CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR SEXUAL CRIMES DURING THE WAR IN UKRAINE: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL DIMENSIONS

Abstract

The article examines the issue of criminal liability for sexual offences committed during the armed aggression against Ukraine, both in national law and in the international legal dimension, taking into account modern jurisprudence of international tribunals and the International Criminal Court, as well as specific aspects of its application in the Ukrainian context. The problem of conflict-related sexual violence remains one of the most sensitive and complex areas of law enforcement, which highlights the importance of revealing the theoretical, practical, and normative aspects of such offences. Although the Ukrainian legal system has undergone significant reforms in the field of criminal protection of sexual freedom and sexual integrity, the challenges posed by wartime conditions, together with the scale and nature of these crimes, require scholarly reassessment, comparative analysis, and the improvement of liability for sexual violence in order to ensure optimal alignment of national legislation with international standards. Particular attention is devoted to analysing the nature of sexual violence as a method of warfare, an instrument of terror against the population, and a means of suppressing resistance. The article considers the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine establishing liability for sexual violence in peacetime and in the context of armed conflict. Based on an overview of international tribunal practice, the article analyses and substantiates approaches to the classification of sexual violence as a war crime, a crime against humanity, and an act of genocide. The necessity of harmonising Ukrainian criminal legislation with contemporary international standards of prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence is justified, and directions for improving the Criminal Code of Ukraine in this field are proposed.