自從人類的歷史有紀錄以來，女性即常成為人類各種爭奪戰爭（通常為男性主導）中的犧牲者。戰爭下的性犯罪，幾乎已成為人類戰爭史上，必然會發生且根本也已無從避免的戰爭暴行。然而，在國際法庭上，與其他戰爭犯罪相比，性犯罪卻一直未受到同等的重視。第二次世界大戰結束後，為審理戰犯而分別在德國進行的紐倫堡審判以及在日本進行的東京審判，亦大幅度地忽略了德日兩國於其侵略戰爭下曾經對婦女所進行之暴行。特別是其中在日本進行的東京審判，雖然有就部分日軍於中國戰場上對於中國婦女所為的性侵害行為加以追訴，並於最後的判決書中加以記錄，然各種的性犯罪或是性侵害行為，在東京審判之相關文獻中，係被列在副標題為「暴行」（atrocities）的分類下，僅被視為一種包含在「不人道對待」（inhumane treatment）、「未適當對待」（ill-treatment）或「不尊重家族榮譽與權利」（failure to respect family honor and rights.）分類下的次級犯罪，而未能單獨的被列舉作為一種獨立的戰爭犯罪類型加以追訴。因此，本文將從戰爭中的性犯罪為出發點，並以東京審判為中心，探討在國際法庭上過去一直被嚴重忽略的性犯罪問題。

Rape during war is as old as war itself. In World War II, rape was used first by the Germans and Japanese as a tactic for waging war. The invasion of Nanking during World War II became known as the Rape of Nanking, where the Japanese troops committed rape against the civilian Chinese population on a massive scale. After World War II, there were two international military tribunals set up, one in Nuremberg and the other in Tokyo. The international military tribunal that set up in Tokyo has been known as the“Tokyo Trial”. However, in neither of the judgments of those tribunals was there specific mention of rape. There was evidence presented during those trials and, in fact, rape is included among the atrocities that occurred and that the defendants were found guilty of in Tokyo, but the judges in those cases shied away from dealing with the matter explicitly. Rather, they dealt more thoroughly with what they considered greater crimes— murder, mass deportation, and mass enslavement. In the Tokyo judgment, rape was included but only as part of the greater atrocities committed by the top military commanders. Therefore, the crimes of sexual violence during wartime did not really receive attention in proportion to their occurrence, and this article will further examine how the crime of rape has been greatly ignored in Tokyo trial after World War II.