Practicum in International Affairs * Spring

Rape as a Weapon or Tactic of War is different from independent cases of rape Purpose of this war strategy is to o Demean the woman o Make her unacceptable to her community o Impregnation o Infect her with HIV/AIDS and other STDs o Break up communities and families Long Term Effects o Women are expelled from their communities o Poverty o Children of Rape are taunted o Children of Rape become orphans o Psychological and Medical effects 2

Women are usually seen as second class citizens, even objects, in most conflict societies Need to empower women However, empowerment does not necessarily imply that rape will not occur Women in conflict parties with authority do not necessarily protect or sympathize with women from the opposing side 3

Resolution 1325 October 2000 UN recognition of the unique impact of war on women Recognition of the lack of women’s participation in o conflict prevention o peacekeeping o conflict resolution o peace building Calls for increased efforts to ensure equal and full participation of women in all the above areas Resolution 1820 June 2008 Condemns use of rape during conflicts as war tactic Declares that perpetrators using rape as a tactic of war will be prosecuted as committing a war crime and a crime against humanity 4

Analyze 6 countries in which rape was used as a weapon of war Angola Bosnia Herzegovina Rwanda DRC Liberia Sudan - Darfur Pre Conflict Role of Women in Society During Conflict Conflict history Prevalence of Rape Cases Role of conflict actors, gov’t, and int’l actors Post Conflict Women’s role in peace process Victim services Justice system 5

Bosnia & Herzegovina Camps for systematic rape Susica Detention Center Foca, Bosnia – women held captive in makeshift detention centers Youngest victim was 12 years old Victims gang raped nightly Those who became pregnant were forced to give birth Rwanda Pauline Nyiramasuhuko (minister for family and women's affairs) o Suspected of ordering troops to rape thousands of women o Currently facing trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda o Charges include rape as genocide and other crimes against humanity. 6

DRC Goma and Kalemie – 40,000 victims Bunia – 8-10 women raped daily Eastern DRC - 23% of people witness to sexual violence, 16% direct victims of sexual violence In one town reported 70 % of women were victims of sexual violence South Kivu - 90,000 victims Darfur Overwhelming majority of rapes occurred between villages and forests, a 5 km walk, where women go to retrieve fire wood Role of women predominately to collect fire wood and water Even if roles reversed men would be killed regardless Lesser of two evils is to have women being raped 7

Sexual violence is not being tolerated but there are reasons why it occurs A combination of neglect and limitations Must address issues at the local, government and international levels 8

Women unable to effectively address rape issue due to: Lack of resources and status Fear; Women’s lips and tongues are cut out to prevent them from testifying against perpetrators Stigmatization against women that speak up about sexual violence few or no services to help with medical, psychological, societal, and security issues Gender biases in patriarchal societies, in which women cannot participate in local government 9

The government is in a weak state and lacks the resources and infrastructure to protect its women and penalize those who are responsible for these horrendous crimes In tribal conflicts, there is no well defined civil society to represent women 10

Delayed reactions and no concrete solutions Difficulty getting approval from national governments to deliver services Funding allocation non-specific for rape victims Lack of local resources – e.g. translators, female staff, local staff Lack of awareness about cases of rape used as war tactic 11

Inadequate response by UN to address the issue of sexual violence Lack of coordination and cooperation among UN agencies Unclear UN Security Council mandates regarding intervention and protection of victims 12 Failure to train Peacekeeping forces to intervene in cases of sexual violence against women Absence of accountability for governments where sexual violence has taken place

UN Special Rapporteurs on Violence Against Women in Conflict Domestic and International Sexual Violence Advisors Collaboration among UN agencies UNIFEM and DPKO particularly during conflict Bi-annual reports A package on rapid intervention Early Investigation Emergency Trials 13

States should engage and sensitize males about the positive aspects of empowering women within their societies, particularly: o Intellectuals o Respected members of the community o Tribal chiefs o Village elders o Religious leaders 14

The UN should urge member states to increase women’s participation in peace talks and all levels of government (political, judicial, law enforcement) o Quotas o Targeted recruitment efforts o Incentives (scholarships, mentoring programs) 15

The UN should create a strong, new gender agency for women, similar to UNICEF o Personnel recruited from other UN agencies (UNIFEM, OSAGI, DAW) o Services for rape victims, Protection, Advocacy 16

The use of Sexual Violence as a war tactic is increasing UN Resolutions 1325 and 1820 are steps in the right direction, but much remains to be done Our project seeks to improve the implementation of Resolutions 1325 and 1820 We hope that our Recommendations will contribute to the outstanding work of UNIFEM and other UN agencies and to the local and international efforts in combating rape as a weapon of war ****** 17