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6 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev 325 (2011)
Recognizing Rape as Torture: The Evolution of Women's Rights Legal Protective Techniques

handle is hein.journals/ichuman6 and id is 329 raw text is: RECOGNIZING RAPE AS TORTURE:
THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS LEGAL
PROTECTIVE TECHNIQUES
IVETA CHERNEVA
I. Introduction
When thinking about torture, the image coming to mind is
that of a detainee held by state authorities for purposes of
information extraction. The newspapers' photo images of Abu Graib
detainees and sharp-teeth dogs are inevitably recalled. The present
article examines a different angle with regard to the legal
conceptualization of torture as a violation of international human
rights law. The 2008 Report by the United Nations (UN) Special
Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak opened a door by linking
torture to sexual and domestic violence and women's rights, creating
a potential future impact with results that remain to be seen. This
article examines the evolution of law with regard to recognizing rape
as torture. The analysis underlines the main conceptual issues and
legal implications arising out of the legal characterization of rape as
torture. It further suggests potential directions for the evolution of
women's rights protective techniques.
II. Is Rape Torture?
Already in 1993, Catherine MacKinnon had been fervently
campaigning for re-conceptualizing torture to encompass rape, so
* Iveta Cherneva is an author and practitioner focusing on human rights, security,
human trafficking, environmental, social & governance factors, and sustainable
finance. Her career includes the United Nations, US Congress, Oxford GEG and a
number of non-profit institutions. She is the author of the books Trafficking for
Begging: Old Game, New Name, 2011, editor of The Business Case for
Sustainable Finance, forthcoming 2012, and co-author of Beyond Market Forces:
Regulating the Global Security Industry, 2009.

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