Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the concept of ‘memory’ and more specifically the dynamics and problematic of ‘collective memory’. It focuses on the silence of law at the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials following the Second World War, and the didactic legacy of these historic trials in relation to wartime rape. The book examines the role of law in shaping collective memories of wartime rape. The mediation of trauma and memory through law is addressed, looking at the way in which witness memory in the courtroom communicates the pain or trauma of gross human rights violations, and the way in which legal actors in turn use personal memory to undermine witness authenticity, credibility and reliability. The book explores the ways in which international criminal justice has contributed to a collective memory of wartime rape.