ABSTRACT
The prevalent emphasis on displaying shame, despair and degradation is mostly used in the former Yugoslavia in the context of the Bosnian Muslim women, which makes the persecution of women as women a mere ethnic conflict. Additionally, the endless pursuit of the sexually victimized female body continues to maintain a fatal linkage between femininity, sexual violence and victimization. In the discussion of best practices in witness support, the words women, men, gender, sexual violence, rape, and gender crimes are never mentioned. As evident in this work, 'sufficient detail' is clearly an engendered concept and in cases of rape and sexual violence, the evidence in this project shows that Trial Chambers are seldom satisfied with the 'details' provided by witnesses of rape and sexual violence. Court members, especially males, and many non-governmental organization (NGO) members working with women and mental health experts, tended to see women as more vulnerable and more in need of protection than the survivors see themselves.
