Abstract

JEAN WOOD, Elisabeth. Variation in wartime sexual violence: Rape during war is not inevitable. Estud. Socio-Juríd [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.1, pp.19-57. ISSN 0124-0579.

Sexual violence varies widely from one war to another, and sometimes from one armed group to another within the same war. However, in some conflicts the sexual violence committed by certain armed groups is particularly limited, even though these groups engage in other types of violence against civilians. Some groups commit acts of sexual violence only against women, whereas others also commit them against men. Social scientists have increasingly been documenting and analyzing these different patterns of sexual violence in times of war, particularly in terms of the different dimensions of violence (its form, frequency, targets and purposes), as well as in terms of changes in these four patterns over time. Firstly I introduce key concepts, including these four dimensions and the concept of sexual violence as a practice (a practice that is not ordered but that is tolerated by the commanders, and which takes place both in cases where it offers strategic benefits and where it does not). Afterwards I briefly summarize recent research that documents the patterns of violence during times of war. After showing that many of the approaches found in published literature do not explain the observed changes -in fact, many predict more sexual violence than the tragic levels that were actually observed- I propose a theoretical framework that focuses on the internal dynamics of the armed groups. Then I analyze the conditions under which armed groups do not engage in rape, those where rape is performed in a strategic manner, and those where rape is performed as a practice. Throughout this chapter I rely on recent findings in social sciences literature, some of which have not yet been published. I conclude by discussing the implications of this analysis for public policy: the changes found in sexual violence during times of war, and particularly the relative absence of this type of violence in many armed groups, implies that rape is not inevitable in war.

Keywords : sexual violence; political violence; repertoire of violence; rape; insurgency; armed group; military sociology.

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