Women and girls are often raped
by soldiers or forced into prostitution. For a long time, the international
community has failed to address the problem of sexual violence during armed
conflict. However, sexual assaults, which often involve sexual mutilation,
sexual humiliation,
and forced pregnancy, are quite common. Such crimes are motivated in part by
the long-held view that women are the "spoils" of war to which
soldiers are entitled. Trafficking in women is a form of sexual slavery in
which women are transported across national borders and marketed for
prostitution. These so-called "comfort women" are another example of
institutionalized sexual violence against women during wartime. Sexual violence
is sometimes viewed as a way to destroy male and community pride or humiliate
men who cannot "protect" their women. It is also used to silence
women who are politically active, or simply inflict terror upon the population
at large. Mass rapes may also form part of a genocidal strategy, designed to
impose conditions that lead to the destruction of an entire group of people.
For example, during the 1990s, the media reported that "rape and other
sexual atrocities were a deliberate and systematic part of the Bosnian Serb
campaign for victory in the war" in the former Yugoslavia.
………….Done by Faith Gabriella.
