First it was the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, then Rwanda…Sudan and the Congo, which seemed to bring this unfathomable crime against humanity to light and then most recently it was Libya that brought the use of rape as weapon of war into the headlines. However while the headlines bringing such atrocities to light seem to be once again fading, they were never giving light to the true levels of the crime or depth of the abuse it’s victims faced. Now there is only a fledgling of reporting on the crime making headlines, mostly by independent reporters, mostly hidden under the breaking news of the day to be read by only an interested few new readers while those following such atrocities like myself wonder when the by-line of the story will change.
In modern combat the atrocities of rape and mutilation, have become all too common strategic tools of warfare.The use of rape as a weapon is one of the most violent and humiliating offenses inflicted on the enemy, the brutalization of rape permanently scars the victim’s mind, soul and often body. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that violence against females is the cause of more death or disability, for girls and women aged 15 to 44, than that of cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and general warfare combined. The continued use of rape to terrorize women and girls in many countries across the globe, has continued despite many efforts in recent years to bring light to this horrendous crime. Therefore women and girls remain trapped living in daily fear, as the numbers of rape victims continuously rises, becoming a common feature of daily life in many countries embattled in armed conflict.
According to the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report entitled, The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, by UNESCO, sexual violence and attacks on schools in conflict zones is costing 28 million children across the globe to be denied a chance to get an education (as noted in last months post). noted the failings of global leaders and states to fail to address the concerns of the use of systematic rape warfare. Though a number of governments have passed stronger laws to punish offenders of sex crimes, including the use of rape in armed conflict, the effect of these laws has been minimal. Women and girls continue to be raped and assaulted in mass numbers as impunity continues to reign for the perpetrators. Therefore an end to the perception that rape is a common and unavoidable tactic of war must occur, as well as an increase in efforts to persecute all perpetrators of gender-based violence. UNESCO stated that they would like to see those responsible brought up on charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The continued use of sexual violence to terrorize women and girls in many countries across the globe, has continued despite many efforts in recent years to bring light to these horrendous gender-based crimes. Therefore women and girls remain trapped living in daily fear, as the numbers of rape victims continuously rises, becoming a common feature of daily life in many countries, especially those embattled in armed conflict.
Earlier this year the Economist published an in-depth article Wars Overlooked Victims, which focused on the increase in the use of rape as a weapon of war, reporting that while the levels of crime have improved over the years it remains shockingly disproportionate to the increasing scale of the crime. However documented reports of incidences of rape remain low and thus true the gravity of the crime and the effects on society are far from shown. Therefore the use of rape as a weapon of war follows societies long after the conflicts are over, via continued sexual violence and the ostracizing and abuse of victims, as well as the children born of rape.
Why does rape continue to be so heavily used as a weapon of war? The increase in sexual violence during armed conflict is most often directly linked to the increase in rebel activity, however state parties are not immune the use of such grave violence. The use of sexual violence and rape is then only compounded by both national and international impunity of the crime. While many governments have increased legislation for which to punish offenders of sexually-based and gender-based crimes, the effectiveness of such laws has been minimal. Most often it is a lack of political and cultural will to report such crimes and enforce such laws that allows for women and girls to continue to be raped and assaulted in mass and impunity to reign for their perpetrators. Thus an end to the perception that rape is a common and unavoidable tactic of war in international society must occur in order for it to be seen as unequivocally unacceptable.
