Sumin Lee, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Texas A&M University, gave a talk on her book project, titled "Gender Justice for Whom? Domestic Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence." Why do some governments adopt domestic accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) while others do not? In this book project, Dr. Lee proposes that, during armed conflicts, governments strategically adopt legislative and judicial accountability for CRSV. Legislative measures are used by governments to shape the narrative of justice around protection, while judicial measures allow authorities to distance themselves from the violent entity, especially by punishing low-rank soldiers. Using an original cross-national dataset on domestic accountability for CRSV during civil wars between 1998 and 2018, she finds empirical support for these arguments. This book project contributes to the conflict justice literature by extending the scholarly focus on accountability for CRSV.
Warm thanks to Dr. Lee for visiting William & Mary. We look forward to seeing the published book in the future!
