What does this verb tell us?
The use of rape as a weapon during war is not new. Evidence of this goes back to the Greek and Roman eras, to widespread rape as a strategy during World War II by Japanese soldiers in China, the Philippines, and Korea. Psychological adviser Ruth Seifert explained in a study published by the International Forum for Women’s Studies in the UK that rape during war was a common element of a military strategy to undermine morale, morale, unity and image. of the self of an enemy population in a physical and emotional way. closing women. Rape of women in a society, culture, or country is seen as a symbolic rape of the body of that community. “War rape is often associated with an increase in sadism as well as additional abuses such as forcing men to witness the rape of their wives or daughters and forcing women to have sex with their children. man, brother or other family member, ”he said. This analysis is entirely in line with one of the testimonies in the LAW report, Amira Radwan, who said, “They tied up the father and brother and forced them to watch the girls being raped,” adding that also informed he that women are raped by glass bottles. Legal scholar and feminist writer Elizabeth McKinnon tells us that the rape of civilians is often an important ritual of shame for men. Because they tell them – in the language of masculinity – that they can’t protect their women.
weapons of war
Rape, as a deadly weapon of war, designed to violence against the enemy because it violates basic postulates of sovereignty, is considered in the traditional discourses of international relations theories. These discourses view rape as a destructive weapon of mass destruction. It could not be controlled from within during wars because of the diminished legitimacy of the state. Externally, it is on the agenda, but in this context it is only seen as a threat to relations with neighboring countries. A related example is the genocide in Darfur, where Janjaweed paramilitary groups systematically killed, raped and cleansed black Africans in western Sudan. This has caused tensions between Sudan and neighboring countries such as Chad, where refugee camps are located near its borders for “asylum” seekers.
Marginalized feminist theories
On the other hand, there are visionary discourses that have been marginalized because they are unconventional in the theory of global relations. These discourses emerged in feminist academies interested in theory and analysis and criticized the comparison of rape as a weapon of war with a weapon of mass destruction, because in this way they lost their human dimension. This criticism leads us to one of the testimonies contained in the LAW report, in which one survivor revealed that he was part of a militia with a group of 20-year-old girls. “I joined the militia, of course, I had some grievances, but I went to get food, and I was taught to carry a woman’s weapons,” the woman said. According to him, vulnerable women are raped. For the strong, they underwent training in fighting and carrying weapons. But despite this, we have been raped and oppressed in every possible and impossible way. ”
This evidence asks: why were those who supported the militias raped, if in this case they were not weapons for anything? Psychiatrist Romeo Futero tells us in an article published in Psychology Today where he examines the psychology of a rapist by admitting some culprit about their feelings and justification for their attack. Some of the participants blamed the victim for its inadequate resistance. And the other side called for a biological entity that causes her male hormones to force her to have sex this way. More importantly, they all shared the recognition that, during the attack, they lost sense of the victim’s personality and only saw him.
Rape of women in a society, culture or country is considered as a symbolic rape of the body of that society.
“Of course it hurts me to bring back these memories, but I’m so happy to talk about it (now) because I think it’s important to talk about… to get the message across to new generations.” This testimony from one of the survivors appeared in the report, followed by the report’s call for more documentation of crimes against women “to counter the male narrative of civil wars and strengthen the voices of the victims. , ”Which puts us in the forefront. of the deeper insights presented in the study. published by Karen Mardurosian in Science magazine in Chicago, where she protested research and academic papers interested in survivors, she said: “Over the past three decades, representations and discussions of rape and domestic violence have focused almost exclusively on violence in the suffering of the victims, ignoring the behavior and psychological nature of the criminals. “Scientists and doctors are still studying the problem of male violence by studying women,” he said. They explain the case by identifying the nature of the victim. ”
legally dumb
“We have suffered a lot because we cannot talk about these crimes.” According to testimonies in the report, the women did not speak before the LAW investigation because women and girls were socially ostracized as “a disgrace to the family.” This evidence explains the reason for the small percentage (less than 9%) of those who reported cases of rape and sexual torture. Although there is local law criminalizing and punishing gender -based crimes, on August 26, 1991, the Lebanese government passed a law pardoning crimes committed against civilians during the war. This has silenced these women for decades. The report states that “these women and girls (and their families who witnessed these crimes) were double victims: first victims of the sexual violence they endured, and then victims of the complete and total non -participation in responsibility for these heinous crimes. ” violations or even acknowledge what happened.
Sources:
They rape us in every possible way
Feminist perspective on rape
Restrictions on rape as a weapon of war: a feminist and post-colonial revision
Towards the New Feminist Theory of Rape
Second Front: The Logic of Sexual Violence in Wars
? Why does rape happen?
Source: Al-Akhbar
