Peoples' Tribunals, Women's Courts and International Crimes of Sexual Violence

This chapter compares peoples' tribunals with women's courts, focussing on international crimes of sexual violence.International criminal law has been the focus of much feminist activism and contestation to the extent that it has been claimed that 'feminism rules'. At the same time, unofficial or peoples' tribunals and women's courts - civil society initiatives - continue to proliferate. This chapter examines the treatment of international crimes of sexual violence by peoples' tribunals through a focus on the former Yugoslavia. It explores two key questions. First, what do peoples' tribunals offer to victim-survivors of international crimes of sexual violence that is lacking in official courts? Second, to what extent do 'mainstream' peoples' tribunals suffer from the same defects as official courts, thereby rendering 'women's tribunals' necessary