Dara Kay Cohen explains why prosecutions are important, but not as the main policy lever for deterrence. A concerted, long-term, and multi-pronged effort is needed to address the root causes of conflict-related sexual violence.

There is a grim historical precedent for what Russian forces are doing, Harvard's Dara Kay Cohen tells HuffPost.

Recent world events, such as the rise of hypermasculine authoritarian leaders, have shown the importance of both sex and gender for understanding international politics. However, quantitative researchers of conflict have long relegated the study of sex and gender inequality as a cause of war to a specialized group of scholars, despite overwhelming evidence that the connections are profound and consequential. In this review essay, the authors demonstrate the tremendous progress made in this field by analyzing a wave of research that examines the relationships between sex and gender inequality and war.

This article reviews the remarkable growth in empirical literature in political science on wartime sexual violence against civilians, including rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, and other forms.

What are the consequences of women dying in combat? The authors study how women fighting on the frontlines of the military affects public attitudes toward (1) military conflict and (2) women’s equality. We demonstrate through a series of survey experiments that women dying in combat does not reduce public support for war. However, women’s combat deaths do shape perceptions of women’s equality

In Lynching and Local Justice: Legitimacy and Accountability in Weak States, Danielle F. Jung and Dara Kay Cohen argue that lynching emerges when neither the state nor its challengers have a monopoly over legitimate authority.