Gender Persecution
Explainer
Gender apartheid refers to an institutionalised and systematic regime of discrimination, control and denial of rights based exclusively or primarily on gender (including gender identity or expression) and often compounded by other identities (such as race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation).Gender persecution means the deliberate, systematic, and severe denial of fundamental human rights to individuals or entire groups, on the basis of gender (including identity, expression, sexual orientation) or the combination of gender plus other status (race, religion, ethnicity, disability, migration status etc.).
Unlike isolated acts of violence, gender persecution is characterised by patterns of discrimination and rights-deprivation that are embedded in larger systems of power, such as conflict, occupation, authoritarian rule, or other atrocity settings.
It covers not only acts of sexual violence, but also the removal of access to education, freedom of movement, employment, assembly, health services, and political representation, where those deprivations are shaped by gender-based discrimination. For example, laws or practices that forbid women or LGBTQI+ persons from attending school, require forced labour from persons because of their gender identity, or systematically target a gendered group for extermination, fall within the concept of gender persecution.
In the context of international law, gender persecution is formally recognised as a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the ICC (Article 7(1)(h): persecution). However, despite this recognition, application has been limited historically.
WIGJ advocates for a survivor-informed, intersectional vision, recognising that gender persecution often overlaps with other forms of discrimination (race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation). Meaningful redress should include not only criminal accountability, but also prevention, protection, participation of survivors, and recovery.
Why this matters
- Human impact: Beyond physical violence, survivors experience a profound loss of rights concerning their education, livelihood, bodily autonomy, community belonging. Recognising gender persecution centres survivors’ agency and need for holistic justice and recovery.
- ICL relevance: Holding perpetrators to account under the Rome Statute (via the ICC), as well as domestic and regional human rights/courts, strengthens the rule of law and sends the message that gender-based rights-deprivation is a grave crime.
- Systemic change: Addressing gender persecution helps dismantle structural discrimination (gender-based, racial, ableist, colonial) and build inclusive justice systems that protect all persons and communities, deepening legitimacy and responsiveness of legal and accountability frameworks.
What we do on Gender Persecution
Legal Research & Analysis
In November 2024, WIGJ submitted detailed recommendations to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, developed in partnership with gender justice practitioners.
We produce research briefs, explanatory guides, amicus curiae submissions, and legal analysis reports that examine: the crime of gender persecution, gaps in accountability, how to embed intersectionality, and how to link domestic, regional and international mechanisms.
Advocacy & Policy
Current objectives:
- Advocate for the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of gender-based and intersectional persecution at the domestic, regional and international levels.
- Promote legal reform to recognise gender-based persecution and strengthen prevention and protection.
- Ensure that survivors and civil society are meaningfully and safely included in transitional justice, accountability and reparations processes.
- Support the finalisation of the ICC’s forthcoming Principles on the Crime of Gender Persecution.
Recent/upcoming engagements:
- Statement on the first gender persecution conviction at the ICC in the Abd-Al-Rahman judgment.
- Co-sponsoring side event at the 2024 Assembly of States Parties (ASP) on Gender Persecution Principles.
Solidarity & Network-Building
We work in partnership with gender justice experts and survivors’ organisations across regions. Our approach emphasises power-sharing: we centre survivors’ expertise and support local leadership and capacity-building.
Impact highlights
- Submitted comprehensive recommendations to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor for its Principles on Gender Persecution (Nov 2024).
- Contributed to multi-continent civil society convenings on gender persecution (Bogotá, Winnipeg, Johannesburg, Tasmania, The Hague) that shaped the drafting agenda around prevention, protection, participation and relief.
- Elevated intersectional framing in gender persecution advocacy, ensuring that discrimination on multiple axes (gender, race, religion, migration status etc.) is central to analysis and legal reform.
- Supported survivor-centred policy design in accountability contexts: e.g., safe participation protocols, inclusive reparations models.
