Valerie Oosterveld

Professor, University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law

Sexual and gender-based violence in war, Sexual and gender-based violence in genocide, Gender issues within international criminal justice, International criminal law

Media

Biography

Valerie Oosterveld's research and writing focus on gender issues within international criminal courts and tribunals. She is a member of the Canadian Partnership for International Justice, and the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. She teaches courses in the field of international law. She is the Associate Director of Western University’s Centre for Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, and is affiliated with the Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research.

Before joining Western Law in July 2005, Oosterveld served in the Legal Affairs Bureau of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. In this role, she provided legal advice on international criminal accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, especially with respect to the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Sierra Leone Special Court, and other transitional justice mechanisms. She was a member of the Canadian delegation to the International Criminal Court negotiations and subsequent Assembly of States Parties. She also served on the Canadian delegation to the 2010 Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda.

Expertise

  • Sexual and gender-based violence in war
  • Sexual and gender-based violence in genocide
  • Gender issues within international criminal justice
  • International law