Under international law, the use ofsexualviolence as a tactic ofwar is considered a crime for which individuals, military chiefs and high state officials can be held accountable...
Sexualviolence was a weapon ofwar, Groome said, describing a woman who said she had been raped more than 50 times, and women who were forced by Bosnian Serb forces to perform sex acts on members of their own families.
Some governments will argue that the targeting of women in war -- including with sexualviolence -- is a regrettable but inevitable by-product of armed conflict.