Introduction

The prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment has attracted considerable feminist attention. This chapter is concerned with the interpretation and application of the prohibition against torture under international law to apply to women's experiences of violence (or VAW = T). I begin with an overview of how torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment have been understood generally under international law, before moving on to consider interpretations championed by some feminist scholars and women's rights activists and taken up by the treaty bodies to incorporate violence against women into the torture prohibition.

This chapter finds that the interpretation and application of the torture prohibition to women's concerns has been mixed. As a feminist strategy that benefits from the symbolism of a peremptory norm of international law, it has its advantages. In particular, it puts rape, sexual violence, and other forms of violence against women onto the international agenda. However, it also feeds into and reinforces existing structures and dialogue. Absent an international prohibition against violence against women, women and their advocates have attempted to use the torture prohibition to protect them from various forms of violence. One way this has been achieved is by equating their experiences of violence to that of torture – whether in nature, seriousness, or the identity of the perpetrator. In reality, there may be no exact equivalent.