The Hidden Victims of Wartime Rape by Lara Stemple

It focuses on examining how violence impacts members of a specific gender, but most often focuses on its unique impacts on women. Authors such as Moon focus on how prostitution (including cases of forced prostitution in Japan) impact women specifically, as well as Moon and MacKinnon pointing to rape as a specific and horrific example of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). However, as Jones notes, gendering genocide has specific implications for men as well. We find that men of “military” age are proportionally more often the victims of direct violence, particularly as it pertains to our two cases in Serbia and

However, today Sierra Leone is taking major steps in decreasing the reoccurrence of this horrific situation. For instance, Sierra Leone has created a special court called the Statue of the Special court that aims to convict the people responsible for abducting the child soldiers. Throughout the years, they have increased in the number of appeals, trials, and convictions of these perpetrators. Sierra Leone has implemented several treatment programs in the hopes of reintegrated child soldiers into civilian life once more. Several programs focus on the role of care givers and parental super vision because it increases the awareness of the guardians. Another major program was the transference-focused psychotherapy. In this program, the main goal is for the child to take responsibility for his or her actions and thoughts, reconstruct the distorted images that he or she has of themselves and the reality around them, and to reflect on the internal conflicts that he or she possesses. The program has made great impact on rehabilitating the children back into the community. Today, researches have conducted many case studies that have given insight on the stereotypes of female and male child soldiers. For instance, female child soldiers have seen equal or more violence than male child soldiers. In addition to that, male child soldiers experience the same rate of sexual abuse as females; however, it takes them longer to overcome the situation. Lastly, many former child soldiers have written about his or her experiences. One of the most famous one was from a man named Ishmael Beah. Beah’s novel gives the public the authentic play book of a child soldier. It forces the public to take action and help the prevention of this phenomenon because in honesty this occurs to too many children in third-real countries. Its not only up to the country but to the countries surrounding it to

On October 30th, 2014, over 220 women were raped in less than 36 hours in Tabit. The HRW (Human Rights Watch) had been following the case with caution. Although the Tibet government has been trying to hide this terrible case, a man told the HRW, “They said if I talked about Tabit again that I was going to be finished. They kicked me. Tied me and hanged me up. They beat me with whips and electric wires” (Human Rights Watch). This mass rape was claimed to be a “deliberate attack on Tabit and the mass rape of the town’s women and girls is a new low in the catalog of atrocities in Darfur” (Human Rights Watch). The Sudanese armed forces caused a mass rape of over 200 women as a political statement in war. One of the soldiers told a mother “You killed our man. We are going to show you true hell” (Humans Right

In reading Elizabeth Stanko’s contribution one becomes attentive to how females are to blame for the brutality of male violence. She states that “male violence against women remains a problem of women’s respectability not men’s behaviour” (4). Additionally, she cautions the reader throughout that male violence is condoned, even infrequently punished, by the Criminal Justice System. Stanko’s book offers a detailed analysis which takes the reader through the act of male violence and its aftermath for the victims.

In the article, “Analyzing Rape Regimes at the Interface of War and Peace in Peru,” Jelke Boesten argues that the issues of rape that are addressed in war crime tribunals reinforce the idea of a rape script that survivors should appeal to. This limits the understanding of the gendered dimension of warfare, for it produces a narrow interpretation of rape victimization. This consequently leads to the recognition of a limited number of cases and excludes those who do not fit the script. Similarly, with the discourse produced by TRCs, the amalgamation and narrow interpretation of testifiers’ experiences post-conflict renders the state with a summarized story that they may or may not identify with. This diminishes the process of healing that should be sought for from judicial and non-judicial transitional justice measures.

During the Rwandan genocide, some rapes occurred recurrently throughout a timespan. “Sexual enslavements occurred when a woman was detained, typically in the house of an Interhamwe, and subjected to repeated sexual assaults over a period of days,” (Mullins 727). These kinds of rapes belong in their own category because of the added element of confinement and intent to continually rape and therefore, harm. An Interhamwe soldier named Rafiki, personally sought out one Tutsi woman whom he had

Worldwide, each and every day, new individuals of all genders, ages, races and religions become victims of sexual assault. These horrific incidences have been recorded since ancient times, yet no noteworthy steps have been taken to reduce the number of occurrences. However, an even bigger issue related to sexual assault stems from a morally corrupt society and a backwards way of thinking. Many victims fail to speak up and report their assaults if they know the person, if the person is of important status, or if they are a person of authority and influence, because they are afraid of the repercussions. In the novel, The Kite Runner, rape is a greatly discussed and significant topic. Young boys in Afghanistan are being assaulted by local bullies from important families, and victims of all ages are being harassed and violated by the Taliban

Western assumptions mean they are not surprised by the number of rape victims they treat. Congolese women and communities understood that the narrative of rape was what westerns listened to and telling stories of rape meant that women got access to international aid. The common knowledge formed that in many areas to be a legitimate recipient of international aid, in the eyes of intervening actors, a woman must be a rape victim. Sexual Violence as a weapon of war.

Regrettably, the Janjawid does not target males selectively. The number of women and girls that have been abducted, raped, and tortured is unknown. Eighty percent of the people in Chad refugee camps are these women. Because they have been displaced, driven from their homes by force, they are extremely vulnerable to assault. These unfortunate women and girls are most often victims of sexual abuse rather than outright murder. These women suffer from physical and mental anguish with little or no medical care and an impossibly

Marino, Anthony. "Mass Rape of Women Can Be a Form of Genocide." Gendercide. Ed. `Noah Berlatsky. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Bosnia v. Serbia and the Status of Rape as Genocide Under International Law." Boston University International Law Journal 27.205 (2009). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Oct.

Enloe brings up questions such as, “Were soldiers given instructions to avoid sexual assaults on women in the contested regions? Were reported assaults treated seriously by superior officers, or glossed over?” (Enloe 247). To understand how rapes were handled during war it is important to consider how officials were handling the reports. The BBC video suggests that the systematic rape of a large group of women was not taken seriously. After all, “the rape camp is now reopened as a spa hotel. Tourists from across the region enjoy themselves [at the rape hotel]. If you arrived here as guest you’d never know that these rooms were used as torture chambers. Young girls and women were raped here, murdered” (“Grim History of Bosnia's 'rape Hotel' - BBC News"). Clearly the history of the hotel and the assaults that occurred within the building were ignored, all for the sake of economic prosperity. The lack of concern for the pain of women who were assaulted in the hotel shows how a nation does not concern themselves with the emotions of women. The after effects of war are everlasting for women in Bosnia, who did not see their rapists punished or buildings that acted as their prisons be torn

Women between the ages of 15 to 44 are at a greater risk of rape than cancer, malaria and a motor accident (Wood, 2009). According to Amnesty International (2014), 40 women are raped everyday in South Kivu regarding the on-going armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sexual violence during armed conflict has historically been known as one of the legitimate spoils of war (Brown, 2011). Spoils of war result from defeating a population and claiming benefits due to its instability. Thus violence towards civilian’s asserts dominance, however the implications involved must be rooted to deeper consequences to a nation. In this essay I will argue that rape is perpetrated against women

I have always known that some victims are regarded as more “ideal” than others; however, after reading this chapter, I am utterly overwhelmed by sadness arising from the fact that some women will commit horrific crimes. I do not believe that society is completely ready, nor will ever be ready to see women in military positions capable of committing crimes of murder, rape, and kidnapping. Some victims are, therefore, regarded as more “ideal” than others.

Theoretical frameworks and sources concerning rape during instances of genocide are primarily divided between four main fields of assessment. Concerning the Armenian genocide, two theories have dominated the discussion of the rape which occured in the Armenian

The public display of sexual crimes committed against WSV victims has yet another aspect to compound the consequences of their rape and captivity. The associated media articles, almost always very detailed in nature, arouse issues in regards to the cultural notions of honor. In honor-based societies, such as the Yezidi community and many communities in Nigeria, women and girls carry a heavy burden of upholding the honor of the family, clan and tribe. One way in which honor is lost is through sexual relations outside the context of a family-approved marriage, whether consensual or through rape. The injury of rape among women and girls in an honor based society, is often compounded by violence related to her loss of honor and therefore family status. Honor killings in the Yezidi community have occurred in the past (Hague et al, 2013) and the fear is that not only will girls and women who return from ISIS captivity have the psychological and physical problems associated with sexual assault, but will be shunned or even killed because they are in violation of their community’s cultural standards. Nigerian women and girls are also at risk for so called honor killings and face many of the shame consequences of public shaming and being ostracized from their family and communities following rape (Caprioli et al, 2009).