MALI: International Criminal Court begins trial

At the International Criminal Court (ICC), the global court of last resort for major crimes, new ground was broken in July, when the trial began of a former Islamic militant who is alleged to have forced hundreds of women into sexual slavery in Mali. The charges related to the occupation of the city of Timbuktu by Islamist groups in 2012 and 2013. Alongside charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, this was the first time the ICC prosecuted someone for the charge of persecution on the grounds of gender. For civil society, this held hope that impunity for crimes that target women will be challenged.