30 January 2026– In an interview with Trouw, IIIM Deputy Head, Michelle Jarvis, discussed why gender perspectives matter in international criminal law and accountability work.
Ms. Jarvis stated that a gender perspective helps investigators uncover harms and patterns that standard approaches can overlook. She referred to Bosnia and Srebrenica to show how violence can affect gender groups differently. She also noted that legal practice has progressed in treating sexual violence as a core international crime, however stigma continues to affect what survivors feel able to disclose.
From her work on Syria, Ms. Jarvis stated that some harms remain under-recorded. She noted that women and girls often had less access to medical treatment and suffered later from health complications after chemical weapons attacks. She added that early documentation drew mainly on statements from men which meant gendered consequences were not fully captured.
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Copyrights of the photo: Brechtje Rood