Male Perpetrators

Citation:

Sivakumaran, Sandesh. 2007. "Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict." European Journal of International Law 18 (2): 253-76.

Author: Sandesh Sivakumaran

Abstract:

Reports of sexual violence by men against men emerge from numerous conflicts, ranging in time from Ancient Persia and the Crusades to the conflicts in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite these accounts, relatively little material exists on the subject and the issue tends to be relegated to a footnote. This article ascertains the extent to which male sexual violence is committed in armed conflict. It considers factors that explain under-reporting by victims and lack of detection on the part of others. The particular forms of male sexual violence are also examined: namely rape, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence, including enforced nudity, enforced masturbation and genital violence. The dynamics present in these offences are explored, with issues of power and dominance, expressed through emasculation, considered. Thus, attention is paid to ideas of feminization, homosexualization and the prevention of procreation. The symbolic construction of male and female bodies in armed conflict is also explored.

Keywords: conflict, military sexual assault, war rape

Topics: Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Health, Reproductive Health, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, SV against Men, Sexuality Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2007

Citation:

Falcón, Sylvanna. 2001. "Rape as a Weapon of War: Advancing Human Rights for Women at the U.S.-Mexico Border." Social Justice 28 (2): 31-50.

Author: Sylvanna Falcon

Abstract:

Falcón examines the gendered effects of militarization on women at the U.S.- Mexico border, particularly in the form of "militarized border rape" and sexual assault. For Falcón, militarization ideology is embedded with issues of hyper-masculinity, patriarchy, and threats to national security. She maintains that violence against women has escalated to the serial, multiple, and mass murders of Mexican women (e.g., in the border city of Ciudad Juárez).

Keywords: war on drugs, militarization, rape, national security

Topics: Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Security, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico, United States of America

Year: 2001

Citation:

Belkin, Aaron. 2008. "Spam Filter: Gay Rights & the Normalization of Male-Male Rape in the US Military." Radical History Review, no. 100, 180-85.

Author: Aaron Belkin

Keywords: military, rape, masculinity

Annotation:

• Belkin discusses the meaning of militarization, and how it is essential both for American citizens and international allies to view the army as a force for good that also represents an idealized form of masculinity. In order to maintain this image, the U.S. military covers up and naturalizes such occurrences as male-male rape in the armed forces. One of the ways in which this naturalization takes place is through connecting stigmatized outsiders such as homosexuals with these instances of rape, and portraying these outsiders as the perpetrators when in reality they are usually the victims. Belkin offers a critique of LGBT activists’ strategy of staying silent in reaction to the problem of male-male rape in the U.S. military.

Topics: Combatants, Male Combatants, Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarization, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, SV against Men, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2008