Empörung und Tabu

<p>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.</p>