Russia, Rape, & Ukraine

By Lark Escobar, MALD 2022 Candidate, The Fletcher School

Unfortunately, in any armed conflict, there is considerable risk for gender-based violence to be employed as an unlawful weapon of war, which is why rape is one of the criteria of genocide and is considered a war crime. Ukraine is no exception to this phenomenon, and reports of gender-based violence (GBV) are emerging, some of which are rather unexpected. 

Although all parties to the conflict, per the Geneva Conventions, are bound by law not to conduct campaigns of rape or other gender-based violence, pogroms of rape may occur in war.  In the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, newly recruited conscripts often have little or no military training before being dispatched to the frontline.  They may have no knowledge of the law of war (international humanitarian law, or IHL) or human rights norms (international human rights law, or IHRL).  This is an unfortunate combination because it is very difficult to enforce these laws or ensure military policies and practices align with international standards if inexperienced, uneducated, young troops are suddenly in a warzone far away from home. The result can be instances such as the Russian armed forces conducting mass rape of Ukrainians in Russian-controlled localities. 

Allegations of mass rape in Ukraine are beginning to emerge.  In one case, a Ukrainian victim from Kharkiv alleged, “a Russian soldier had repeatedly raped her in a school in the…region where she and her family had been sheltering on March 13.” She survived the incident, escaped to Kyiv, and her injuries were documented there.  Another woman reported a similar incident on April 4th, but noted that two Russian troops were involved in the 13- hour attack in the city of Zaporozhye, about 4 hours away from the first attack in Kharkiv. Additional reports have surfaced alleging that Russian armed forces in Kherson have raped a 78-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl.  These substantiated allegations constitute a war crime under international law, including the Geneva Conventions, CEDAW, and the convention against genocide. 

Situations like these are predictable. In anticipation of this risk, some U.S. veterans went to Lviv, Ukraine, and volunteered to teach civilians self-defense techniques in case they faced capture or direct threat from Russian forces.  While this is, on its face, a noble project, it also represents an additional risk for women, children, and other vulnerable persons in the fog of war.  Sometimes protectors, volunteers, and aid workers may exploit the opportunity to commit gender-based crimes.  In one startling case, a U.S. veteran volunteer is accused of raping a medical aid volunteer in Lviv, Ukraine.  Each of these reported incidents of GBV indicates that there could be a larger number of unreported cases.  Women, Peace, & Security principles, as well as IHL and IHRL training for troops, can help mitigate these risks and reduce war crimes in alignment with international law.