Sexual violence and armed conflict

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Title:

Author:

Leatherman, Janie, 1959-

ISBN:

9780745641874

9780745641881

Personal Author:

Leatherman, Janie, 1959-

Publication Information:

Cambridge : Polity, 2011.

Physical Description:

xii, 244 p. ; 22 cm.

Series:

War and conflict in the modern world

War and conflict in the modern world.

Contents:

1. Ending the silence -- 2. Dimensions of sexual violence in conflict -- 3. Sexual violence and the onset of armed conflict -- 4. Seeking safe space -- 5. Sexual violence and the global political economy of war -- 6. From protection and accountability to an ethic of caring

Abstract:

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of, as well as responses to, sexual violence in contemporary armed conflict. It explores the functions and effects of wartime sexual violence as part of a global political economy of violence. To understand the motivations of the men (and occasionally women) who perpetrate this violence, the book analyzes the role played by systemic and situational factors such as patriarchy and militarized masculinity in a tangled web of plunder and profit. Difficult questions of accountability are tacked; in particular, the cases of child soldiers, who often suffer a double victimization when forced to commit sexual atrocities and other crimes.

Subject Term:

War and society.

War victims.

Sex crimes.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025496650	303.66 L438S 2011	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Every year, hundreds of thousands of women become victims of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world; in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, approximately 1,100 rapes are reported each month.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the causes, consequences and responses to sexual violence in contemporary armed conflict. It explores the function and effect of wartime sexual violence and examines the conditions that make women and girls most vulnerable to these acts both before, during and after conflict. To understand the motivations of the men (and occasionally women) who perpetrate this violence, the book analyzes the role played by systemic and situational factors such as patriarchy and militarized masculinity. Difficult questions of accountability are tackled; in particular, the case of child soldiers, who often suffer a double victimization when forced to commit sexual atrocities. The book concludes by looking at strategies of prevention and protection as well as new programs being set up on the ground to support the rehabilitation of survivors and their communities. Sexual violence in war has long been a taboo subject but, as this book shows, new and courageous steps are at last being taken Ð at both local and international level - to end what has been called the "greatest silence in history".