Sexual Violence

Water Access in Changing Climate in Bangladesh: A Study of Social Impacts on Women who Manage Household Water

Citation:

Islam, M. Rafiqul. 2020. "Water Access in Changing Climate in Bangladesh: A Study of Social Impacts on Women who Manage Household Water." Bandung 7 (1): 107-29.

Author: M. Rafiqul Islam

Abstract:

Access to water depends on the availability of water but climate change impact such as sea level rise, increase frequency and intensity of cyclone, floods, and erratic rainfall reduces the availability of water by either polluting water sources or damaging water supply and management infrastructure. Women are the worst victims of climate change regarding water access as they are primarily responsible for managing water for the household. This study focuses on how climate change is responsible for reducing water access and subsequently bear on women in addressing the water crisis problem. The study found that women face challenges in access to water that affect them in terms of less time, physical and mental health problems, sexual assault/harassment, violence in the household, reduce their income, children’s education, early marriage, divorce, and make more difficult to perform their responsibility. Initiatives should be taken to enhance water access for women on a priority basis.

Keywords: access to water, availability of water, climate change impact, water crises, women, Rainwater harvesting

Topics: Education, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Health, Mental Health, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Sexual Violence, SV against Women

Year: 2020

A Gendered Imperative: Does Sexual Violence Attract UN Attention in Civil Wars?

Citation:

Benson, Michelle, and Theodora-Ismene Gizelis. 2019. “A Gendered Imperative: Does Sexual Violence Attract UN Attention in Civil Wars?” Journal of Conflict Resolution 64 (1): 167-98.

Authors: Michelle Benson, Theodora-Ismene Gizelis

Abstract:

There is increasing awareness that sexual violence is distinct from other aspects of civilian victimization in civil wars. Few studies have examined the independent impact of such violence on responses to civil wars as compared to “traditional” forms of violence. This article explores whether reports of high levels of rape and sexual violence increase the probability of United Nations (UN) attention to conflicts and calls to action. In so doing, we combine original data on UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions with data on sexual violence in armed conflict and estimate the impact of sexual violence on UN attention to all civil wars from 1990 to 2009. We show that the effects of sexual violence on the number and level of UNSC resolutions are significant even when controlling for other important determinants of UN action. These findings have important implications for understanding how the UN has expanded its view on protecting civilians.

 

Keywords: war crimes, international organization, internal armed conflict, civil wars

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, International Organizations, Justice, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, Violence

Year: 2019

Gender, Peace and Conflict

Citation:

Smith, Dan, and Inger Skjelsbaek, eds. 2001. Gender, Peace and Conflict. London: Sage Publications. 

Authors: Dan Smith, Inger Skjelsbaek

Annotation:

Summary:
Gender is increasingly recognized as central to the study and analysis of the traditionally male domains of war and international relations.
 
This book explores the key role of gender in peace research, conflict resolution and international politics. Rather than simply 'add gender and stir' the aim is to transcend different disciplinary boundaries and conceptual approaches to provide a more integrated basis for research and study. To this end Gender, Peace and Conflict uniquely combines theoretical chapters alongside empirical case studies to demonstrate the importance of a gender perspective to both theory and practice in conflict resolution and peace research. 
 
The theoretical chapters explore the gender relationship and engage with the many stereotypical elisions and dichotomies that dominate and distort the issue, such as the polarized pairs of femininity and peace versus masculinity and war. The case study chapters (drawing on examples from South America, South Asia and Europe, including former Yugoslavia) move beyond theoretical critique to focus on issues such as sexual violence in war, the role of women in military groups and peacekeeping operations, and the impact of a 'critical mass' of women in political decision-making. 
 
Gender, Peace and Conflict provides an invaluable survey and new insights in a central area of contemporary research. It will be essential reading for academics, students and practitioners across peace studies, conflict resolution and international politics. (Summary from PRIO)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Women, Peace and the United Nations: Beyond Beijing 
Dorota Gierycz
 
2. The Problem of Essentialism 
Dan Smith
 
3. Is Femininity Inherently Peaceful? The Construction of Femininity in the War 
Inger Skjelsbæk
 
4. Women & War, Men & Pacifism 
Michael Salla
 
5. Gender, Power and Politics: An Alternative Perspective 
Errol Miller
 
6. Women in Political Decisionmaking: From Critical Mass to Critical Acts in Scandinavia 
Drude Dahlerup
 
7. Promoting Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution: Gender Balance in Decisionmaking 
Anuradha Mitra Chenoy and Achin Vanaik
 
8. Integrating a Gender Perspective in Conflict Resolution: The Colombian Case 
Eva Irene Tuft
 
9. The Use of Women and the Role of Women in the Yugoslav War 
Svetlana Slapsak
 
10. Gender Difference in Conflict Resolution: The Case of Sri Lanka 
Kumudini Samuel

 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Peace and Security, Political Participation, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, South America, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Balkans Countries: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2001

Attitudes and Perceptions of Young Men Towards Gender Equality and Violence in Timor-Leste

Citation:

Wigglesworth, Ann, Sara Niner, Dharmalingam Arunachalam, Abel Dos Santos, and Mateus Tilman. 2015. "Attitudes and Perceptions of Young Men Towards Gender Equality and Violence in Timor-Leste." Journal of International Women's Studies 16 (2): 312-29.

Authors: Ann Wigglesworth, Sara Niner, Dharmalingam Arunachalam, Abel Dos Santos, Mateus Tilman

Abstract:

This article examines attitudes and perceptions of young men toward gender relations and gender-based violence in post-conflict Timor-Leste. A high level of domestic violence is reported, and a law against domestic violence has been passed in recent years. In 2013, a research team surveyed almost 500 young men using the Gender-Equitable Men Scale in both rural and urban contexts. It was found that young men become less gender equitable as they get older, and the environment they grow up in influences their gender attitudes. Existing contradictions and tensions between national government policy and local customary practices are well-known, and these are reflected in young men's acceptance of general principles of gender equality, which is unmatched by their willingness to accept more equitable gender relations in their own lives. Of concern was the level of young men's acceptance of sexual harassment and forced sex. Mechanisms are required to influence young men's attitudes to gender equality and intimate partner relations in school programs and other arenas as a priority.

Keywords: gender equality, masculinity, gender-based violence, Timor-Leste

Topics: Age, Youth, Domestic Violence, Education, Gender, Men, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators Regions: Oceania Countries: Timor-Leste

Year: 2015

Documenting the Impact of Conflict on Women Living in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Sri Lanka: Some Ethical Considerations

Citation:

Swiss, Shana, Peggy J. Jennings, K. G. K. Weerarathne, and Lori Heise. 2019. “Documenting the Impact of Conflict on Women Living in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Sri Lanka: Some Ethical Considerations.” Health and Human Rights Journal 21 (1): 93-101.

Authors: Shana Swiss, Peggy J. Jennings, K. G. K. Weerarathne, Lori Heise

Abstract:

Women’s Rights International works with rural women and girls who are living in countries at war or with ongoing political violence. In 2005, The Asia Foundation invited Women’s Rights International to Sri Lanka to evaluate the feasibility of a random-sample survey of women to document the impact of the decades-long conflict. The significant imbalance in the risks-to-benefits ratio compelled us to recommend that random-sample surveys that included questions about sexual violence be avoided at that time, especially in the displaced persons areas. Instead, we recommended that three strategies be given priority in situations in which the risks for women are too great to justify a random-sample survey. First, maximize the use of existing information. Second, collect survey data only in partnership with a strong community organization that will use the data for direct tangible benefits. Third, share knowledge that will help build the capacity of local organizations to design surveys that address their priorities, and collect and use their own data following ethical guidelines that maximize the protection of individuals and the wider community. We implemented these recommendations in a partnership with a local organization with a strong history of advocating for women’s rights.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Refugee/IDP Camps, Conflict, Gender, Women, Girls, International Organizations, Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka

Year: 2019

Response to and Reparations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Iraq: The Case of Shi'a Turkmen Survivors in Tel Afar

Citation:

Bor, Güley. 2019. Response to and Reparations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Iraq: The Case of Shi'a Turkmen Survivors in Tel Afar. London: London School of Economics Middle East Centre.

Author: Güley Bor

Abstract:

Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has been widespread in Iraq during the most recent Islamic State conflict. Thousands of Yazidi and hundreds of Shiʿa Turkmen women and girls were subjected to various forms of CRSV, including sexual slavery and forced marriages. Survivors need, demand and have a right to emergency responses as well as reparations. However, an overview of the situation of Shiʿa Turkmen survivors who returned to Tel Afar demonstrates how the Government of Iraq’s inaction, together with its discriminatory laws and practices, continue to fail women, and survivors in particular. Shiʿa Turkmen survivors must be provided with timely, comprehensive and survivor-centric medical, legal, economic services and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), while community-oriented programmes must address the high levels of stigma to which survivors are subjected. To address the medical, psychological and social harms arising from CRSV, complex reparation programmes (both urgent and comprehensive) should be designed and implemented through effective survivor consultation, by ensuring that all survivors are included in their scope. While the recent reparations bill is a step in the right direction, Iraq is in urgent need for wider reform in addressing sexual violence and ensuring its non-repetition.

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Women, Girls, Governance, Health, Mental Health, Justice, Reparations, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery, SV against Women Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Iraq

Year: 2019

Cleared for Investment? The Intersections of Transnational Capital, Gender, and Race in the Production of Sexual Violence and Internal Displacement in Colombia's Armed Conflict

Citation:

Sachseder, Julia. 2020. “Cleared for investment? The Intersections of Transnational Capital, Gender, and Race in the Production of Sexual Violence and Internal Displacement in Colombia’s Armed Conflict.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 22 (2): 162-86.

Author: Julia Sachseder

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
Investigating the nexus of transnational capital, gender, and race, I argue that sexual violence and internal displacement tacitly serve the interest of transnational corporations (TNCs). Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in war-torn regions in Colombia, I elucidate how violence is deeply intertwined in the globalization of neoliberal capitalism and operates by exploiting and instrumentalizing constructions of gender and race that are articulated through colonial legacies and further dehumanize the “Other.” The focus on intersectional power relations advances a critical understanding of the political economy of armed conflict. First, it reveals how local and global (economic) actors are entrenched in exacerbating local forms of domination that produce sexual violence and internal displacement through a particular political economy of masculinity and neoliberal forms of expansion and exploitation. Beyond that, both forms of violence are not only the product of colonial, capitalist, and gendered structures and ideas but also serve to re-entrench these power relations between dominant and subaltern groups. I conceptualize this relationship as the “coloniality of violence.” It constitutes a shared space for violent forms of domination and appropriation that facilitates capital accumulation, and it may further foster a relation of structural oppression in “post-conflict” Colombia.
 
GERMAN ABSTRACT:
Mit Blick auf das Verhältnis von transnationalem Kapital, Geschlecht und “race” wird in diesem Artikel erarbeitet, wie sexuelle Gewalt und innere Vertreibung dem Interesse transnationaler Konzerne dienen. Auf Basis umfassender ethnografischer Forschung in einigen vom Krieg betroffenen Regionen Kolumbiens zeige ich den Zusammenhang zwischen politischer Gewalt und der Globalisierung des neoliberalen Kapitalismus auf. Dieser beutet Konstruktionen von Geschlecht und “race” aus, die im Kolonialismus verankert sind. Der Rückgriff und die Instrumentalisierung dieser (post)kolonialen Zuschreibungen helfen dabei, bestimmte Gruppen in Begriffen “der Anderen” zu kategorisieren und sie weitgehend zu dehumanisieren. Der Fokus auf intersektionale Macht- und Herrschaftsverhältnisse trägt somit zu einem kritischen Verständnis der politischen Ökonomie bewaffneter Konflikte bei. Erstens wird aufgezeigt, wie lokale und globale (ökonomische) Akteure soziale Ungleichheiten verstärken und durch eine spezifische politische Ökonomie von Männlichkeit und neoliberale Formen der Expansion und Ausbeutung sexuelle Gewalt und innerer Vertreibung hervorbringen. Darüber hinaus ist politische Gewalt nicht nur das Produkt kolonialer, kapitalistischer und geschlechtsspezifischer Strukturen und Diskurse sondern dient auch dazu, diese gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse zwischen dominanten und subalternen Gruppen zu verfestigen. Dieses Verhältnis fasse ich mit dem Begriff der “Kolonialität der Gewalt.” Dieser stellt einen gemeinsamen Raum für gewaltvolle Formen der Beherrschung und Aneignung dar, der Kapitalakkumulation erleichtert und strukturelle Unterdrückung in der sogenannten Nachkriegszeit in Kolumbien forciert.
 
SPANISH ABSTRACT:
En mi investigación sobre la interrelación entre capital transnacional y formas de opresión basadas en concepciones de género y raza argumento que la violencia sexual y el desplazamiento interno sirven implícitamente a los intereses de los grandes grupos transnacionales. Partiendo de una investigación etnográfica integral en regiones afectadas por el conflicto armado en Colombia ilustro de qué manera la violencia está asociada a la globalización del capitalismo neoliberal y explico el mecanismo funcional subyacente que consiste en instrumentalizar y explotar construcciones de género y de raza que se manifiestan a través de históricos vínculos coloniales los cuales contribuyen a deshumanizar al “Otro.” El objetivo consiste en alcanzar una comprensión crítica de la economía política en el marco de un conflicto armado a través de un enfoque centrado en la interseccionalidad de las relaciones de poder. De esta manera se revela el arraigo profundo de las actores (económicos) locales y globales en formas locales de dominio, fenómenos que a su vez contribuyen a exacerbar la violencia sexual y el desplazamiento interno en Colombia por medio de una economía política basada en un determinado concepto de masculinidad y en formas neoliberales de expansión y explotación. Así mismo, ambas formas de violencia no solamente se pueden ver como resultado de determinadas estructuras e ideas coloniales, capitalistas y de género sino que sirven también para consolidar tales relaciones de poder entre grupos dominantes y subalternos. Conceptualizo esta relación cómo “colonialidad de violencia” que a su vez constituye un escenario compartido para formas violentas de dominación y apropiación. Considerada en su conjunto la colonialidad de violencia fomenta la acumulación de capital estimulando de esta manera una relación de opresión estructural y violenta en la Colombia del llamado “posconflicto.”

Keywords: gender, race, transnational capital, sexual violence, Colombian armed conflict

Topics: Armed Conflict, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Economies, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Intersectionality, Political Economies, Post-Conflict, Race, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2020

Liberia's Gender-Sensitive Police Reform: Improving Representation and Responsiveness in a Post-Conflict Setting

Citation:

Bacon, Laura. 2015. "Liberia's Gender-Sensitive Police Reform: Improving Representation and Responsiveness in a Post-Conflict Setting." International Peacekeeping 22 (4): 372-97.

Author: Laura Bacon

Abstract:

This article presents a case study from Liberia that focuses on the relationship between police reform and women, peace and security. It explores the Liberia National Police's (LNP) innovative efforts between 2003 and 2013 to recruit more female officers and to train a specialized unit to address sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV). The analysis focuses on two key goals of the LNP: representation, through the Education Support Programme, and responsiveness, through the Women and Children's Protection Section. Assessed by these two metrics, the Liberian police reform can be considered a qualified success, as the percentage of female officers rose from 2 to 17 per cent, and the LNP improved its response to SGBV reports. Success factors included the timing, context, local ownership and foreign development assistance. However, the sustainability and overall impact of the reforms was severely hindered by low technical capacity and weak rule of law.

Topics: Development, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Peace and Security, Security, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2015

The Role of Gender in Political Violence

Citation:

McDermott, Rose. 2020. “The Role of Gender in Political Violence.” Current Opinion in Behavioral Science 34: 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.09.003.

Author: Rose McDermott

Abstract:

Gender plays a prominent role in many aspects of political violence. First, it contributes to its occurrence. Second, sexual violence causes enormous suffering during conflict. Last, sustainable peacekeeping depends on female inclusion and participation. The prominence of gender in political violence rests on the dominance of men over women in many aspects of political, social and economic life. Inequities in family law and perversions in the marriage market, especially polygyny, contribute to the perpetuation of male dominance hierarchies in ways that increase the likelihood and costs of political violence for everyone.
 

Topics: Conflict, Gender, Women, Men, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Political Participation, Peacekeeping, Sexual Violence, Violence

Year: 2020

'What Is Wrong with Men?’: Revisiting Violence against Women in Conflict and Peacebuilding

Citation:

Pankhurst, Donna. 2016. “‘What Is Wrong with Men?’: Revisiting Violence against Women in Conflict and Peacebuilding.” Peacebuilding 4 (2): 180–93.

Author: Donna Pankhurst

Abstract:

Much has been written about the high rates of rape and other forms of violence against ‘enemy’ women in wartime and sustained violence against women in post-war contexts. Research on violence against women, recognised as a problem for peace and development and even a threat to international security, has begun to identify and explain contrasts between different locations. The explanations focus on men, their behaviour and ‘masculinities’, some of which, and even some military codes, may even proscribe such violence. By contrast, research on the mental health of male former combatants, and possibly other male survivors of war trauma, suggests that there is a strong risk of them perpetrating violence specifically against women, even in cases where the highest standard of veteran care is expected, but without much explanation. This article considers what potential there is in this topic for lessons in peacebuilding policy and identifies areas for future research.

Keywords: sexual violence, gender, war, peacebuilding, masculinity, men, ex-combatants, veterans, soldiers

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Male Combatants, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Health, Mental Health, Peacebuilding, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women

Year: 2016

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