Sexual slavery

Sexual slavery is slavery for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Sexual slavery may involve single-owner sexual slavery; ritual slavery, sometimes associated with certain religious practices, such as ritual servitude in Ghana, Togo and Benin; slavery for primarily non-sexual purposes but where non-consensual sexual activity is common; or forced prostitution. Concubinage was a traditional form of sexual slavery in many cultures, in which women spent their lives in sexual servitude. In some cultures, concubines and their children had distinct rights and legitimate social positions.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action calls for an international effort to eradicate sexual slavery as an abuse of human rights. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies.

The Rome Statute (1998) (which defines the crimes over which the International Criminal Court may have jurisdiction) encompasses crimes against humanity (Article 7) which include "enslavement" (Article 7.1.c) and "sexual enslavement" (Article 7.1.g) "when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population". It also defines sexual enslavement as a war crime and a breach of the Geneva Conventions when committed during an international armed conflict (Article 8.b.xxii) and indirectly in an internal armed conflict under Article(8.c.ii), but the courts jurisdiction over war crimes is explicitly excluded from including crimes committed during "situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature" (Article 8.d).

Sexual servitude is specific type of oppression which incorporates restrictions on one's self-sufficiency, opportunity of development and energy to choose matters identifying with one's sexual action. Hence, the wrongdoing likewise incorporates constrained relational unions, household subjugation or other constrained work that at last includes constrained sexual movement. Rather than the wrongdoing of assault, which is a finished offense, sexual subjugation constitutes a proceeding with offense. ... Types of sexual servitude can, for instance, be practices, for example, the detainment of ladies in "assault camps" or "solace stations", constrained impermanent "relational unions" to officers and different works on including the treatment of ladies as property, and in that capacity, infringement of the authoritative standard forbidding subjection.