Rape Has Become A Weapon Of War

The report is issued in the runup to the 10th anniversary on October 30 of UN Security Council resolution 1325

UN Report - Rape 'Increasingly Familiar' Weapon of War -- Voice of America

The United Nations has put women at the center of its 2010 State of the World Population report, which says rape is increasingly used as a weapon of war.

The U.N. State of the World Population Report coincides with the 10 year anniversary of U.N. Resolution 1325, which aims to make women central to building peace in conflict situations.

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More News On The UN Reporting How Rape Has Become A Weapon of War

UN report sheds light on rape as weapon of war -- AFP
Rape an increasing weapon of war, says UN report -- RFI
UN report spotlights plight of women in conflict -- People's Daily Online

Rape Is Now A Deliberate Military Strategy In War

Rape In War 'A Deliberate Military Strategy' Argue Researchers -- e! Science News

Since the second world war, the use of rape as a weapon of war has assumed strategic importance, and is now a deliberate military strategy, argue researchers in an editorial published on bmj.com today. The effects of rape and sexual violence during war also extend beyond individual victims and are economically, physically, psychologically, and culturally devastating for families and communities, say authors Coleen Kivlahan, volunteer forensic physician for HealthRight International, and Nate Ewigman from the University of Florida.

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My Comment: Long time readers of this blog know that I have always been an advocate to label rape in a war zone as a war crime, and that commanders and their leaders who permit such a practice be charged as war criminals.

On a side note, read this opinion piece on the impact of rape in war zones from Lisa Shannon in the New York Times .... No, Sexual Violence Is Not 'Cultural'.

UN Chief Demands Halt To Sexual Violence

From Yahoo News/AP:

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday demanded global action to stop government forces and armed groups from using sexual violence "like a grenade or a gun" to pursue their goals.

He told the U.N. Security Council that the perpetrators generally operate with impunity, and he called for stepped up efforts nationally, internationally and by the U.N. to prevent and respond to sexual violence.

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My Comment: It is about time that someone in a major international organization and/or government speaks out on this crime.

Why Rape As A Weapon In War Should Be Labeled As A War Crime

Lwaboshi Bahati (center), with some of his children, banished his wife from their home after she was raped by militiamen in Congo’s running ethnic conflict. But, through a reeducation program, he realized this made his family and society suffer, so he welcomed her back. Mary Knox Merrill / Staff

Congo: Confronting Rape As A Weapon Of War -- Christian Science Monitor

In the rape capital of the world, some are seeking to curb sexual violence by focusing on men's role in preventing it.

Kanyola, Democratic Republic of Congo - First his wife, then his daughter. Five years ago, Hutu militiamen tied up Lwaboshi Bahati and forced him and his children to watch as they raped those nearest to his heart. Then they took everything he owned.

"I was so angry. Up until now, I can't forget. I can't express how bad I feel," says Mr. Bahati, an unemployed former small-business owner.

But at his wife's time of greatest need, he kicked her out of the house. She was defiled; damaged goods. Besides, she might give him the AIDS virus that she must have caught from the militiamen. At least that's how he saw things back then.

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My Comment: Violence against women is as old as time. But war zones bring out the worse in this type of behavior, and the Congo .... being at constant war for a decade .... exhibits all of these terrible traits.

I have always been an advocate for labeling rape as a war crime, with commanders and their political leadership being culpable for this type of behavior. Unfortunately .... there is zero movement among any UN or international organization to take up this cause.

After Wars, Mass Rapes Persist

Jackie, a 7-year-old Liberian girl who is recovering from being raped, jumps rope at a shelter for girls in Monrovia. Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times

From The New York Times:

Traditionally, an international issue was “serious” only if it was arcane and, preferably, incomprehensible. To be respected in foreign policy, it helped to smoke a pipe, spout theories about ballistic missiles, and frequently employ the word “hegemony.”

Now pipes are passé, three of the last four secretaries of state have been women, and a new foreign policy agenda is emerging around issues like poverty, genocide, climate change and a topic that until recently was hushed up — sexual violence.

In modern times, we’ve seen mass rape as an element of warfare in Congo, Darfur, Bosnia, Rwanda, Liberia — but the lesson here in Liberia in West Africa is that even when the fighting ends, the rape continues. And that brings us to Jackie, a lovely 7-year-old with tight braids and watchful eyes.

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My Comment: I have been an advocate for making rape a war crime since I started this blog. This is one more story to put on the pile.

Combat The Terror Of Rape In Congo

Photo from The Seminal

From Christian Science Monitor:

Medford, Mass.; and San Diego, Calif. - Long overshadowed by conflicts in the Middle East, Darfur, Iraq, and Afghanistan, extensive, predatory terrorism – largely of a sexual nature – continues to attack the heart of Africa. The idea that the international community has a "responsibility to protect" innocent civilians must be given meaning, and nowhere is this more important than in eastern Congo. Military groups there are using rape as a devastating weapon of war.

Make no mistake: these are not isolated incidents involving rogue soldiers. This is an organized campaign of sexual terrorism – and the global community must respond forcefully.

Sexual violence haunts its victims long after the initial attack. Each act of rape humiliates its victims; emasculates men who are unable to protect them; and traumatizes victims, their families, and, in times of war, entire communities. The chronic physical conditions that rape can cause may be considered family humiliations and result in the banishment of victims from their own homes.

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My Comment: The only way this war crime can be stemmed/stopped in the Congo, is through a massive intervention of foreign armies into the region.

But this is not going to happen.

The costs and resources required cannot be sustained by any one country. The war in the Congo is going to continue for a very long time. The best that we can do is target the leaders of the militias that roam in this region, capture them, and then charge them for war crimes.

The Weapon of Rape

Darfur Refugee

From The New York Times:

World leaders fight terrorism all the time, with summit meetings and sound bites and security initiatives. But they have studiously ignored one of the most common and brutal varieties of terrorism in the world today.

This is a kind of terrorism that disproportionately targets children. It involves not W.M.D. but simply AK-47s, machetes and pointed sticks. It is mass rape — and it will be elevated, belatedly, to a spot on the international agenda this week.

The United Nations Security Council will hold a special session on sexual violence this Thursday, with Condoleezza Rice coming to New York to lead the debate. This session, sponsored by the United States and backed by a Security Council resolution calling for regular follow-up reports, just may help mass rape graduate from an unmentionable to a serious foreign policy issue.

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My Comment: Nick Kristof's column in The New York Times is well worth the read, but James Taranto writes that Mr. Kristof did not feel that way in 2003 during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.