Men

Citation:

Prugl, Elisabeth. 2003. “Gender and War: Causes, Constructions, and Critique.” Perspective on Politics 1 (2): 335–42.

Author: Elisabeth Prugl

Keywords: Gender, war, cultural construction, gender codes, gender roles

Annotation:

Quotes:

"How does gender relate to war? Cultural constructions and gendered codes of domination carry the main weight in Goldstein’s explanation, which he develops after discussing the evidence from biology and anthropology. This evidence disconfirms the significance of genetic codes, male-bonding practices, or differential group loyalties in explaining warlike behavior among men. With regard to male and female hormones, Goldstein finds complicated feedback loops between culture and biology that similarly undermine suggestions of a biological hardwiring of difference. And he finds that the slight differences between women and men in size and strength, in cognitive abilities, and in the orientation toward status hierarchies combine with gender segregation in childhood to offer some explanation for a tendency to associate combat with men, but not enough to account for the categorical difference of gender roles in warfare. The evidence leads him to probe cultural constructions, as well as sexual and economic domination." (335)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Hierarchies, Military Forces & Armed Groups

Year: 2003

Citation:

Higate, Paul. 2012. "Martial Races and Enforcement Masculinities of the Global South: Weaponising Fijian, Chilean, and Salvadoran Postcoloniality in the Mercenary Sector." Globalizations 9 (1): 35-52.

Author: Paul Higate

Abstract:

Set against the backdrop of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the private militarised security industry has grown rapidly over the last decade. Its growth into a multi-billion dollar enterprise has attracted the interest of scholars in international relations, legal studies, political science, and security studies who have debated questions of regulation and accountability, alongside the state's control on the monopoly of violence. While these contributions are to be welcomed, the absence of critical sociological approaches to the industry and its predominantly male security contracting workforce has served to occlude the gendered and racialised face of the private security sphere. These dimensions are important since the industry has come increasingly to rely on masculine bodies from the global South in the form of so-called third country and local national men. The involvement of these men is constituted in and through the articulation of historical, neocolonial, neoliberal, and militarising processes. These processes represent the focus of the current article in respect of Fijian and Latin American security contractors. Their trajectories into the industry are considered in respect of both "push" and "pull" factors, the likes of which differ in marked ways for each group. Specifically, states and social groups in Fiji, Chile, and El Salvador are appropriating what is described in the article as an ethnic bargain as one way in which to make a contribution to the global security sector, or "in direct regard to the Latin American context” to banish its more dangerous legacies from the domestic space. In conclusion, it is argued that the use of these contractors by the industry represents a hitherto unacknowledged gendered and racialised instance of the contemporary imperial moment.

Keywords: masculinities, security industry, mercenary, global security sector

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Livelihoods, Militarized Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Private Military & Security, Security Regions: Americas, Central America, South America, Oceania Countries: Chile, El Salvador, Fiji

Year: 2012

Citation:

Aranburu, Xabier Agirre. 2010. "Sexual Violence Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Using Pattern Evidence and Analysis for International Cases." Law Social Inquiry 35 (4): 855-79.

Author: Xabier Agirre Aranburu

Abstract:

Establishing the pattern of crime is fundamental for the successful investigation of international crimes (genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity). A pattern of crime is the aggregate of multiple incidents that share common features related to the victims, the perpetrators, and the modus operandi. Pattern evidence and analysis have been used successfully, mainly in the investigation of large-scale killings, destruction, and displacement; the use for sexual violence charges has been remarkably more limited. There is a need to overcome this gap by setting proper methods of data collection and analysis. At the level of evidence collection, under-reporting should be addressed through victimization surveys or secondary analysis of data available from different sources. At the level of analysis, the available evidence needs to be subject to impartial examination beyond the pre-conceptions of the conflict parties and advocacy groups, in compliance with scientific standards for quantitative, qualitative, and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) methods. Reviewing the different investigative experiences and jurisprudence will help to set the right methodology and contribute most efficiently to putting an end to the impunity regarding sexual crimes.

Keywords: sexual violence, criminal investigations, law

Annotation:

Quotes:

"The investigation of international crimes often requires means of evidence and analysis able to show the series of incidents as a whole and to determine whether they have enough in common to be considered a relevant pattern of crime. Such pattern evidence and analysis, from expert testimony to statistics and crime mapping, have been used successfully mainly for killings and mass destruction and displacement, but their use for sexual violence charges has been remarkably more limited. As Susana SaCouto and Katherine Cleary (2009) have observed, 'Unfortunately, while the ad hoc tribunals have used circumstantial or pattern evidence to establish that an accused ordered certain crimes, a review of sexual violence and gender-based cases before these tribunals indicates that they appear more reluctant to do so in these types of cases' (353)." (2)

 "The record of the ICTR has been assessed as 'shameful' because 'crimes of sexual violence have never been fully and consistently incorporated into the investigations and strategy of the Prosecutor's Office' (Nowrojee 2007, 370). n4 Concerning both the ICTR and ICTY, according to expert assessment, there has been a 'tendency to require that the prosecution meet a higher evidentiary standard in cases of sexual violence and gender based crimes' (SaCouto and Cleary 2009, 356). As an experienced practitioner, I have seen professionals refuse to deal with allegations of sexual violence, neglect the relevant evidence, or set higher standards for evidence on a number of occasions." (3)

"The reluctance to investigate sexual violence appears to result from two main factors: lack of awareness and sensitivity among teams usually led by senior male officers and a certain taboo or embarrassment when dealing with intimate aspects of our bodies and minds. Researchers from the field of cognitive psychology and the psychology of law could probably assist in analyzing such prejudices and suggest corrective measures (the most obvious being evaluation at the recruitment stage, training, clear policies and standards, appointment of designated specialized staff, and gender balance in teams)." (3)

"There are at least four notions in the advocacy literature that criminal investigations need to considercritically: sexual violence is not prevalent in every conflict, it is not necessarily a strategic choice as a 'weapon of war,' underreporting is not an axiomatic universal fact, and women are not the only victims." (4)

"The problem of underreporting seems to be particularly acute among male victims since, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2008), 'there is an extremely limited awareness of, and knowledge about, sexual violence against men and boys in conflict among the humanitarian and sexual violence research community' (2). In spite of all the available information, male victims are entirely ignored in the key resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council in relation to sexual violence in armed conflicts (Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889, adopted between 2000 and 2009)." (6)

"Factual typologies, while necessarily situation specific, may be assisted by consideration of the following very frequent types:   1. Opportunistic: As discussed above, a type of sexual looting decided by the direct perpetrator, who aims primarily at his own sexual satisfaction while taking the opportunity offered by the defenselessness of the victim and possibly other factors.  2. Strategic: when used as a means to terrorize, expel, or subjugate the victim, and possibly her or his community. This may become apparent with conducts that may not give sexual satisfaction to the perpetrator (e.g., [*870] sterilization, mutilation, or penetration with objects) or when the aggression is publicized with an intent to offend the wider population.  3. Captivity: Scenarios of sexual violence in conditions of captivity combine opportunistic and strategic aspects, since the aggression may be decided by the direct perpetrator for his own satisfaction, while the opportunity to abuse is systemically constructed by those who established the captivity regime. This type of crime may include scenarios of abduction, sexual slavery, abuse within detention facilities, forced 'marriage,' or sexual abuse of child soldiers." (9-10)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Men, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, Impunity, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, UNSCR 1820, UNSCR 1888, UNSCR 1889, Sexual Violence, SV against Men, SV against Women

Year: 2010

Citation:

Enloe, Cynthia. 2000. Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Author: Cynthia Enloe

Abstract:

Maneuvers takes readers on a global tour of the sprawling process called "militarization." Cynthia Enloe shows that the people who become militarized are not just the obvious ones—executives and factory floor workers who make fighter planes, land mines, and intercontinental missiles. They are also the employees of food companies, toy companies, clothing companies, film studios, stock brokerages, and advertising agencies. Militarization is never gender-neutral, Enloe claims: It is a personal and political transformation that relies on ideas about femininity and masculinity. Films that equate action with war, condoms that are designed with a camouflage pattern, fashions that celebrate brass buttons and epaulettes, tomato soup that contains pasta shaped like Star Wars weapons—all of these contribute to militaristic values that mold our culture in both war and peace.

Maneuvers takes an international look at the politics of masculinity, nationalism, and globalization. Enloe ranges widely from Japan to Korea, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Britain, Israel, the United States, and many points in between. She covers a broad variety of subjects: gays in the military, the history of "camp followers," the politics of women who have sexually serviced male soldiers, married life in the military, military nurses, and the recruitment of women into the military. One chapter titled "When Soldiers Rape" explores the many facets of the issue in countries such as Chile, the Philippines, Okinawa, Rwanda, and the United States. Enloe outlines the dilemmas feminists around the globe face in trying to craft theories and strategies that support militarized women, locally and internationally, without unwittingly being militarized themselves. She explores the complicated militarized experiences of women as prostitutes, as rape victims, as mothers, as wives, as nurses, and as feminist activists, and she uncovers the "maneuvers" that military officials and their civilian supporters have made in order to ensure that each of these groups of women feel special and separate. 

Keywords: militarization, masculinity, nationalism, globalization

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Globalization, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Nationalism

Year: 2000