Conflict, Rape & Gender :Research Gaps &

Priorities

Lara StempleDirector, Health & Human Rights Law Project

UCLA School of Law

This talk will explore: Understandings &

assumptions about gender

How these shape our response to sexual violence in conflict, including research

Questions about what research to prioritize

Definitions of Sex and Gender

Sex: biological; male and female.

Gender: social expectations for men and women and the unequal power relationships that can result.

Traditional gender stereotypes

Men

Naturally warlike Aggressive Strong Invulnerable Always want sex

Women

Naturally peaceful Passive Weak Sensitive Reluctantly agree to

sex

War & masculinity

Ideal soldier maps on to ideas about masculinity (strong, brave)

Soldiers called “girls” when failing to perform

The more “macho” the military job, the more likely women are barred from it

Even when men fall as victims, viewed as heroic masculinity

Gender policing occurs in different ways: mockery pathologizing

discrimination violence (including sexual violence) social pressure

Extreme manifestations of gender are often celebrated

Gender nonconformity is newsworthy.

Our ideas about gender are so fixed, that flipping them is the story itself.

Ideas about gender are especially rigid concerning:

armed conflictsexual violence

Traditional gendered narratives are found in international law, especially in response to sexual violence.

International Human Rights Law(Including treaties, conference documents, resolutions and declarations) Confuse the terms women and gender. “Gender based violence” is defined as

“violence against women.” Male rape is ignored, even when

gender-based (e.g., perpetrators exert control, victims often feminized).

Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) “Calls on all parties to armed conflict to

take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse…”

Subsequent SCR’s on sexual violence focus on women and children:

○ 1694(2006)○ 1820(2008)○ 1888(2009) a bit more inclusive○ 1889(2009)○ 1960(2010) more inclusive

Security Council Resolution 2106 (2013) Noting with concern that sexual violence in

armed conflict and post-conflict situations disproportionately affects women and girls, as well as groups that are particularly vulnerable or may be specifically targeted, while also affecting men and boys and those secondarily traumatized as forced witnesses of sexual violence against family members; and emphasizing that acts of sexual violence in such situations not only severely impede the critical contributions of women to society, but also impede durable peace and security as well as sustainable development.

Gender Inclusivity as Feminist Intervention Over-emphasis on

female victimhood & ideas that women are “noble, pure, passive & ignorant.”

Reinforcing male invincibility is bad for women.

Villains versus damsels in distress

Data about sexual violence Globally, about 3%

of men and 13% of women have experienced rape (meta analysis).

MDSV data summary: p. 14-19 of UCB, RLP report

SV is underreported everywhere, in all contexts.

Wartime sexual violence against men found in:

Former Yugoslavia Croatia Sri Lanka Iran Iraq Greece El Salvador Chile Congo Sudan Rwanda and elsewhere, see lovely

map!

Why are male victims missed?

Assumptions that males aren’t SV victims

Health providers look for physical trauma

Victims don’t come forward due to stigma, shame, etc.

Laws not inclusive, even persecutory

Conflict-related sexual violence in Liberia(Johnson et al., JAMA, 2008)

42% of female and 32% of male combatants

9% of female non-combatants and 7% of male non-combatants

Conflict-related sexual violence in Congo (Johnson et al., JAMA, 2010)

30% of women and 22% of men reported conflict-related sexual violence

Other studies look at men or women

Worldwide, female soldiers face pressure to fulfill conflicting gender roles.

Female perpetrators

Public fixation with Lynddie England due to her flouting of gender roles at Abu Ghraib

Lawry DRC: 41% of women and 10% of men said perpetrator was female.

US juvenile detention: 94% of boys and girls reported female abuser.

Thorny yet important for women’s rights advocates.

Sexual violence is not always about enemy engagement.

UN peacekeeping forces have been charged with committing sexual violence against civilians.

US Department of Defense Data on Sexual Assault in the Military

Female recruits far more likely to be raped by fellow soldier than killed in combat.

Females are more likely abused.

Most abuse victims are male.

Framing & Methods Matter: SV in US

184,390 female incidents of rape/sexual assault: NCVS household survey

949,821 male incidents of sexual victimization of inmates, juveniles: BJS

1.270 million women and 1.267 million men reported nonconsensual sex: CDC household survey. Rape prioritized.

Definitional Challenges in Research

Emphasis on penetration of victim/rape vs. sexual victimization

Definitions reflect preconceived ideas

Jargon rather than colloquial

Multiple identities (sexual orientation, civilian/combatant)

How to tailor survey instruments for men?

Behaviorally specific

questions Numerous questions Self-administered

surveys Confidentiality Screen everyone:

normalization

Research needs:

Quantitative (gender inclusive) Qualitative (gender specific) Prevention (counterfactual challenge,

donor preference for victims) Screening (needed earlier) Treatment/healing (scale up care) Community response (cultural specificity) Access to justice (safe, non-traumatizing)

Research pitfalls:

Gendered & heteronormative assumptions

Lack of immediacy Re-traumatizing victims Lack of care following disclosure Frameworks (i.e., crime versus health) Methods that inhibit disclosure

Can UN and civil society be gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive?A gender analysis is still needed for MDSV. Open doors: LGBTI, HIV/AIDS, children, other strategies?

Lara Stemplestemple@law.ucla.edu

International law neglected women’s rights at first.

Women’s rights organizations used sexual violence to garner world attention to the plight of women.

Limited Empirical Data

Summarized in pp. 14-18 of Berkeley Law & Refugee Law Project document

Almost all U.S. states Many national laws

around the world

Sex-neutral does not mean gender-blind.

Ignoring sexual violence against men: ∙ Is inaccurate. ∙ Promotes the idea that there’s one way to

“be a man.” ∙ Creates a feminist dilemma. ∙ Leaves victims in the shadows. No one

takes action.