Male Victims

Out of The Shadows? The Inclusion of Men and Boys in Conceptualisations of Wartime Sexual Violence

Citation:

Touquet, Heleen, and Ellen Gorris. 2016. "Out of The Shadows? The Inclusion of Men and Boys in Conceptualisations of Wartime Sexual Violence." Reproductive Health Matters 24 (47): 36-46. 

Authors: Heleen Touquet, Ellen Gorris

Abstract:

Researchers increasingly acknowledge that men and boys are frequent victims of sexual violence in conflict alongside women and girls, who remain the group that is disproportionately affected. This increasing awareness has contributed to significant efforts to include men and boys in conceptualisations of conflict related sexual violence in policy as well as in international criminal law. This article analyses the changes that have occurred in these two fields in recent years. We argue that while a major shift towards including male victims in international policy on wartime sexual violence took place in 2013-2014, this development has yet to be consolidated in salient policy guidelines and handbooks. While men and boys’ potential victimisation is frequently recognised, most policy documents do not treat the topic of male victimisation in depth. International criminal law on the other hand has pioneered gender-neutral and inclusive definitions. However, the interpretation and application of the gender-inclusive approach is often left to the discretion of judges and the prosecution who at times fail to take the experience of males fully into account, signalling the continuing influence of gender stereotypes and deeply held cultural myths. A renewed effort to fully integrate male victims into conceptualisations of conflict-related sexual violence in both policy and law is therefore advised.

Keywords: sexual violence, gender-based violence, male victims, conflict, 'gender'

Topics: Conflict, Gender, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Male Victims, Sexual Violence, SV against Men

Year: 2016

Queering Explanatory Frameworks for Wartime Sexual Violence against Men

Citation:

Schulz, Philipp, and Heleen Touquet. 2020. “Queering Explanatory Frameworks for Wartime Sexual Violence against Men.” International Affairs 96 (5): 1169–87.

Authors: Philipp Schulz, Heleen Touquet

Abstract:

In this article we argue that prevalent explanatory frameworks of sexual violence against men primarily pursue one line of inquiry, explaining its occurrence as exclusively strategic and systematic, based on heteronormative and homophobic assumptions about violence, gender and sexualities. Feminist IR scholarship has significantly complexified our understanding of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), documenting its multiple forms and causes across time and space—thereby moving beyond the persistent opportunism-strategy dichotomy and critically engaging with the dominant ‘rape as a weapon of war’ narrative. Drawing on empirical material from Sri Lanka and northern Uganda we queer the current explanatory frameworks, analyzing multiple instances of CRSV against men that both simultaneously seem to confirm and defy categorizations as opportunistic or strategic, while being situated in broader and systematic warfare dynamics and unequal power-relationships. Our empirical material shows that relying on crude categorizations such as the opportunism–strategy binary is unproductive and essentialist, as it tends to mask over the complexities and messiness of deeply gendered power relationships during times of war. Binary strategy/opportunism categorizations also imply broader unintended political consequences, including the further marginalization of sexual violence acts that fall outside the dominant scripts or binary frameworks—such as sexual violence against men with opportunistic underpinnings.

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Men, Gendered Power Relations, Male Victims, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Men, Sexuality Regions: Africa, East Africa, Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka, Uganda

Year: 2020

The "Real" Chechen Man: Conceptions of Religion, Nature, and Gender and the Persecution of Sexual Minorities in Postwar Chechnya

Citation:

Scicchitano, Dominic. 2019. “The "Real" Chechen Man: Conceptions of Religion, Nature, and Gender and the Persecution of Sexual Minorities in Postwar Chechnya.” Journal of Homosexuality. doi:10.1080/00918369.2019.1701336.

Author: Dominic Scicchitano

Abstract:

In March of 2017, the Russian LGBT Network received their first reports of police violence against individuals in Chechnya because of their perceived sexual orientation. In the following months, news spread of a campaign of forced disappearances and torture specifically targeting suspected homosexual men. Between December, 2018 and February, 2019, police carried out another wave of unlawful detentions of men on the basis of their sexual orientation. The reports of unlawful detentions and extrajudicial killings of queer men may seem surreal in a world that has slowly grown more progressive with regard to LGBT rights issues. And yet, this violence is the reality faced by gay and bisexual men in Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov, the hypermasculine Chechen leader. This paper explores the ways in which religious practice, imaginations of nature, and conceptions of gender have influenced Chechnya’s current anti-LGBT climate.

Keywords: Chechnya, caucasus, LGBTQ+, antigay violence, unlawful detentions, religious fundamentalism, masculinities, gendered nature

Topics: Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, LGBTQ, Male Victims, Post-Conflict, Religion, Sexuality, Violence Regions: Asia, Europe Countries: Russian Federation

Year: 2019

The Health Impacts of Violence Perpetrated by Police, Military and Other Public Security Forces on Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in El Salvador

Citation:

Davis, Dirk A., Giuliana J. Morales, Kathleen Ridgeway, Modesto Mendizabal, Michele Lanham, Robyn Dayton, Juana Cooke, Karin Santi and Emily Evens. 2020. “The Health Impacts of Violence Perpetrated by Police, Military and Other Public Security Forces on Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in El Salvador.” Culture, Health & Sexuality 22 (2): 217-32.

Authors: Dirk A. Davis, Giuliana J. Morales, Kathleen Ridgeway, Modesto Mendizabal, Michele Lanham, Robyn Dayton, Juana Cooke, Karin Santi, Emily Evens

Abstract:

Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men face both high levels of violence and a disproportionate burden of poor health outcomes. We explored violence perpetrated against Salvadoran gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men by public security forces; perceived motivations of violence; and impacts on health. We conducted structured qualitative interviews with 20 participants and used systematic coding and narrative analysis to identify emergent themes. Nearly all participants described the physical, emotional, sexual and/or economic violence by public security forces. Most attributed being targeted to their gender expression and/or perceived sexual orientation. The most common impact was emotional distress, including humiliation, fear and depression; lasting physical injuries were also widely reported. Study participants felt unable to report these incidents for fear of retribution or inaction. Men reported feelings of helplessness and distrust, avoidance of authorities and altering when, where or how often they appeared in public spaces. Programmes and interventions should focus on providing mental health services for LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) victims of violence, educating public security forces on the legal rights of Salvadorans and expanding current LGBTI-inclusive policies to all public security forces.

Keywords: violence, men who have sex with men, police, military, El Salvador

Topics: Gender, Men, Health, Mental Health, LGBTQ, Male Victims, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, Sexuality, Sexual Violence, SV against Men, Violence Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: El Salvador

Year: 2020

Languages of Castration – Male Genital Mutilation in Conflict and Its Embedded Messages

Citation:

Myrttinen, Henri. 2018. "Languages of Castration – Male Genital Mutilation in Conflict and Its Embedded Messages." In Sexual Violence Against Men in Global Politics, edited by Marysia Zalewski, Paula Drumond, Elisabeth Prugl, and Maria Stern. London: Routledge.

Author: Henri Myrttinen

Abstract:

This chapter explores the various forms of violence directed against male sexual/reproductive organs in different settings of violent conflict and some of the meanings attached to these acts in these contexts by the various people partaking in the act directly either as victims/survivors, perpetrator, and witnesses or indirectly as audiences. The tendency to not discuss acts of violence against male genital mutilation and its real-life repercussions even where there is evidence of these acts has the potential to render whole categories of victims/survivors invisible. Another key problem with interpreting the ‘languages of castration’ is a lack of research on perpetrator motivations as well as on victims’ and community members’ understandings of the violence and its meanings. The chapter focuses on a review of secondary materials, in addition to which some background interviews were conducted with academic researchers and NGO practitioners working on sexual violence against men and boys (SVAMB) as well as informal discussions with investigators working for international agencies.

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Men, Boys, Health, Reproductive Health, International Organizations, Male Victims, NGOs, Sexual Violence, SV against Men

Year: 2018

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