Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Promoting Forensic Evidence as a Humanitarian Action

This chapter presents conflict-related sexual assault as a calculated tactic of control and intimidation, with repercussions ranging from physical injury to societal disintegration. It outlines a transition from silence to litigation using guidelines that connect clinical treatment with legal record, while reconceptualizing forensic work as both evidentiary and humanitarian. The operational realities—enduring conflict, institutional instability, threats to victims and personnel, absence of protocols and training, and the relentless adversary of time—complicate execution. Case studies from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) demonstrate the modification of the International Protocol to local sociocultural and clinical factors to enhance quality and effectiveness. Lessons acquired pertain to the delineation of roles between medical care and forensic documentation, the suitability of form structures and technical language, as well as rigorous processes for consent, confidentiality, and data protection. The chapter advises for ongoing investment to ensure that victim-centered, context-sensitive forensic documentation is reproducible in humanitarian contexts.