Risky dis/entanglements: Torture and sexual violence in conflict

Conflict-related sexual violence has become increasingly recognized in international spaces as a serious, political form of violence. As part of this process, distinctions between the categories of ‘sexual violence’ and ‘torture’ have blurred as scholars and other actors have sought to capitalize on the globally recognized status of torture in raising the profile of sexual violence. This move, while perhaps strategically promising, even already fruitful, prompts us to heed caution. What might we inadvertently engender by further pursuing such positioning? While torture and sexual violence have both been widely framed within the academic literature as strategic in recent decades, only torture, and not sexual violence, has emerged from elements of this literature as (potentially) legitimate, despite the slippages between them as categories of violence. This article offers one avenue for thinking through what an invigorated focus on sexual torture as a category of violence might unwittingly render possible, and thus for reflecting on the possible stakes of collapsing the categories of sexual violence and torture. Ultimately, we argue that we should perhaps resist the urge to frame sexual violence as torture and instead cleave to the sticky signifier of ‘the sexual’, despite the ways in which it has served to normalize, perpetuate and obfuscate grievous harms throughout history.

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The Changing Dynamics of International Lawmaking: Trying Heads of State for Rape and Sexual Violence

The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals ◽

10.1163/15718034-12341294 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 290-304

Author(s):

Sergey Y. Marochkin ◽

Galina A. Nelaeva

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Charles Taylor ◽

Epistemic Community ◽

Legal Professionals ◽

Academic Literature ◽

International Crimes ◽

Complex Relationships ◽

Set Up ◽

New Institutions ◽

Heads Of State

New ways of international lawmaking have been largely attributed to the changing nature of international relations, with new actors actively participating in domains traditionally reserved for States. The issue of judges as lawmakers is especially relevant in the international criminal justice domain, where new institutions are being set up. One of the well-covered matters in academic literature has been the prosecution of rape and sexual violence as an example of judicial activism and as a result of the complex relationships between States, international organizations and ngos, as well as the epistemic community of legal professionals. However, trying heads of State for international crimes has been a relatively recent phenomenon. Among a number of trials held worldwide, the trial of the former Liberian President Charles Taylor deserves special attention, not only because it is a finished trial, but also because Taylor was tried for such crimes as rape and sexual violence.

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Repertoires of conflict-related sexual violence: Introducing the RSVAC data package

Journal of Peace Research ◽

10.1177/00223433211044674 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002234332110446

Author(s):

Logan Dumaine ◽

Ragnhild Nordås ◽

Maria Gargiulo ◽

Elisabeth Jean Wood

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

Forced Marriage ◽

Sexual Slavery ◽

Forced Sterilization ◽

Sexual Torture ◽

Research Questions ◽

Forced Prostitution ◽

Global Patterns

Scholars increasingly call for documentation and analysis of specific forms of conflict-related sexual violence. Moreover, accountability for crimes is stronger when specific patterns of victimization are documented. This article introduces the Repertoires of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict (RSVAC) data package, which assembles reports from 1989 to 2015 of forms of sexual violence by government/states forces, insurgent/rebel organizations, and pro-government militias for each conflict and year. RSVAC compiles the reported prevalence of eight forms of sexual violence – rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual mutilation, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization and abortion, non-penetrative sexual torture, and sexual abuse (as well as that of multiple-perpetrator reports of each form). It includes extensive qualitative notes on reported incidents, as well as ‘conflict manuscripts’ that include the relevant portions of source documents. Disaggregating ‘sexual violence’ into its distinct forms enables analysis of the reported presence of forms of sexual violence across time, conflicts, and organizations. We illustrate its usefulness by highlighting hitherto neglected global patterns it suggests, and also discuss limitations, potential biases and underreporting that users need to take into account. We outline several research questions that the data can help answer and suggest how the data package could inform policy efforts to address sexual violence and its consequences.

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Strategic Submission to Rape is not Consent: Sexual Violence in the Colombian Armed Conflict

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/10778012211054872 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107780122110548

Author(s):

Kiran Stallone

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

Social Rights ◽

Strategic Responses ◽

Unwanted Sex ◽

Strategic Response ◽

Academic Literature ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Significant Harm ◽

War And Conflict

Academic literature is only beginning to understand victims’ rational calculations and agency related to sexual violence in war and conflict. This article deepens that analysis, emphasizing calculated action rather than passive victimization. This is a systematic study of victims’ strategic responses to sexual violence, and reports findings from an in-depth analysis of women who were raped in the context of Colombia's armed conflict (1964-present), revealing that this context triggers a strategic response by victims of rape. Specifically, some women calculate that submitting to unwanted sex is more likely to protect them and others, such as family members, from significant harm than resisting rape. However, while their strategic responses may protect them and allow them to keep their families safe from greater harm, the methods adopted by women in these situations may complicate their efforts at being recognized as victims, undercutting their access to legal and social rights in the aftermath of war and conflict.

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The health impact of (sexual) torture amongst Afghan, Iranian and Kurdish refugees: A literature review

Torture Journal ◽

10.7146/torture.v28i3.111194 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 77-91

Author(s):

Roghieh Dehghan

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Health Impact ◽

Small Sample ◽

Torture Survivors ◽

Adverse Health Outcomes ◽

Sexual Torture ◽

Health Related ◽

Small Sample Sizes ◽

Online Catalogue ◽

The Impact

Background: Amongst Muslim majority countries, torture is reported most in Afghanistan and Iran. In addition, despite the significant impact of sexual violence on individuals and public health, the issue has been poorly researched amongst victims of torture. Objectives: The original intention of this paper was to review the health impact of sexual torture amongst Iranian and Afghan refugees in high-income countries; however, a comprehensive search of relevant databases did not produce any results. The aim of this review was then altered to examine those health-related studies that explored the impact of torture in this population. Special attention was given to the discussion of gender and sexual violence in those studies. Methodology: Web of Science, PILOTS, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, Popline and the online catalogue at DIGNITY were searched for health studies that examined the health impact or predictors of adverse health outcomes in Afghan, Iranian and Kurdish refugee survivors of torture. Outcome: Seven papers were identified and examined in this review. The results were limited by the diverse methodologies, by the use of psychiatric tools that had not been validated in this population, and by small sample sizes. Since there is a high prevalence of sexual torture in Iranian and Kurdish refugees, the issue merits greater attention in this population. Studies are most limited amongst the Afghan population. Moreover, there is a great need for further culture-andgender- specific health research in torture survivors from Muslim backgrounds.

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Sexual violence intensifies Middle East extremism

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db203063 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Civil Wars ◽

Arab World ◽

Islamic State ◽

Content Type ◽

Sexual Torture ◽

Politically Motivated Violence ◽

State Group ◽

National Reconciliation

Subject Sexual violence in Middle East conflicts. Significance The campaign of rape and sexual enslavement carried out by Islamic State group (ISG) in Iraq and Syria has horrified the international community. Yet ISG is not the only group in the Middle East to adopt rape as a weapon of war. The various civil wars and insurgencies engulfing the Arab world have yielded an epidemic of sexual violence. Both rebel and state factions have used rape and sexual torture against their perceived opponents. Victims include children and men as well as women. Politically-motivated violence intermingles with criminal activities like human trafficking and forced prostitution. This complicates efforts to halt sexual violence. Impacts Sexual violence intensifies the animosity between government and opposition. It also deepens the ethno-sectarian cleavages, making national reconciliation more difficult. Military intervention risks accelerating population displacement and increasing vulnerabilities to sexual violence.

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Rape and Constructions of Masculinity and Femininity

Politikon IAPSS Journal of Political Science ◽

10.22151/politikon.8.5 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 56-70

Author(s):

Bettina Engels

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Violence Against Women ◽

Male Violence ◽

Masculinity And Femininity ◽

Sexual Torture ◽

Femininity And Masculinity ◽

Gender Constructions ◽

New Phenomena ◽

Violent Conflicts ◽

Cultural Constructions

With her paper Rape as a War Crime (Politikon 6/2003, p. 55-69), Andrea Theocharis has put an issue on the agenda, which has long been missing in Politikon’s discussions. I am grateful to Andrea for starting an important debate, which I would like to continue by giving some remarks to her contribution focusing on the gender constructionist dimension of rape in violent conflicts. Agreeing with Andrea, I will argue that rape and sexual violence are not only systematic and strategic weapons in violent conflicts but gendered crimes which cannot be analyzed appropriately without theorizing social and cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity. I will outline how gender-blind approaches fail to meet the issue of rape in violent conflicts. By mentioning some exemplary empirical figures, I will show that rape in violent conflicts is neither a new phenomena nor can it be considered a by-product of war. It must be emphasized that rape is not an act of sexuality but a crime against human physical and psychical integrity. I will discuss gender-sensitive approaches, which analyze rape in violent conflicts. Special attention will be paid to the view of rape as an act of male violence against women, which has also been outlined by Andrea. I will then focus on the construction of hegemonic masculinity and the widely ignored fact that also men are victims of rape and sexual torture in violent conflicts. I will conclude with emphasizing that constructions of femininity and masculinity are integral to violent conflicts in general and to rape and sexual violence in particular. If mainstream conflict analysis continues to ignore the dimensions of gender constructions, it will fail to meet its subject appropriately.

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Hidden Constructs of Sexual Victimization of Men and Boys in Armed Conflict: Prosecutorial and Jurisdictional Trajectories of the International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

Journal of Human Trafficking, Enslavement and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence ◽

10.7590/266644720x15989693725711 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 87-112

Author(s):

Tamara Frunse

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

International Criminal ◽

International Criminal Law ◽

Male Victims ◽

Criminal Courts ◽

Community Members ◽

Academic Literature ◽

Criminal Jurisprudence ◽

The Individual

During armed conflict, sexual violence against women regularly takes on different forms than against the male gender. Frequently, men and boys are attacked either by coercion to witness sexual violence committed against their family and community members, or to rape and sexually assault others. The shared feature of both forms of such victimization is that they rarely constitute an attack on the individual alone. Instead, they are utilized by perpetrators as a war tactic to debase entire communities. Protection for male victims of these forms of sexual violence is limited due to a disconnect between formal statutory provisions under International Criminal Law (ICL) criminalizing sexual violence and the jurisprudential interpretation thereof. The jurisprudence of the international criminal courts and tribunals has been widely criticized in academic literature for misclassifying sexual harm against men and accommodating it incoherently under various provisions other than the explicit sexual violence norms. The prosecutorial and jurisprudential dichotomy partly originates in the lack of clarity surrounding these selected forms of sexual violence. In light of their devastating impact on men and boys, this article aims to map the inconsistencies within and between selected international criminal courts and tribunals and prompts to rethink current international criminal jurisprudence to coherently address and condemn such forms of sexual violence.

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Handwriting Analysis and Personality Assessment

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.5.1.44 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 44-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Peter Greasley

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Personality Assessment ◽

Personnel Selection ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Handwriting Analysis ◽

Recruitment Process ◽

Academic Literature ◽

Personnel Recruitment ◽

The Subject ◽

Better Than

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.

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