Question 10

Question 1

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC):

Answer 1


The DRC has experienced prolonged conflict marked by a breakdown of central authority and the proliferation of armed groups, leading to widespread sexual violence against women and girls.
Factors contributing to this violence include resource competition, ethnic tensions, and the exploitation of women as a tactic of war by various armed factions.
The absence of effective governance and law enforcement mechanisms exacerbates the vulnerability of women to sexual violence, with perpetrators rarely held accountable for their actions.

Question 2

Rwanda:

Answer 2

During the Rwandan genocide, Hutu militias systematically targeted Tutsi women and girls for rape as a means of ethnic cleansing and psychological warfare.
The genocide was fueled by longstanding ethnic tensions and propaganda demonizing the Tutsi minority, creating an environment conducive to sexual violence as a tool of genocide.
The breakdown of social order and the collapse of institutions allowed perpetrators to carry out mass rape with impunity, contributing to the magnitude of the atrocities committed during the genocide.

Question 3

Bosnia

Answer 3


The Bosnian War witnessed widespread sexual violence perpetrated by various factions, including Bosnian Serb forces engaged in ethnic cleansing campaigns targeting Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) women.
Nationalist ideologies and ethnic divisions fueled the conflict, leading to the dehumanization of women from opposing ethnic groups and their instrumentalization as targets of sexual violence.
The systematic nature of sexual violence during the war, including the establishment of rape camps, highlights the deliberate use of rape as a weapon of war to terrorize civilian populations and assert dominance over perceived enemies.

Question 4

Ethnic and Political Conflict:

Answer 4

Ethnic and political conflicts exacerbate existing social divisions and tensions, leading to the instrumentalization of sexual violence as a tool of warfare to humiliate, intimidate, and subjugate enemy populations.
Identity-based violence fueled by ethnic nationalism or political extremism perpetuates cycles of violence and revenge, with women and girls bearing the brunt of intergroup animosities and collective reprisals.

Question 5

Factors Contributing to Mass Rape and Collective Sexual Violence:

Gender Inequality and Patriarchal Norms:

Answer 5

Societies characterized by entrenched gender inequality and patriarchal norms often perpetuate the subordination of women and reinforce their vulnerability to sexual violence during times of conflict.
Traditional gender roles that define women’s worth in terms of their reproductive and domestic roles contribute to a culture of impunity for perpetrators and discourage survivors from seeking justice.


Question 6

Breakdown of Law and Order:

Answer 6

Armed conflicts often result in the breakdown of law and order, creating a vacuum of authority that allows perpetrators to commit sexual violence with impunity.
Weak governance, corruption, and the absence of functioning judicial systems contribute to a climate of lawlessness, where survivors are unable to access justice and perpetrators face little to no consequences for their crimes.

Question 7

Underreporting of Rape in Mass Media and Official Statistics:

Answer 7

Underreporting of Rape in Mass Media and Official Statistics:

Stigma and Shame:

Survivors of sexual violence face profound stigma and shame, both within their communities and in broader society, which often deters them from reporting their experiences or seeking support.
Societal attitudes that blame and shame survivors perpetuate silence and underreporting of sexual violence, leaving survivors isolated and marginalized.

Lack of Accountability:

Perpetrators of sexual violence, particularly those in positions of power or authority, often escape accountability due to inadequate legal frameworks and impunity for wartime crimes.
Fear of reprisals and retaliation from perpetrators and their supporters further discourages survivors and witnesses from coming forward with allegations of rape, perpetuating a cycle of silence and impunity.

Question 8

Misconceptions and Misrepresentation:

Answer 8

Media coverage of conflicts may prioritize certain narratives or downplay the prevalence of sexual violence, perpetuating misconceptions about the nature and extent of wartime rape.
Official statistics on sexual violence may be incomplete or unreliable due to underreporting, misclassification of cases, and political manipulation of data to downplay the severity of crimes, leading to an inaccurate portrayal of the true scale of the problem.

Question 9

Three causes

Answer 9

In concluding this review of the research literature on collective sexual violence, Green identifies some major factors that have featured prominently in sociological explanations of wartime rape and other sexual crimes. First, these crimes are more likely to be committed in highly patriarchal societies characterized by severe gender inequalities and by gender ideologies that that define masculinity through aggression, violence, domination, and power.

Second, mass rape has often occurred in societies characterized by a high level of civil conflict, and by the breakdown of centralized authority. In failed states where insurgent or rebel groups have risen in armed conflicts against the state, civilian populations suspected of holding rebel sympathies have often become targets of state repression and victims of crimes against humanity, including rape and organized sexual violence.

Third, mass rape and collective sexual violence has sometimes been used as a strategic weapon of war against targeted ethnic groups—especially in societies characterized by longstanding ethnic divisions and ethnic conflicts. Mass rape has become one of a number of different military (and paramilitary) means to expel unwanted ethnic groups from contested territory through ethnic cleansing. In such cases, organized sexual violence is now defined by many researchers as genocidal in its goal of dispossessing and forcibly relocating targeted groups.

Question 10

Although in each
incident given in Table 1 multiple rapes have been reported, the combinations
of

Answer 10

victim silence, wartime chaos, decentralized recordkeeping, and institutional barriers make it impossible to guess at the actual number of victim

Question 11

First, the influence of gender is seen in the data—although not
all perpetrators were male and all victims female, the vast majority of assaults
fit this profile.

Answer 11

This is not surprising given that, in all forms of sexual violence,
the majority of perpetrators are males and victims are female. Gender identi-
ties and inequalities have been singled out as significant causes for rape and
collective rape in the prior literature (Allen 1996; Copelon 1995; Hague 1997;
Hastings 2002; Lindsey 2002; Salzman 2000; Sancho 1997; Stiglmayer 1994;
Turshen 2000, 2001; and Zarkov 2001). On the one hand, according to some
of the literature, women are reduced to their reproductive and domestic pro-
ductive capabilities and viewed as “baby factories.” Because they are less
than fully human, it is acceptable and legitimate to commit violence against
them. On the other hand, gender ideologies define masculinity through aggression, violence, domination, and power. Violence is then a means to exhibit
these traits to oneself and others. Combined, women’s unequal status and opportunities in society, culture, and law encourage violence against them.
Therefore, measures of gender inequality may be important predictors of
collective rape

Question 12

Second, the large percentage of collective rapes involving perpetrators who
are agents of the state might suggest that the sexual violence is an element of
state repression.

Answer 12

The fact that collective rape has often concurred with other
forms of state violence, such as genocides, mass killings, and torture, also
lends credence to this idea. Prior studies on the use of violence by the state
have generally found that weak, less democratic, and less globalized states are
more likely to commit violence (Harff 2003; Krain 1997; Rummel 1994, 1995).
An examination of the incidents in Table 1 shows that many of the states where
collective rapes have occurred fit this profile. However, there is still variation
in levels of state strength, democratization, and globalization within these af-
fected nations, and there are certainly some weak, less democratic, or less
globalized states where collective rapes were not known to occur. Therefore,
several measures of state power and state structure need to be examined as
possible predictors of collective rape

Question 13

Third, some of the incidents in Table 1 show signs of ethnic animosity where
the assaults were primarily directed against members of a particular ethnic group.

Answer 13

Again, political conflict researchers have demonstrated ethnic cleavages to be a
significant precondition in other episodes of political violence. Certainly, in the
case of the former Yugoslavia, ethnic conflict between Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian
Muslims, and Croatians contributed greatly to the violence and the policies of
“ethnic cleansing” and forced impregnation that were enacted there. The effect
of ethnic conflict needs to be tested on other incidents of collective rape.

Question 14

Underreporting reason-

Answer 14

Victims guilt, shame, and fear, no reporting agency, retaliation, suicided or murder of victims

Question 15

Three causes of sexual violence-

Answer 15

Gender inequality and rigid patriarchy, state repression and insurgencies, ethnic conflict in culturally divided society