Children Born of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as Direct Victims under International Criminal Law.

This article examines children born of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) as a distinct category of direct victims under international criminal law, focusing on their recognition, reparations, and accountability within the International Criminal Court (ICC) framework. It highlights recent jurisprudential advances, notably in the Ntaganda and Ongwen cases, where such children were acknowledged as direct victims due to harms directly resulting from crimes against their mothers, and discusses prosecutorial strategies including the first explicit recognition of these children as enslaved in the ongoing Kony case. The article further analyzes historical and contemporary international judicial proceedings addressing CRSV, the legal challenges in charging crimes directly perpetrated against these children—such as enslavement, conscription, sexual violence, and persecution—and underscores the importance of incorporating their specific harms into ICC investigations and prosecutions. It concludes that while existing legal instruments provide avenues for accountability, fuller recognition and prosecution of crimes against children born of CRSV remain essential for effective justice and reparations.