sex and gender violence

Question 1

Define sexual violence

Answer 1

Krause: physical forms of sexual violence. I follow the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which includes ‘rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity’ (ICC, 1998), and I include forms of sexual mutilation, such as of the reproductive organs of both women and men.

Question 2

Baaz and Stern why soldiers rape

Answer 2

men⁄boys (and women⁄- girls) learn to be ‘‘masculine’’ and violent in the military through methods specifically designed to create soldiers who are able (and willing) to kill to protect the state⁄nation
* The masculinities that are fostered and that are ultimately acceptable within the military have very strictly delineated contours and content, which must be known and ‘‘fixed’’ for the logic of militarization to work
soldiering is constructed through the production of a certain heterosexual male violent masculinity, so it is not surprising then that even women soldiers can be (sexually) violent in similar ways that men are

Question 3

Baaz and Stern Soldiers’ view of rape

Answer 3

• soldiers differentiate between and simultaneously refer to two intertwining discourses of rape: one in which rape is essentially sexual, driven by the male libido; and a different discourse according to which rape is not about sexual desires but is instead an expression of anger and rage. the soldiers distinguish between rapes that are somehow more ‘‘ok,’’ morally defendable, ethically palatable and socially acceptable (and there- with, arguably not really rapes in their eyes), and those that are ‘‘evil,’’ and not acceptable—but still ‘‘understandable.

Question 4

Baaz and Stern - sexual violence in the Congo. the background

Answer 4

data collected during the time of ‘‘the transition’’—the time between the signing of the Peace Accord in July 2003 and the parliamentary and presidential elections held in 2006.
* During the transition period, the armed group signatories of the Peace Accord converted themselves into political parties and shared power in the transitional government.
* Military integration has been highly problematic and is reflected in multiple and parallel chains of command. The units often remain responsive to the former and current belligerents, and not to the integrated command structures. Relatedly, those integrated in the FARDC—especially officers—receive inadequate training, further exacerbating the problematic military integration
nothing that suggests that sexual violence was especially severe in the DRC before the war compared to other countries- rape was considered a serious crime in most parts of the country. The crime of rape was seen as directed not only (or even primarily) against the individual woman or girl, but against the family and the community

Question 5

Baaz and Stern- how was sexual violence in the Congo rooted in gender norms

Answer 5

that was used to explain sexual violence was the link between ‘‘manhood’’ and money and material wealth. the interview texts elicit the sense that the man’s value, superiority and right to decision making in the family is intimately linked to his role as provider. A man who does not fulfill his obligations is not only somehow deprived of his manhood, he is also not considered as having the same rights to demand submission from his wife – harsh living conditions make it hard to provide and many soldiers said they feared their wives meeting other men to make ends meet. This suspicion and frustration of ‘‘not being able to be a real man and provider for the family’’ and (as they put it) ‘‘keep the woman faithful’’ is manifested in a negative and sexualized image of women. Women, in general, were portrayed as unreliable and opportunistic.
* the soldiers portrayed women’s sexuality as driven by economic need⁄ opportunism rather than physical needs, men were described as having unequivocal physical sexual needs. - according to this line of reasoning, a man cannot be without sex for any sustained time.
* Women soldiers also tended to reproduce prevailing constructions of masculinity when speaking of sexuality and rape (of civilian women). the rape of female soldiers is quite rare. They also repeated (and even defended) male soldiers’ right to satisfy their sexual needs, and linked the instance of rape with the lack of ‘‘normal’’ relations.
soldiers said - ‘‘Evil rapes’’ are often motivated by ‘‘a wish to humiliate the dignity of people”

Question 6

Baaz and Stern- women in the army of the Congo

Answer 6

• While the soldiers sometimes stated that women had a role to play in the army, this role belonged to the ‘‘feminized’’ sphere of the armed forces (e.g., health, social services, administration, cooking etc.). The soldiers therefore recast women soldiers as either ‘‘masculine,’’ or as unworthy, devalued feminine.
• When asked to reflect directly on how women’s presence in the armed forces impacted upon the amount of rapes committed by male soldiers…. almost exclusively the soldiers interpreted this question as if we were implying that the rate of rapes would diminish because women soldiers would satisfy the sexual needs of the male soldiers, and hence there would be no ‘‘need’’ for them to rape.

Question 7

Kay Cohen main argument for wartime sexual violence

Answer 7

Combatant socialisation
* rape—especially gang rape—enables groups with forcibly recruited fighters to create bonds of loyalty and esteem from initial circumstances of fear and mistrust.

Question 8

Kay Cohen - wartime v peacetime rape

Answer 8

• qualitative difference in the nature of peacetime and wartime rape: before the war in the DRC, rape was mainly committed by one perpetrator in private; wartime rape was shocking to local people because of its increased brutality, multiple perpetrators, and public nature.

Question 9

Cohen- purpose of gang rape

Answer 9

• Gang rape enables the perpetrators to establish status and reputations for toughness. Amir maintains that gang rape occurs only occasionally in such groups, but is found particularly during periods when group members’ status is questioned or threatened. Importantly for understanding wartime rape, Amir (1971, 185) writes that gang rape can assist in “solidify[ing] the status claims of a member as well as the cohesiveness of the whole group.”
• Single-offender rape is more often driven by personal sexual desire. Gang rapists are considered less pathological than single rapists, and perpetra- tors of group rape are far less likely to have previously committed sexual offenses than are lone perpetrators.
• Social bonds are also strengthened and reproduced in the process of recounting the violence in the aftermath; scholars have noted that perpetrators may brag about the rapes in which they participated to “revel in a sense of enhanced masculinity”.

Question 10

Cohen - number of rapes

Answer 10

• 1980-200, 86 major civil wars, Eighteen conflicts were coded as wars with widespread rape, 35 as having many or numerous reports of rape, 18 as having isolated reports, and 15 wars had no reports of rape

Question 11

Cohen - figures on fighter recruitment

Answer 11

• 45% (39/86) of insurgencies in the study period recruited their fighters by force.

Question 12

Cohen- instances of female involvement in rape in DRC

Answer 12

in 2010 in the democratic republic of the Congo (drC) found that 41 percent of female sexual violence victims reported that they were victimized by female perpetrators, as did 10 percent of male sexual violence victims - Women fighters face similar social pressures within armed groups that men do and, given a similar set of circumstances, are likely to commit similar forms of violence.
o Gang rape, an especially costly and public form of violence, is one method for creating bonds between fighters. the argument implies that in cases of abduction where there are more women fighters, more women will participate in wartime rape. likewise, if there are very few women fighters, then there should be very few cases of female perpetrators.

Question 13

Cohen - who is most likely to rape in war?

Answer 13

both state and insurgent armed groups that have recruited their members through abduction—which subsequently have the lowest levels of internal social cohesion—are more likely to commit widespread rape than are groups that recruited fighters through more voluntary methods.
o

Question 14

Cohen - Sierra Leone RUF figures

Answer 14

majority of rapists
* Among the population of approximately 70,000 demobilized fighters, only about 34% were RUF combatants. 24% of these were women

Question 15

Cohen - Sierra Leone Civilian Defence force figures

Answer 15

50% of combatants, 9% of which were female

Question 16

Cohen - Sierra Leone Army (SLA) figures

Answer 16

12% of combatants, 2% of which were women

Question 17

Cohen - Sierra Leone figures of RUF combatants as strangers

Answer 17

• On joining, RUF combatants “typically knew nobody in their factions,” with 77% re- porting that they knew neither friends nor family in their unit

Question 18

Cohen - Sierra Leone figures of CDF combatants as strangers

Answer 18

78% of the CDF reported being recruited by a friend, relative, or a community member, and CDF recruits usually served in units with friends and family members; only 7% knew no one in their unit.

Question 19

Sierra Leone- gender split in instigating rape

Answer 19

74% were committed by male-only groups. Mixed-sex perpetrator groups committed 25% of the incidents of gang rape, which comprised 19% of the total reported rape.

Question 20

Cohen - Role of commanders in instigating rape

Answer 20

• commanders rarely directly ordered them to rape. Few rank-and-file ex-combatants said they were ever commanded to rape, and only a small number of the unit commanders admitted they ever ordered their men to rape. One former RUF fighter said, “Commanders never ordered their men to rape, but they knew it was happening, and they did it themselves.”

Question 21

Cohen - Sierra Leone percentage that were gang rapes

Answer 21

76%

Question 22

Sierra Leone - presence of women and frequency of rape

Answer 22

the proportion of women in an armed group is positively associated with the sexual violence committed by the group.
* neither single women nor groups of women were reported as perpetrators of rape in the survey, indicating that gang rape was a male-led form of violence
* there was no evidence from interviews with male ex-combatants that they felt shame perpetrating acts of rape in front of female peers. the fighters—both male and female—reported that they felt that shame was reserved for victims of rape alone.
the ruf, which had the most female combatants and the majority of the reported sexual slavery, nonetheless committed the most rape of noncombatants- against the substitution argument that female combatants absorb the sexual needs of their male peers. these female fighters were often raped to begin with but then not and didn’t stop rape of external women

Question 23

theoretical criticism of substitution argument

Answer 23

as Wood maintains, the argument takes for granted that sexual gratification can be found only through acts of sexual intercourse.
it assumes that the central purpose of the rape of noncombatants is the gratification associated with the sexual act. these assumptions cannot account for the form that wartime rape takes and, in particular, why gang rape is so common in wartime; nor can they account for the persistence of rape with objects, a common form of violence and an act not obviously associated with gratification for the perpetrator.

Question 24

substitution argument in rape

Answer 24

implies that female combatants may absorb the sexual needs of their male peers, thereby reducing the likelihood of noncombatant rape.

Question 25

Cohen - Sierra Leone and socialisation argument

Answer 25

• Socialisation argument holds weight - members of the ruf were the only ex-combatants interviewed who had knowledge of women in their respective factions participating in acts of gang rape: : “Women would tell the men that ‘i found a beautiful woman for you.’ We would help capture her and hold her down.” other interviewees repeated a similar description: “Women fighters would hold down unarmed women for men to rape.” the fact that women would seek potential victims provides evidence that rape was seen as a way for the combatants to pursue intragroup acceptance as part of an organized process among combatants.
• “the group rape of women,” said one man. “afterward, we would feel good and talk about it a lot, discuss it among ourselves, and laugh about it”
  in interviews, they described a culture in which those who had raped many women achieved a legendary status among their peers—one interviewee spoke with awe about a fellow combatant who had raped more than two hundred women.

Question 26

Enloe (used by Nagel) - nationalism and masculinity

Answer 26

‘nationalism has typically sprung from masculinized memory, masculinized humiliation and masculinized hope’. She argues that women are relegated to minor, often symbolic, roles in nationalist movements and conflicts, either as icons of nationhood, to be elevated and defended, or as the booty or spoils of war, to be denigrated and disgraced. In either case, the real actors are men who are defending their freedom, their honour, their homeland and their women.

Question 27

Nagel - nationhood and masculinity

Answer 27

• By definition, nationalism is political and closely linked to the state and its institutions. Like the military, most state institutions have been historically and remain dominated by men. It is therefore no surprise that the culture and ideology of hegemonic masculinity go hand in hand with the culture and ideology of hegemonic nationalism.

Question 28

Nagel - nationalist politics and masculinity

Answer 28

• Nationalist politics is a major venue for ‘accomplishing’ masculinity for several reasons. First, as noted above, the national state is essentially a masculine institution. Feminist scholars point out its hierarchical authority structure, the male domination of decision-making positions, the male superordinate/female subordinate internal division of labour, and the male legal regulation of female rights, labour and sexuality

Question 29

Nagel - role of women in nationalist politics

Answer 29

sometimes women attempt to enact nationalism through traditional roles assigned to them by nationalists – by supporting their husbands, raising their (the nation’s) children and serving as symbols of national honour. In these cases women can exploit both nationalist and enemy or oppressor patriarchal views of women’s roles in order to aid in nationalist struggles For instance, in situations of military occupation, male nationalists seen on the street alone or in groups are often targets of arrest or detention. Women are less likely to be seen as dangerous or ‘up to something’, and so can serve as escorts for men or messengers for men who are sequestered inside houses. Similarly, women are often more successful at recruiting support for nationalist efforts because they are seen as less threatening and militant

Question 30

Nagel - why nationalist movements that have called for female participation have failed-

Answer 30

o In 1962 Algeria finally freed itself from French colonial rule. The struggle had been a long and bitter one, and the fight for Algerian independence had been notable for the involvement of Algerian women. reports that 11,000 women were active participants in the national resistance movement, and that 2,000 women were in the armed wing of the movement. Despite this extensive involvement of women in a Muslim country’s military movement, once independence was won, Algerian women found themselves ‘back in the kitchen’

Question 31

Nagel - role of female sexuality in nationalism

Answer 31

since women as wives and daughters are bearers of masculine honour. For instance, ethnographers report Afghani Muslim nationalists’ conception of resource control, particularly labour, land and women, is defined as a matter of honour; ‘purdah is a key element in the protection of the family’s pride and honour’
* women’s sexual respectability as a situation where honour is men’s to gain and women’s to lose: ‘Honour is seen more as men’s responsibility and shame as women’s . . . honour is seen as actively achieved while shame is seen as passively defended’.

Question 32

Nagel - sexualised aspect of warfare/ conflict

Answer 32

Haverstock - all forms of political power, including military power, have an erotic component; she points particularly to a masculine eroticism embedded in notions of military strength and valour.
* Another sexualized aspect of militarized conflict is the use of the masculine imagery of rape, penetration and sexual conquest to depict military weaponry and offensives. A commonly reported phrase alleged to have been written on US missiles targeted on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War was, ‘Bend over, Saddam’
* Enemy women are more uniformly characterized as sexually promiscuous and available: sluts, whores, or legitimate targets of rape. The accounts of virtually all wars contain references to and discussions of the rape, sexual enslavement, or sexual exploitation of women by not only individual or small groups of men, but by army high commands and as part of state-run national policies

Question 33

Nordas and Cohen - children in militias effect on sexual violence

Answer 33

militias that recruit children are associated with a higher reported prevalence of sexual violence. - armed groups that have low internal social cohesion may be more likely to perpetrate sexual violence
34 percent of militia groups that recruited children were reported as perpetrators of sexual violence, while only 12 percent of militia groups that did not recruit children were reported as sexual violence perpetrators.

Question 34

Nordas and Cohen - state training of militias effect on sexual violence

Answer 34

that militias that have received training from states are reported to commit higher levels of sexual violence than groups that have not received such training.
sexual violence in armed conflict can spread among and between armed actors as a “practice,” or violence that is tolerated rather than ordered, in contrast to opportunistic or strategic behaviour.
 groups that have received government training are associated with higher reported prevalence of sexual violence than groups that have not received such training. The relationship is statistically significant at the 5 percent level - suggests that sexual violence is, at a minimum, implicitly sanctioned by these states, and that sexual violence spreads between armed actors as a “practice.”
 introduces the notion of rape as a practice, an intermediary category between rape as strategic or “purposefully adopted by commanders in pursuit of group objectives,” and rape as opportunistic or not instrumental for group reasons. A “practice

Question 35

Nordas and Cohen - main argument

Answer 35

Socialisation as a cause of sexual violence
Sexual violence as practice or tolerated - not ordered

Question 36

Nordas and Cohen- Ideology and sexual violence

Answer 36

 The coefficient for ideological militias is statistically insignificant and positive, which is not in the expected direction. Hence, ideological militias are not less likely to perpetrate sexual violence than militias that are not ideological.

Question 37

Nordas and Cohen - conflict duration and sexual violence

Answer 37

• Conflict duration is significant and positive as expected. This may be because more conflict years means more opportunity for committing sexual violence or that a longer conflict allows more time for sexual violence to diffuse between armed actors as a “practice.”

Question 38

Nordas and Cohen - why state role in sexual violence is about practice not order

Answer 38

o if a government seeks to avoid being associated with sexual violence, we should observe that government troops refrain from such behaviour when a militia is present that can instead commit such violence.
o in the fifty countries engaged in armed conflicts from 1989 to 2009 show that in all but one case of militia-perpetrated sexual violence, state forces were also reported to be perpetrators.
o Additionally, in all but four countries, state forces named as perpetrators committed the same or higher levels of sexual violence than did the militias

Question 39

Nordas and Cohen - prevalence of states v rebel groups in sexual violence

Answer 39

• sexual violence is far more often reported to be perpetrated by states. the highest share of rebel groups reported as perpetrators in the period 1989–2015 was 40% (in 2002), whereas the highest observed share for states was about 60% (in 2002 and 2012)

Question 40

Nordas and Cohen sexual violence correspondence with other violence

Answer 40

• although sexual violence may sometimes be correlated with other forms of violence, micro-level evidence from case studies has shown that the correlation is not universal; for example, the years with the highest levels of reported rape are not necessarily the years with the highest levels of reported killing

Question 41

Nordas and Cohen - role of certain ideologies in prevalence of sexual violence

Answer 41

• For some organizations, such as leftist armed groups, the use of sexual violence conflicts with ideals for which the organization is claiming to fight, such as a gender-equal social order. Some insurgent organizations may recruit members already committed to the organization’s ideology. Alternatively, organizations known not to commit sexual violence may be better able to recruit women—for example, as a means for women to protect themselves against sexual violence by state armed forces, as in El Salvador. In these cases, sexual violence would be detrimental to the organization’s internal and external legitimacy and would erode efforts to build trust with the civilian population

Question 42

Nordas and Cohen - sexual violence and settlement

Answer 42

• Shifting to state actors, the higher the prevalence of sexual violence by state forces is, the more likely states are to reach negotiated outcomes; Chu & Braithwaite (2018, p. 233) argue that sexual violence is an indicator of weakness, and actors that perpetrate it “are inclined to salvage something from the conflict by way of a settlement
• Studies have also documented increased mobilization by women as a response to or in the aftermath of conflict-related sexual violence

Question 43

Nordas and Cohen - empirical evidence of sexual violence as tolerated/ practice

Answer 43

finds that in Guatemala and Peru, one-third and about half, respectively, of reported incidents “occurred under circumstances that negate the possibility that state leaders had no knowledge of the violence.” This is echoed in research on rape in civil war that found that the vast majority of re- ported state-perpetrated sexual violence took place in detention- the concept of violence as a practice (as distinct from strategy or opportunism)

Question 44

Cohen - targeting in Sexual violence

Answer 44

• Using SVAC data set- The most commonly reported forms of targeting were ethnicity (108 of 232), followed by association with a fighting faction (90 of 232) – conflated with other things (maybe excuses sexual violence that is undertaken for cohesion reasons)

Question 45

Cohen - empirical data of post conflict sexual violence

Answer 45

• Using SVAC dataset We find that 13% (58 of 446) of all actors were reported as perpetrators of sexual violence in the first five years post-conflict. For rebels, 13% (28 of 220) were reported as perpetrators in post-conflict years or states, 21% (25 of 119) were reported as perpetrators in post-conflict years

Question 46

Cohen- increased sexual violence on global scale

Answer 46

• a steady increase in reports of sexual violence from 1989 until the peak in 2002. In 2002, 57 armed actors reportedly perpetrated sexual violence, with two groups reported at the highest level of prevalence (coded as 3). In 2003, the number fell to 55, with 8 groups at the highest prevalence level – the highest frequency in the entire time series. Since then, the percentage of actors reported as perpetrators decreased globally, although by 2009 the number was 31, more than twice the number of groups in 1989 – sexual violence becomes a norm?

Question 47

Krause - elections and sexual violence

Answer 47

• Election violence is an unfortunately common feature of many national and local government elections in unconsolidated democracies.
  Most election violence occurs in the pre-election period to influence the outcome of an election. When post-election violence does occur, it is more likely to escalate.

Question 48

Krause - Kenya - elections and sexual violence

Answer 48

• Kenya’s 2007 presidential elections pitched a Kikuyu incumbent against a Kalenjin opposition candidate, which reignited local communal conflicts between the Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Luo ethnic groups. Disputed election results and subsequent violence brought the country to the brink of civil war - Within two months, an estimated 1,133 people were killed and at least 900 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence occurred.
• Post-election violence in Kenya was predominantly one-sided, perpetrated by a majority that dominated the local conflict location against a minority

Question 49

Krause - Nigeria - elections and sexual violence

Answer 49

• in Nigeria, only two days of post-election violence in the city of Jos in 2008 killed at least 800 people but very few cases of sexual violence were reported.
• Local government elections re-ignited a longstanding communal conflict that pitched predominantly Christian ethnic groups who regard themselves as indigenous to the land against mostly Muslim groups referred to as ‘settlers’.
  heavy military presence contained the fighting after less than two days, yet at least 700 people were killed.
• Post-election violence - more dyadic clashes in Nigeria.

Question 50

Krause - effect of Type of violence in elections and prevalence of sexual violence

Answer 50

whether elections ignite pogroms (more sexual violence) or dyadic clashes (less sexual violence) explains (lack of) opportunity for widespread sexual violence.
* pogroms are more likely to see widespread sexual violence because perpetrators do not need to fear immediate retaliation from a minority group and have time to (gang) rape and sexually torture (see Cohen, 2016). By contrast, in dyadic clashes, fear of imminent attack by opposing armed groups constrains sexual violence but renders the clashes much deadlier.

Question 51

Krause- shortcomings of Cohen’s socialisation theory

Answer 51

that 51% of insurgent groups that did not abduct nevertheless raped, and 25% that did abduct did not gang rape, suggesting that other causal mechanisms are also at play.

Question 52

Krause and gender norms prior to conflict in sexual violence

Answer 52

o To varying extent, sexual violence during armed conflict relates to pre-conflict norms and practices around gender relations. Gender inequality and the devaluation of femininity are constitutive for sexual violence as these norms and ideas provide the act with its specific meaning.

Question 53

Krause - value of Cohen’s socialisation theory

Answer 53

Cohen’s work does offer one explanation applicable to the context of communal conflict: the lack of opportunity for rape and other forms of sexual violence, that is, situational constraints. Cohen found that combatants saw rape – and in particular gang rape – as an inefficient form of fighting, taking a significant amount of time to complete and exposing perpetrators to risks. Therefore, rape would often be perpetrated in the aftermath of fighting when risks were evidently lower.

Question 54

Krause - Kenya elections and sexual violence - role of ethnicity

Answer 54

• The most consistent electoral violence in Kenya is against the Kikuyu, who constitute about 30% of the country’s population and are seen as having benefited considerably from favouritism under Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta
• On 30 December 2007 the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, was suddenly declared winner of the presidential vote. Violence escalated when followers of his opponent, alleged vote rigging.
• Within minutes of the announcement, violence spread, with the bulk of killings taking place in Nairobi and the Rift Valley. First, opposition supporters, mostly Kalenjin, attacked Kikuyus in the North Rift Valley. A second wave followed when Kikuyu gangs organized revenge attacks against Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters, mostly Luo and Kalenjin, within Kikuyu strongholds. Violence continued until a power-sharing agreement was signed on 28 February 2008.
• Luo men in particular suffered forced circumcision- In Nairobi, the attacks on men, and their circumcision, prompted rape reprisal attacks by Luo men who gang raped Kikuyu women as a means to demonstrate their masculinity and to send a message to Kikuyu groups; ‘tell them who the real men are’

Question 55

Krause- opportunity for sexual violence in Kenya

Answer 55

• The memory of anti-Kikuyu violence in 1992 and 1997 led many Kikuyu men to temporarily leave Kalenjin strongholds in the belief that violence would not be directed against women and children. If more men had stayed with their families, the death toll would likely have been even higher.

If government and opposition politicians had properly instructed security forces, their timely intervention could have effectively prevented such atrocities in Kenya.

majority against minority conflict

Question 56

Lee Koo - how women are silence

Answer 56

‘the nation’, ‘the state’, allies, armies and enemies intersect with gendered identities and constructs which then, in turn, adopt traditional theoretical foundations to ensure women’s silence.

Question 57

Lee koo- neorealism and women’s silence

Answer 57

Within the realist discourses, women as a gendered grouping cannot be seen, cannot be heard and are (re)located outside the realm of the ‘international’. Realism, with its appeal to the state and to issues of balance of power within ‘international anarchy’, reached a point of ‘common sense’ in international relations and derives power from its ability to ‘delineate not simply what can be known but also what it is sensible to talk about or suggest’ , realism is problematic for women as it traps them in traditionally defined and carefully constructed gendered and subordinated roles upon which the smooth functioning of realist international relations, as a discipline, depends. Effectively, women are deliberately made invisible in international space.

Question 58

Lee Koo- intersectionality in war

Answer 58

is not just gender that targets women for sexual violence it is also the intersection of gender with the multiple and varied identities of religion, nationality and ethnicity that allows groups of women to be distinguished between ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’. Thus, the subjugation, humiliation and degradation are not just an assault upon the woman and her body, but are also an assault upon her state/culture/religion/ethnic group and the men who belong to it. Even for women, ‘[b]odily rape cannot be isolated from the rape many women feel of their land and their culture’.

Question 59

Lee Koo- rape as a political tool

Answer 59

• War rape, regardless of context, is both a form of torture and a tool of political terror. For example, rape and the threat of rape is used against women in order to gather information, to instil urgency into ransom-payers, as a means of punishment and as a tool of intimidation and humiliation to ensure civilian compliance

Question 60

Lee Koo- Serbian government’s use of sexual violence

Answer 60

Rape was a political tool against an ethnic group
* The use of war rape by the Serbian government, military and militia groups as a strategy of ethnic cleansing and of genocide during its war in Bosnia brought the issue to the forefront of international condemnation. As part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing, rape and the fear of rape facilitated the intentional and systematic, deliberate and brutal removal of one ethnic group (in this case Bosnian Muslims) from a land claimed by another (Bosnian Serbs).
o This was confirmed by documents ratified by members of the Serb military which claimed that: Our analysis of the behaviour of the Muslim communities demonstrates that the morale, will, and bellicose nature of their groups can be undermined only if we aim our action at the point where the religious and social structure is most fragile. We refer to the women, especially adolescents, and to the children.

Question 61

Lee Koo role of nationalism and militarism in rape

Answer 61

men do not just become rapists, instigators and perpetrators of mass genocide because war has been declared.

• militarism and nationalism are all aggressively gendered and as such assist in creating the stark dichotomy (regardless of whether or not it is an accurate representation) which promotes man/protector/fighter and woman/protected/victim.10 It also creates a dichotomy between ‘our’ women and ‘their’ women to the extent that a mindset surrounding gender exists in which the rape of one set of (valorised) women is enraging to a particular political grouping and the rape of another set of (dehu- manised) women in that same political grouping is policy.

Question 62

Lee Koo- inJustice for rape post war

Answer 62

job of states to seek justice for these crimes
a long history of unprosecuted violence against women in war has allowed it to become naturalised and part of acceptable practice, as was evident in the aftermath of the First World War (see Mertus 2000, 74) and during the Nuremberg war crimes’ tribunal

Question 63

Example of injustice for rape in international courts- Japan

Answer 63

• At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE, also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal), however, rape was included in the general list of crimes that could be prosecuted as ‘inhumane treatment’, ‘ill-treatment’, and ‘failure to respect family honour and rights’ and it was regularly included as relevant in trial testimony and transcripts

prosecution of members of the Japanese military involved in the ironically labelled ‘comfort women’ issue. This involved the forcible recruitment, kidnapping, sexual enslavement, raping and brutalisation of some 200,000, mostly Korean, but also Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Taiwanese, Indonesian, and European, women in order to provide sexual services as ‘comfort women’ to Japanese soldiers
despite the Allies having documentation and testimonial evidence, post-war war crimes prosecutions on these charges were not pursued – could be arguing that accepted or not prosecuted in international trials so people think they can get away w it in war

Question 64

Lee Koo - knowledge and injustice of rape

Answer 64

• Knowledge is prioritised in international politics- there is little doubt that a soldier is dead; there can, however, be doubt over a woman’s claim that she was raped