Gender in Multidimensional Peacekeeping Operations: Sexual Violence in Conflict
Sexual violence, abuse and mass rapes became a method of warfare long ago. Women and children are the most vulnerable category of the population becoming victims of crimes of all parties to the armed conflict. In most cases, their security and protection is the task of UN peacekeeping missions and regional organizations in peacekeeping. However, the reverse side of the Peacekeeping Operations "medal" is commitment of acts of violence by the peacekeepers. This situation undermines credibility of the UN and evokes a negative attitude of the civilians to UN personnel and members of the military contingent of operation. This article describes the problem of committment of sexual harassment and abuse by the peacekeepers, UN activities to resolve the situation, as well as issues regarding prevention, investigation and punishment for such crimes at the present stage. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p483
Sexual violence as a weapon of war.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE DURING TIMES OF CONFLICT HAS BEEN historically viewed as a spoil of war or as an individual act of violence rather than one that is politically or ideologically motivated. Today, however, there is an increased understanding that rape—the forced vaginal, anal, or oral penetration of either a male or a female with either a person or an object—is used as a strategic and systematic tactic during armed conflict. This Viewpoint examines why sexual violence is an effective weapon of war, its health and psychosocial sequelae, and its association with other forms of gender-based violence. The concept of wartime sexual violence is examined from 3 perspectives: as a strategic, political, and ideological weapon; as a hyperexpression of machismo and gendered norms; and as a systematic form of aggression against communities. This article also explores how another form of sexual violence—intimate partner violence—may be a prevalent form of wartime violence that remains largely unrecognized and understudied. Systematic sexual violence has been used in conflict as a means of ethnic cleansing. In Kosovo in the late 1990s, for example, Serbian paramilitaries used gang rape to terrorize the Kosovar population into fleeing their homes and land. During the Rwandan Civil War, extremist Hutus sought to eradicate Tutsis by sexually assaulting and impregnating Tutsi women. The use of sexual violence to force a vulnerable group of people to leave their homeland in fear for their safety and to eradicate other ethnic groups through insemination and reproduction has also been documented in civil conflicts such as those in Guatemala and the Sudan. Guided by a racist or supremist ideology, armed perpetrators may see sexual violence as a means of protecting their own ethnic group while dehumanizing another group. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), soldiers have been reputed to use sexual violence to dehumanize and destroy the dignity of the enemy as well as to vent their own discomfort and frustration. Thus, sexual violence in these contexts constitutes an attack on a cultural and ethnic group’s identity, humanity, and ultimately their history. Within armed groups, sexual violence has also been assimilated into norms of machismo and expressed through the sexual domination and degradation of females or weaker males. In conflicts such as those in Liberia and the DRC, men have been reported to engage in individual or gang rape as a means of displaying their masculinity, bonding with peers, and establishing their place in the armed group. In these settings, militarization and military training may encourage the development of violent, heterosexual masculinities. Research findings suggest that sexual violence in times of armed conflict reflects issues of power asymmetry, patriarchy, masculinity, and the devaluation of women that are pervasive even in settings not affected by armed conflict. In this respect, sexual violence in conflict settings is best viewed not as something completely new and extraordinary but as an extension of universalized power dynamics, gender norms, and discrimination against women that harm survivors on a large scale even in presumably peaceful situations. Despite the recent attention devoted to sexual violence in armed conflict, some evidence suggests that wartime violence also occurs within the family. Although valid prevalence rates of intimate partner violence before, during, and after conflicts are largely unknown and may vary significantly by context, recent studies have revealed high rates of intimate partner sexual violence in conflict and postconflict settings. Moreover, women who experience one form of gender-based violence are more likely to experience other forms of gender-based violence during their lives. The effects of wartime sexual violence are both individual and communal and pertain to both physical and psychological health. Well-known health consequences may include sexually transmitted infections, gynecological problems (including fistula), physical injuries, disability, and maternal mortality. Psychosocial consequences may include depression, suicidal ideation, social stigma and rejection by family or community or inability to marry, impaired ability to fulfill a parental role, exclusion from education and employment, increased risk of further violence, and social dysfunction. The psychosocial effect of sexual violence is greatest for survivors who experience multiple forms of gender-based violence. Recent evidence
Measuring violence against women amidst war and displacement in northern Uganda using the “neighbourhood method”
Background Gender-based violence is viewed as a significant problem in conflict-affected regions throughout the world. However, humanitarian organizations typically have been unable to reliably estimate the incidence of rape, intimate partner violence and other forms of sexual abuse in such settings. Such estimates are required to inform programming in contexts such as northern Uganda. Methods We sought to establish incidence rates for gender-based violence in internally-displaced-persons camps in northern Uganda. The assessments involved a “neighbourhood methodology,” in which adult female heads of household reported about their own, their sisters' and their neighbours' experiences. 299 households were selected for interview across four camps by using systematic random sampling. Findings Interviews were completed by 204 respondents (5 women having declined interview and 90 not having been successfully contacted). These respondents reported on themselves, a total of 268 sisters and 1206 neighbours. Reports with respect to these alternative populations produced estimates of overall incidence of intimate partner violence in the past year of 51.7% (95% CI 44.8 to 58.7; respondents), 44.0% (95% CI 41.2 to 46.9; respondents' sisters) and 36.5% (95% CI 30.7 to 42.3; respondents' neighbours). In the same period, estimates of incidence of forced sex by husbands were 41.0% (95% CI 34.2% to 47.8%), 22.1% (95% CI 17.0 to 27.2) and 25.1% (95% CI 22.5 to 27.6), respectively, with incidence of rape by a perpetrator other than an intimate partner estimated at 5.0% (95% CI 2.0% to 8.0%), 4.2% (95% CI 1.8 to 6.6) and 4.3% (95% CI 3.1 to 5.5), respectively. Interpretation Gender-based violence—particularly intimate partner violence—is commonplace in postconflict Uganda. The neighbourhood method provides a promising approach to estimating human right violations in humanitarian settings.