Rape

Rethinking ‘Sexual Exploitation’ in UN Peacekeeping Operations

Citation:

Simic, Olivera. 2009. “Rethinking ‘Sexual Exploitation’ in UN Peacekeeping Operations.” Women’s Studies International Forum 32 (4): 288–95. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2009.05.007.

Author: Olivera Simic

Abstract:

This article will question definitions used by researchers in their studies of “sexual exploitation” in UN peacekeeping operations. The article will suggest that there is confusion about the definition of “sexual exploitation” not only among scholars undertaking empirical studies and exploring “sexual exploitation” issues in several peacekeeping missions, but also among UN peacekeeping personnel and local people. I look closely at nine empirical studies and explore the language used, the definitions of “sexual exploitation”, the identified causes of “sexual exploitation” and the difficulties of gathering evidence in cases of “sexual exploitation”. My article will suggest that the term “sexual exploitation” is broadly defined and contentious, and might cover activity that is not necessarily “sexually exploitative”. The article concludes that researchers have not questioned the over inclusive and broad term of “sexual exploitation” defined in the Secretary General's ‘zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and sexual abuse’ [SGB (Secretary General's Bulletin) (2003) Special measures on protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. UN Doc ST/SGB/2003/13] and, consequently, conflate all forms of sexual relationships with forced prostitution, rape, human trafficking and other forms of sexual offences.

Topics: Gender, Women, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, SV against Women, Torture, Sexual Torture

Year: 2009

Waging Sexual Warfare: Case Studies of Rape Warfare Used by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II

Citation:

Heit, Shannon. 2009. “Waging Sexual Warfare: Case Studies of Rape Warfare Used by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.” Women’s Studies International Forum 32 (5): 363–70. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2009.07.010.

Author: Shannon Heit

Abstract:

Even in peacetime, women are victims, though to a lesser degree, of the same atrocities that become their fate in war. It is important to recognize that patriarchal and subjective attitudes towards women in peacetime make a logical, though horrifying, progression to the treatment of women during war and armed conflicts. Rape during wartime is an act as old as war itself, but it was not documented as a strategic military practice of warfare until World War I. After World War I these crimes were never prosecuted, further encouraging the use of mass rape as a strategic military operation in subsequent conflicts. Using case studies of documented rape warfare under the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, we are able to discern two categories of rape: that as a weapon of terror as seen in the example of The Rape of Nanking during World War I and that as a form of sexual slavery as exemplified in the case of the “Korean Comfort Women” stations during World War II. This article outlines what actions must be taken to bring the perpetrators of wartime rapes to justice—a necessary step to bringing peace and reconciliation to the victims and in preventing future atrocities.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Trauma, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2009

The Intersections of Class, Gender, Sexuality and ‘Race’: The Political Economy of Gendered Violence

Citation:

Anthias, Floya. 2014. “The Intersections of Class, Gender, Sexuality and ‘Race’: The Political Economy of Gendered Violence.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 27 (2): 153–71. doi:10.1007/s10767-013-9152-9.

Author: Floya Anthias

Abstract:

This article focuses on rethinking the intersectional approach towards a greater framing within the new political economy and particularly concerns itself with the ways such an approach can contribute to theorising various manifestations of gendered violence. The article examines a range of different forms of violence and reflects on how an intersectional framing can inform our understanding better. Some of the intersectional dimensions to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, honour-based crimes and trafficking are discussed.

Keywords: intersectionality, political economy, gender, violence

Topics: Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Political Economies, Sexual Violence, Rape, Trafficking

Year: 2014

Feminist Research in Transitional Justice Studies: Navigating Silences and Disruptions in the Field

Citation:

Simic, Olivera. 2016. “Feminist Research in Transitional Justice Studies: Navigating Silences and Disruptions in the Field.” Human Rights Review 17 (1): 95–113.

Author: Olivera Simic

Abstract:

This paper will analyse what it takes to conduct feminist and sensitive research in countries that have seen mass human rights violations. Transitional justice research involves critical examination of difficult topics which raises a number of ethical and methodological issues for both the participants and the researchers. Although empirical research has been a facet of the studies produced in the field, researchers' accounts of undertaking research in often politically sensitive environments is largely missing from published books and research reports. This paper is informed by personal experiences of doing research in wartime rape in the ethnically and politically divided country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I argue that the researcher's profile and positionality directly affects the fieldwork and that fieldwork is a dialogical process which is structured by the researcher and the wider political processes in the country.

Keywords: feminist research, sensitive topics, personal reflections, transitional justice

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Justice, Transitional Justice, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2016

Can Transnational Feminist Solidarity Accommodate Nationalism? Reflections from the Case Study of Korean “Comfort Women”

Citation:

Herr, Ranjoo Seodu. 2015. “Can Transnational Feminist Solidarity Accommodate Nationalism? Reflections from the Case Study of Korean ‘Comfort Women.’” Hypatia 31 (1): 41–57.

Author: Ranjoo Seodu Herr

Abstract:

This article aims to refute the “incompatibility thesis” that nationalism is incompatible with transnational feminist solidarity, as it fosters exclusionary practices, xenophobia, and racism among feminists with conflicting nationalist aspirations. I examine the plausibility of the incompatibility thesis by focusing on the controversy regarding just reparation for SecondWorld War “comfort women,” which is still unresolved. The Korean Council at the center ofthis controversy, which advocates for the rights of Korean former comfort women, has been criticized for its strident nationalism and held responsible for the stalemate. Consequently, the case of comfort women has been thought to exemplify the incompatibility thesis. I argue against this common feminist perception in three ways: first, those who subscribe to the incom-patibility thesis have misinterpreted facts surrounding the issue; second, the Korean Council’s nationalism is a version of “polycentric nationalism,” which avoids the problems of essentialist nationalism at the center of feminist concerns; and, third, transnational feminist solidarity is predicated on the idea of oppressed/marginalized women’s epistemic privilege and enjoins that feminists respect oppressed/marginalized women’s epistemic privilege. To the extent that oppressed/marginalized women’s voices are expressed in nationalist terms, I argue that feminists committed to transnational feminist solidarity must accommodate their nationalism.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Nationalism, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexual Slavery, SV against Women Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: North Korea, South Korea

Year: 2015

Stigmatisation and Rejection of Survivors of Sexual Violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Citation:

Albutt, Katherine, Jocelyn Kelly, Justin Kabanga, and Michael VanRooyen. 2016. “Stigmatisation and Rejection of Survivors of Sexual Violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Disasters, May. 

Authors: Katherine Albutt, Jocelyn Kelly , Justin Kabanga, Michael VanRooyen

Abstract:

Studies report that between 6 per cent and 29 per cent of survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are rejected by their families and communities. This research project was designed to provide insights into survivors’ experiences of stigmatisation and rejection. Surveys were conducted with 310 women as they sought psychosocial services in eastern DRC. In total, 44.3 per cent of women reported suffering rejection after sexual violence. The majority of women felt that their status in the household (58.0 per cent) and community (54.9 per cent) diminished after rape. The odds of rejection were greater among women reporting ongoing displacement, pregnancy owing to sexual violence, worsening family relations, and diminished community status. This work highlights the extremely high levels of loss associated with the war in eastern DRC, particularly among survivors of sexual violence. The rejection of a survivor of rape has concrete and devastating psychosocial consequences.

Keywords: conflict, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), rape, rejection, sexual violence, stigmitisation

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2016

Who Is Worthy of Protection?: Gender-Based Asylum and U. S. Immigration Politics

Citation:

Nayak, Meghana. 2015. Who Is Worthy of Protection?: Gender-Based Asylum and U. S. Immigration Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/who-is-worthy-of-protection-9780199397624?cc=us&lang=en&.

Author: Meghana Nayak

Abstract:

A surprisingly understudied topic in international relations is gender-based asylum. Gender-based asylum offers protection from deportation for migrants who have suffered gender violence and persecution in their home countries. Countries are increasingly acknowledging that even though international refugee law does not include "gender" as a category of persecution, gender violence can threaten people's lives and requires attention. But Meghana Nayak argues that it matters not just that but how we respond to gender violence and persecution.  Asylum advocates and the US government have created "frames," or ideas about how to understand different types of gender violence and who counts as victims. These frames are useful in increasing gender-based asylum grants. But the United States is negotiating the tension between the protection and the restriction of non-citizens, claiming to offer safe haven to persecuted people at the same time that it aims to control borders. Thus, the frames construct which migrants are "worthy" of protection. The effects of the asylum frames are two-fold. First, they leave out or distort the stories and experiences of asylum seekers who do not fit preconceived narratives of "good" victims. Second, the frames reflect but also serve as an entry point to deepen, strengthen, and shape the US position of power relative to other countries, international organizations, and immigrant communities. Who Is Worthy of Protection? explores the politics of gender-based asylum through a comparative examination of US asylum policy and cases regarding domestic violence, female circumcision, rape, trafficking, coercive sterilization and abortion, and persecution based on sexual and gender identity.
(Oxford University Press)

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking, Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2015

I Am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming My Life from the Lord’s Resistance Army

Citation:

Amony, Evelyn. 2015. I Am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming My Life from the Lord’s Resistance Army. Edited by Eric Baines. Women in Africa and the Diaspora. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5290.htm.

Abstract:

More than 60,000 children were abducted in east and central Africa in the 1990s by the violent rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army and its notorious commander Joseph Kony. Evelyn Amony was one of them. Abducted at the age of eleven, Evelyn Amony spent nearly eleven years inside the Lord’s Resistance Army, becoming a forced wife to Joseph Kony and mother to his children. She takes the reader into the inner circles of LRA commanders and reveals unprecedented personal and domestic details about Joseph Kony. Her account unflinchingly conveys the moral difficulties of choosing survival in a situation fraught with violence, threat, and death.
 
Amony was freed following her capture by the Ugandan military. Despite the trauma she endured with the LRA, Amony joined a Ugandan peace delegation to the LRA, trying to convince Kony to end the war that had lasted more than two decades. She recounts those experiences, as well as the stigma she and her children faced when she returned home as an adult.
 
This extraordinary testimony shatters stereotypes of war-affected women, revealing the complex ways that Amony navigated life inside the LRA and her current work as a human rights advocate to make a better life for her children and other women affected by war.
 
(University of Wisconsin Press)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Peacebuilding, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, SV against Women Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2015

Rape, Trauma, and Meaning

Citation:

Gavey, Nicola. 2008. “Rape, Trauma, and Meaning.” In Global Empowerment of Women: Responses to Globalization and Politicized Religions, 233–47. New York: Routledge.

Author: Nicola Gavey

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Trauma, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women, Violence

Year: 2008

Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide

Citation:

Totten, Samuel, ed. 2012. Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. http://www.transactionpub.com/title/978-1-4128-4759-9.html.

Author: Samuel Totten

Abstract:

The plight and fate of female victims during the course of genocide is radically and profoundly different from their male counterparts. Like males, female victims suffer demonization, ostracism, discrimination, and deprivation of their basic human rights. They are often rounded up, deported, and killed. But, unlike most men, women are subjected to rape, gang rape, and mass rape. Such assaults and degradation can, and often do, result in horrible injuries to their reproductive systems and unwanted pregnancies. This volume takes one stride towards assessing these grievances, and argues against policies calculated to continue such indifference to great human suffering.
 
The horror and pain suffered by females does not end with the act of rape. There is always the fear, and reality, of being infected with HIV/AIDS. Concomitantly, there is the possibility of becoming pregnant.Then, there is the birth of the babies. For some, the very sight of the babies and children reminds mothers of the horrific violations they suffered. When mothers harbor deep-seated hatred or distain for such children, it results in more misery. The hatred may be so great that children born of rape leave home early in order to fend for themselves on the street.
 
This seventh volume in the Genocide series will provoke debate, discussion, reflection and, ultimately, action. The issues presented include ongoing mass rape of girls and women during periods of war and genocide, ostracism of female victims, terrible psychological and physical wounds, the plight of offspring resulting from rapes, and the critical need for medical and psychological services.
(Transaction Publishers)

Topics: Gender, Women, Genocide, Health, HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health, Trauma, Humanitarian Assistance, Context-Appropriate Response to Trauma, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women

Year: 2012

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