“Sexual violence in conflict needs to be treated as the war crime that it is; it can no longer be treated as an unfortunate collateral damage of war.” – UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms Zainab Hawa Bangura

 

Even though sexual violence in conflict has been relatively well documented since World War 2, the international community has been slow to act. This changed in the early 1990s when news about the horrific targeting of women and girls in the Rwandan Genocide and the Bosnian War hit the headlines. Public outrage at these events helped push governments to make sexual violence in war both a Crime Against Humanity and a War Crime, with a number of cases being prosecuted. More recently, conflicts in the Middle East and continuing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have highlighted the prevalence of this human rights abuse. But why is sexual violence in war a common feature across conflicts everywhere? And why are women targeted in war? Today, Soroptimist International examines sexual violence in conflict, and explores some of these questions.

Why is sexual violence such a prevalent feature in war?

In armed conflicts, social breakdown leaves women at increased risk. All the usual discrimination and problems of gender violence become exacerbated. Therefore, as gender-based violence exists across all societies, so does the risk of sexual violence in conflict. Unfortunately, this is also why in conflict situations women are not only subjected to sexual exploitation by opposing forces, but also sometimes by those mandated to protect them. Additionally, women’s bodies become a battle ground. Sometimes seen as property that can be used or owned by soldiers, by capturing and sexually abusing women an armed force is showing that they can take everything away from their opposition – women are seen as territory, and as land needs to be captured so do women. This is particularly bad when conflicts have an ethnic element to them. In these cases, sexual violence in war can be related to trying to exterminate a particular group. This is why sexual violence in war is also considered an act of genocide, and is prosecutable under international criminal law.

 

Click on the image above to view ‘Stop Rape Now’ UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

Why are women targeted in war?

For a long time there was the misconception that only women of reproductive age would be targeted by wartime sexual violence, but this is now known not to be the case. All women, regardless of age, are at significant risk of sexual violence during conflict. Men and boys can also be victims, and as more efforts are made to find out about sexual violence against men, the bigger this problem appears to be. By working with victims and survivors, it is becoming clearer that both men and women are targeted for reasons of power – women are targeted to show they are ‘owned’ by a military force, whereas men are targeted to show that they have no power. These reasons all relate back to traditional gender stereotypes held in society, and that become more severe in times of violence. Regardless of the causes of conflict, sexual violence is used to spread terror throughout communities, to humiliate and degrade people, and as an attempt to make reconciliation impossible. Many have described sexual violence as a weapon of war that uses violence against women as a means to destroy societies, break down cultural groups and to shatter the lives of people.

How many people are affected by sexual violence in war?

Collecting information on sexual violence in conflict is notoriously difficult because many people do not come forward due to social stigma, fear or even because they do not survive to report it. This means that statistics are unreliable, and always significantly less than the true numbers. However, what information is available shows that women are disproportionately affected, but men and boys can be targeted too.

 

Picture: Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
co-chaired the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on
10-13 June 2014, London.

 

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As part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a toolkit to help medical professionals care for victims of sexual violence in conflict situations. Being able to provide good quality medical care is not only critical to those who need support, but also helps to document the prevalence of this phenomenon and provides evidence for any potential criminal investigations. This toolkit helps medical personnel know what kind of information they need to document to help care for victims and to be a part of the movement to end impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes.

 
You can see the toolkit by clicking on the image above:

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Statistics from UN Women:

Conservative estimates suggest that 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while approximately 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were targeted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Between 50,000 and 64,000 women in camps for internally displaced people in Sierra Leone were sexually assaulted by combatants between 1991 and 2001.

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence, mostly involving women and girls, have been documented since 1996: the actual numbers are believed to be far higher.

 

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How can we engage men and boys in preventing and responding to sexual violence in some of the most dangerous places on the planet? How do we understand men’s diverse relations to this violence, as witnesses, victims, perpetrators and peacemakers? Michael Kaufman, Co-founder White Ribbon Campaign was the lead author of this advocacy brief, by the MenEngage Alliance and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

July 2012. Click on this link to view the report.

 

"Security Council
Resolution 1325 – For the first time the global community had a hard
look at the plight of women during armed conflict. Not only as victims
but as potential participants in the peace process. Their presence would
mainstream the gender perspective and convey the humanitarian
dimensions. Bringing this to the forefront at a parallel event at CSW59
was an emotive film. The Song of the Reed is a melody as soft
and fleeting as the mountain breeze, but with a message as strong as a
blowing storm”. Kang Shu-hua’s narrative threw up several questions. In
an armed conflict, historically women are part of the loot for the
victor, or women are abused denigrated by the perpetrating country, to
send a message of subjugation. History has been witness to this time
and again. But what happens when there is a denial of history, when
documents, places, official records and the women themselves, are
negated.

 

Image: Click on the image above to be taken to a blog written by Nisha Ghosh, Friendship Link Coordinator, SI Pune Metro East