ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the types and contexts of sexual violence in armed conflicts, focusing on those towards the end of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty-first. Sexual violence in armed conflict is criminalized in both international and domestic law. It begins with a brief overview of extant legal prohibitions, then two cases are examined in depth: Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. Sierra Leone, a former UK colony on the West African Atlantic coast, is home to 16 ethnic groups and is religiously diverse. In Sierra Leone, the taking of 'bush wives' was influenced by traditional cultural norms for legitimated abduction marriages as well as a rapist being able to legitimate the relationship by marring victim. In Sri Lanka much of the sexual violence committed was targeted by the state soldiers, police officers and security forces against women and men associated with the minorities.
