Building Accountability for Gender-based Violence

This chapter focuses on one small part of the global movement to end gender-based violence and to punish those who perpetrate, command, and are otherwise complicit in this violence. ¹ It focuses on cases brought under two statutes in the United States: the Alien Tort Statute, and the Torture Victim Protection Act. The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) was enacted as part of the First Judiciary Act in 1789. It is a simple statute, providing that an alien can bring a tort claim for a “violation of the law of nations,” ² today known as “customary international law.” In early 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), which reinforces the right of torture victims and relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts. ³ The legislative history made clear that the TVPA was intended to supplement claims brought under the ATS. The TVPA allowed U.S. citizens, as well as non-citizens, to bring claims for torture and for the extrajudicial killing of relatives.