Title: Sexual violence as a smokescreen on war crimes and human rights violations: a case study of Russia-Ukraine war

Authors: Koyel Basu

Addresses: Department of Political Science, Jangipur College, Jangipur, West Bengal 742213, India; Affiliated to: Kalyani University, India

Abstract: My focus in this paper is sexual violence inflicted on women in war specifically the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war which has left no stone unturned to make survival almost impossible for women - the easiest targets in war. I argue that sexual violence against women especially wartime rape, the most heinous of all, is a perpetual war crime and the most grievous human rights violation which not only needs to be recognised and addressed as a crime against almost half of humanity, but it needs immediate attention from international community for alleviation and redressal. I define sexual violence against women and it's firmly rooted in the hierarchic, violent, unequal, barbaric and patriarchal social and political order which has always encouraged subordination of women without giving them proper agency and voice in their existence. In doing so, I analyse the relationship between violence and power.

Keywords: sexual violence; rape; war; physical abuse; genocide; oppressive masculine culture; power; sexual torture; international law.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2025.147388

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2025 Vol.12 No.3, pp.230 - 243

Received: 28 Sep 2023
Accepted: 03 Oct 2023
Published online: 15 Jul 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article