Norm Implementation

Many African states have adopted laws that criminalize rape and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV), but the enforcement of such laws is often weak. Many rape cases are never brought to court and victims are frequently encouraged to accept reconciliation instead of prosecution of offenders. Drawing on research from post-conflict Liberia, this article investigates the ability of women's movements to influence the state's implementation of rape law, and seeks to theorize the relationship between women's activism and the enforcement of rape law. It documents the range of strategies adopted by the Liberian women's movement, and argues that these tactics have contributed to an increased referral of rape cases to court. This was made possible by two conditions: a relatively open political environment and political and material support from international organizations, which in turn enabled women's NGOs to gain access to and make an impression on the implementation process. This demonstrates the capacity of civil society organizations in Africa's more open and internationally connected states to influence policy at the implementation stage–even in particularly challenging areas such as women's rights.

The article examines problems of implementation of minority rights in Central Eastern Europe and explores the reasons for the implementation deficit in Estonia and Slovakia. Full implementation of minority rights norms is hampered by a combination of several factors. First, European Union conditionality was primarily focused only on the formal adoption of minority rights standards but not their proper application. Second, minority rights norms do not resonate successfully with domestically held norms. Third, minority rights norms are vaguely formulated and allow for arbitrary interpretations which complicate the application of these norms. A fourth factor examined, limitations in administrative capacities, did not play a significant role in Estonia or Slovakia.