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Annual Celebration 2022 | 13th Marburg Lecture on International Criminal Law with Prof. Dr. Mark A. Drumbl

13. Marburger Vorlesung zum Völkerstrafrecht 2022

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Video: ICWC

On 2 June 2022, after a long COVID-related pause, the annual celebration of the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) was finally able to take place again in the venerable Historic Aula of the Old University. As usual, the centerpiece of the event was the 13th Marburg Lecture on International Criminal Law. Under the title “Women and Atrocity: Beyond Simplistic Caricatures,” this year’s guest, Prof. Mark A. Drumbl, delivered a lecture addressing the problem of overly simplified, gender-specific stereotypes in international criminal law.

The annual celebration began with a welcome address by ICWC Co-Director Prof. Dr. Eckart Conze. This was followed by greetings from the Vice President for Research at Philipps University Marburg, Prof. Dr. Gert Bange, and the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Dr. Constantin Willems, each addressing the assembled guests. ICWC Director Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bock then presented the activity report of the ICWC for the years 2020–2022. Subsequently, she also handed out the certificates for the successful completion of the Trial Monitoring Program to the delighted graduates. The event concluded with this year’s Marburg Lecture on International Criminal Law, delivered by Prof. Mark A. Drumbl.

As a Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law and Director of its Transnational Law Institute, Drumbl possesses extensive expertise in international criminal law. His research also spans various areas of public international law, transnational legal processes, and questions of global environmental policy. His body of work includes the acclaimed publications Research Handbook on Child Soldiers (2019), Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy (2007), and Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law (2007). After numerous visits and guest lectures at universities worldwide, including the University of Melbourne and Oxford University, we were particularly pleased to welcome him here to Marburg.

The lecture began with the presentation of Drumbl’s central thesis. According to him, international criminal law often reduces gender diversity to a binary division, particularly in cases of sexual violence and forced marriage: men are perpetrators, and women are victims. However, the reality of mass violence is far more complex, as he convincingly demonstrated throughout the lecture. Prof. Mark A. Drumbl first explained that women are indeed capable of committing horrific crimes. Yet, the chauvinistic and feminist tropes of international criminal law, he argued, lead to a distorted and often nonsensical portrayal of such crimes. Consequently, this results in an unequal treatment of women compared to male perpetrators. Moreover, men are frequently overlooked as victims of stereotyped crimes, such as sexual violence or forced marriage, despite also suffering significant harm. At the victim level, therefore, an inequity persists, rooted in heteronormative stereotypes. Concluding his lecture, Drumbl called for an integrative approach that more fully explores the dynamics of mass violence and the entire spectrum of harm it causes, advocating for a more adaptable justice system that respects equality and, above all, the dignity of every person, regardless of gender.

At the subsequent reception in the courtyard of the Old University, the attendees took the opportunity to reflect on what they had heard and to engage in discussions with one another.