How has the criminal justice system recognised & responded to victims of sexual and gender based violence occurring during the northern Irish conflct

Gender-based violence is considered to be any harmful act directed against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender.
1 Sexual violence is a 'form of gender-based violence and encompasses any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances,
or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting.'
2 The frame of this research considers sexual, and gender based violence in terms of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Due to this, the term 'conflict-related sexual violence' must also be clarified, this refers to the 'rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.
3 This research argues that the recognition and response of the criminal justice system to SGBV in the Northern Irish conflict reflects an inadequacy in dealing with these issues, it also argues that the presence of a conflict in regards to political and cultural factors, distorts complex manifestations of this type of violence, resulting in a 'gender blindness.' Literature and research studies surrounding this topic has been provided by a limited number of scholars. This research has taken inspiration and insights from this previous literature.