27 February, 2014

Is rape inevitable in war? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Is rape inevitable in war? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English: Human Rights Watch recently released a report documenting the torture and sexual abuse of women held in prisons in Iraq. Tragically, such reports are all too familiar. Stories of women raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Syria reinforce the common perception that sexual violence against women in times of war is inevitable. Even some modern militaries have engaged in rape of civilians to a significant degree, as in the case of US forces in Vietnam.

But the truth is: rape during war is far from ubiquitous. It is not the unavoidable collateral damage we tend to think it is. Many armed groups effectively prohibit rape of civilians. The Sri Lankan secessionist rebels, for example, were notorious for their violence against civilians; but they rarely engaged in rape.