Thousands of men, women and children are forced into sexual slavery or raped during conflict-situations, and/or, when fleeing conflict, are forced by human traffickers into exploitative practices en route and in the country of destination. What is done to address these crimes and are these approaches contributing to realizing justice?

Date: 22 June - 3 July, 2026

Location: Tilburg University, Netherlands

Application Deadline: 13 May 2026

Course fee: € 1000 with 10% discount for students from partner universities

Course Information:

During this two-week course we will look into the opportunities and challenges in addressing both crimes. Among the questions we will address are:

• How can conflict-related sexual violence be investigated and prosecuted before local, national and international criminal tribunals as part of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes?
• Does the approach to address the business model of human traffickers (targeting the profit) contribute effectively to combatting the crime?
• What are the needs and rights of victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking to ensure justice?
• And how can these crimes be prevented? For example, how do we prevent that military peacekeepers engage in sexual violence as witnessed in the Central African Republic?

The ultimate goal of this summer course is to critically assess whether the current approaches are contributing to realizing justice.

Course Includes:

• An intensive two week program of interactive lectures with group assignments;
• Interdisciplinary lecturers (De Brouwer and De Volder) who teach from both an academic and practical perspective (e.g. research and field expertise), including guest lecturers who are experts in these fields.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify and describe the phenomena of conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking and how these contribute to (gender) injustice;
• Identify, analyse and critically assess the opportunities and challenges in addressing conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking through legal and non-legal mechanisms;
• Identify, analyse and critically assess the opportunities and challenges for victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking with regard to their rights and needs;
• Identify, analyse and critically assess the opportunities and challenges in preventing conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking;
• Argue whether the current national and international approaches that deal with both crimes contribute to achieving (gender) justice.

Eligibility:
Bachelor’s / Master’s students of any discipline with a strong interest in the topic.

For more information about the course, visit the website HERE.