyses this question through an examination of the Special Court's Trial Chamber judgements in the RUF, AFRC, and Taylor cases. It also considers why the linkage between gender, enslavement and the war economy is an important consideration in international criminal law.

• Gender and war : international and transitional justice perspectives / ed. by Solange Mouthaan, Olga Jurasz