Feminist Judgments at the International Criminal Court: The Case of Dominic Ongwen

Mr. Ongwen was convicted by Trial Chamber IX of the International Criminal Court on 4 February 2021 of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr. Ongwen was found guilty of two counts of forced pregnancy as both a war crime and a crime against humanity. While it was the first conviction of forced pregnancy, the original judgment only briefly considered the gravity and harms of this crime. This work utilises evidence, which was available to Trial Chamber, including the testimony of the two victims as well as that of expert witnesses, to properly situate this crime and its impact as well as place the victims at the forefront of consideration. This work operates to alert academics, judicial officers and future legal chambers to the broad scope that can and should be contemplated when deliberating on the crime of forced pregnancy