The use of rape in times of war dates back to war itself, however the scale at which rape is used and savagery of it appears to only be increasing. This year V-Day is brought special and much needed attention to atrocious levels of rape in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however the women of the DRC are not alone.
The use of rape often follows women from conflict, often as their is no real safe zone for them to hide and their increasing instability and insecurity makes them key targets for victimization or re-victimization.
A report by the UK Refugee Council relieved that three quarters of refugee women ‘have been raped’or, are victims of rape, either in their home country, or in the UK, as a refugee, and another 15% had the additional burden of becoming pregnant as a result of their rape.
While these statistics are rightfully shocking, the are only a small view of what is a substantial scope, as the UK only shows one country in a story that reins equally similar. The cost of rape war is therefore not only the burden of the countries on which the battles are fought, nor is it isolated to those who are the primary victims, but a burden which will follow all societies for generations to come. Nonetheless the study in the UK only serves to highlight that we know all too little about what the true cost of the use of rape as a weapon of war is.
