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Aretxaga's Analysis

Decent Essays

In the Aretxaga’s piece, the only mention of sexually driven acts of violence was in reference to the catalyst that started the female Dirty Protests. However, it would be foolish to conclude the concept of the Child and Maiden archetypes without addressing one of the most prevalent and normalized war crimes, rape. Rape, as a symptom of war, has always been seen as something to expect, a constant. It’s a direct correlation to the worth of a woman and is known to be erased, under recorded, or rewritten as a method to help boost moral among soldiers(Hynes 2004: 432). In the case of the archetypes, war rape is the forced transition from the Child to the Maiden, through the use of sexually charged violence. In other words, unlike the transition that occurred for the Armgah women, which was unintentionally cause by themselves, war rape is …show more content…

As stayed earlier, rape, prostitution, and other similar activities have never been properly analyzed. Perhaps for the specific reason that finding the root cause of these issues would mean completely undermining the patriarchal structures in place. But not only the patriarchal structures, but also the old colonial structures, as shown in Hynes’s article.

“…the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children released a report on their investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of West African refugee children in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Their interviews with 1500 men, women, and children refugees revealed that girls between the ages of 13 and 18 were sexually exploited by male aid workers, many of whom were employed by national and international non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and the UN, and also by UN peacekeepers and community leaders.” (Hynes 2004:

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