Empörung und Tabu

This book deconstructs the dominant narrative that wartime sexual violence was only prohibited under international law in the late 20th century and seen as inevitable before then. It examines 19th-century wars in both the European center and the semi-periphery, such as the Balkans. Actors like journalists, activists, and diplomats are analyzed alongside legal scholarship to explore international law as a discursive practice.
Sexual violence was already unequivocally prohibited under 19th-century international law, but debates occurred mainly in (semi-)colonial contexts. It was framed as a hallmark of uncivilized warfare, while in European conflicts, it was considered a thing of the past and thus rendered taboo.