Kelly N
Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, USA.
J Am Med Womens Assoc (1972). 1997 Fall;52(4):188-90, 198.
The use of rape as a tool of persecution is not new, but recognition of the political rape of women as a violation of internationally protected human rights and as a basis for political asylum is. Over the last several years, a number of advances have been made, including human rights instruments that recognize the need to protect women from rape and other sexual abuse; guidelines from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and several countries that acknowledge the political nature of rape and the difficulties experienced by women attempting to assert claims to asylum based on rape or other sexual abuse; and a number of important decisions by individual governments to provide protection to survivors of rape. Legal advancements for women in this area have depended largely on the assistance of medical and psychological experts who have been able to educate adjudicators and advocates on the effects of sexual harm, provide expert testimony in individual asylum cases, and provide critical treatment and support to survivors as they work their way through the process of obtaining legal protection.
将强奸用作迫害工具并非新鲜事，但将对妇女的政治性强奸视为对国际保护人权的侵犯并作为政治庇护的依据却是新情况。在过去几年里，已经取得了一些进展，包括一些人权文书认识到有必要保护妇女免遭强奸和其他性虐待；联合国难民事务高级专员公署及若干国家的指导方针承认强奸的政治性以及妇女试图基于强奸或其他性虐待提出庇护申请时所遇到的困难；还有一些国家政府作出的为强奸幸存者提供保护的重要决定。这一领域妇女的法律进展在很大程度上依赖于医学和心理学专家的协助，这些专家能够就性伤害的影响对裁决者和倡导者进行教育，在个别庇护案件中提供专家证词，并在幸存者争取获得法律保护的过程中为他们提供关键的治疗和支持。
