Fifteen-year-old Z sat with her back to me, too ashamed and embarrassed to face me, as she told her story. She and three other girls had been collecting firewood outside their village in western Darfur, Sudan, when they were attacked by armed men from a government-supported militia. She was gang-raped and became pregnant. Recently married, she is terrified that she will be abandoned by her husband and ostracised by her community if they find out what has happened.

Z, who cannot be identified here for obvious reasons, is just one of many thousands of women and girls who have been raped and sexually abused during the conflict in the Darfur region, But Darfur is by no means unique. Hundreds of thousands of women have suffered the same fate in conflicts around the world.

Custom, culture and religion build an image of women as bearing the “honour” of their communities, so that disparaging a woman’s sexuality and destroying her physical integrity become a key means by which to terrorize, demean and “defeat” entire populations, as well as to punish, intimidate and humiliate women.

In the former Yugoslavia, mass rape was used to drive entire communities from their homes. In Rwanda, rape and sexual violence became tools for genocide. In Afghanistan, abductions, forced marriages and violence against women and girls are used daily by warring sides to humiliate the enemy or avenge themselves. The fact that Korean “comfort women” are still awaiting an apology from the Japanese government for being forced to provide sexual services to Japanese troops during World War II is just one example of the ease with which the world turns a blind eye to justice for women victims of war.

Patterns of violence against women in conflict do not arise “naturally” and are not collateral damage of war. They are ordered, condoned or tolerated by those in the highest echelons of political or military power. They persist because those who commit them know they can get away with impunity.

Although prohibited under international law and some national legislation, rape and other gender-based violence during armed conflict are rarely prosecuted because securing justice for women through national criminal justice systems is extremely difficult. Either such systems have been ravaged by conflict, or the parties to the conflict share an interest in avoiding accountability.

The International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda took some bold steps to prosecute and convict perpetrators of rape. The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) defines a broad spectrum of sexualized violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes. These include rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and sterilization and gender-based persecution.

International justice is the key to ending impunity. Even though the ICC will only be able to try a limited number of cases, high profile international prosecution could deal a strong blow to the prevailing culture of impunity. By trying prominent leaders who knew, or indeed should have known, about sexual violence, but who either encouraged or ignored it, the ICC will send a message that there is no longer a carte blanche to commit these heinous acts.

To make the international justice system work, governments must take concrete steps to support the ICC. So far 97 countries have ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, and among that number are some of the conflict-ridden countries - like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Uganda and Timor-Leste - where some of the worst atrocities have been committed against women. The states parties to the Rome Statute must now give political and practical expression to their commitment, for instance by enacting necessary legislation, assisting the ICC Prosecutor in his investigations, sharing evidence with him and providing protection to witnesses who may be at risk.

Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. However, that does not mean that those responsible for crimes in that country cannot be subjected to international justice.

Justice for women victims of war will only be delivered if world leaders are ready to do more than just make pious statements condemning rape and sexual violence. They must adopt an agenda for action to end impunity, centred on the ICC and complemented by investigations and prosecutions in national courts, including through the use of universal jurisdiction, and reparations to victims and their families.

Women’s bodies have been the unacknowledged casualties of war for far too long. The mechanisms to tackle violence against women in times of war are there - they must now be used to give justice, hope and protection to young girls like Z.

Irene Khan is Amnesty International’s Secretary General.