26 No. 78 JUSTICE ntroduction In the world of sexual violence, “justice” is a complex, multifaceted, and elusive concept. Many believe that justice is achieved through criminal proceedings, and indeed, for some of the victims, prosecution constitutes a critical component of attaining justice. At the same time, other victims deem recognition of the harm they experienced as necessary to feel that justice has been achieved; some seek reparations while others need the state's support to attain justice. Naturally, for many victims of sexual violence, the combination of these elements creates a sense that justice has been done. However, the path to achieving justice becomes significantly more complex and difficult when addressing sexual violence as a weapon of war, due to the aspects, elements and magnitude of this horrifying phenomenon. Sexual violence as a weapon of war is a deeply painful and harrowing subject, one which is exceedingly difficult to confront directly. It constitutes a brutal attack on the very essence of human existence, recurring periodically in various arenas worldwide, not infrequently as part of a mass and murderous attack born of genocidal intent. On October 7, 2023, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, alongside other armed forces, infiltrated southern Israel in a carefully planned and well-organized attack. The attack included horrific acts of massacre, destruction, abduction, as well as crimes of sexual violence. The perpetration of such crimes continued after the initial attack, during the period of the hostages’ captivity. As time passes, more information is coming to light regarding this painful subject. Despite the extreme severity and brutality of this phenomenon, an in-depth examination of global incidents of sexual violence as a weapon of war that have been addressed using legal mechanisms reveals that perpetrators were brought to trial in only a small percentage of the cases. Prosecution for crimes of sexual violence is essential and has far-reaching implications that extend beyond the legal ones. First, as noted above, for many of the victims, it grants the victims a sense that justice was achieved. Moreover, it enables victims’ voices to be heard, accords recognition of the grievous harm they endured, and contributes to the formation of a historical and national narrative. Furthermore, it serves to expose these atrocities as acts of terrorism and as an inherent component of genocide and, in doing so, undermines any attempt to portray such conduct as “legitimate resistance.” While prosecution is possible utilizing the tools of domestic state criminal law and those of international criminal law, the cruelty, scope, and complexity of the phenomenon create obstacles to achieving accountability for these crimes. In practice, when an aggressor force employs acts of sexual violence as a weapon of war and subsequently Accountability for Crimes of Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War: Mission Impossible?* Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas * I wish to thank my dear friends and colleagues, Justice (Ret.) Nava Ben-Or and Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, for their thoughtful and insightful comments. I am also grateful to Dr. Naama Schick, Hadas Achituv, Jeremy Kuttner and Yakira Mayer for their assistance and support in the preparation of this article. Editor’s note: Some parts of this article were presented at a panel on “Roadmap Accountability: Breaking the Cycle of Impunity for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence,” Side event at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), March 13, 2026. I
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