Sexual Violence during War

Ringvorlesung des Exzellenzclusters "Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen": The End of Pacification? The Transformation of Political Violence in the 21st Century

Prof. Elisabeth J. Wood (Yale University)

12. Dezember 2018, 18.15 Uhr

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Campus Westend, Hörsaalzentrum, HZ9

Abstract
When rape occurs frequently by an armed organization, it is often said to be a strategy of war. But some cases of conflict-related rape are better understood as a practice, violence that has not been explicitly adopted as organization policy but is nonetheless tolerated by commanders.
Drawing on examples from World War II to Vietnam to current conflicts, I present a typology of conflict-related rape that emphasizes not only vertical relationship between commanders (principals) and combatants (agents) but also the horizontal, social interactions among combatants. I analyze when rape and/or other forms of sexual violence are likely to be prevalent as organizational policy and those for which they are likely to occur as a practice. I emphasize not only the gendered norms and beliefs of the society from which combatants come but also how these might be transformed by the organization’s socialization processes. I conclude with a brief assessment of the implications for research and for policy.

CV
Elisabeth Jean Wood is Crosby Professor of the Human Environment and Professor of Political Science, International and Area Studies at Yale University. She is the author of Forging Democracy from Below: Insurgent Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador and Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador, and co-editor with Morten Bergsmo and Alf B. Skre of Understanding and Proving International Sex Crimes. Among her recent articles are “Rape as a Practice of War: Towards a Typology of Political Violence,” “The Persistence of Sexual Assault within the US Military,” “Rape during War Is Not Inevitable” and “The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks,” as well as two articles co-authored with Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, “What should we mean by “pattern of political violence”? Repertoire, targeting, frequency, and technique” and “Ideology and Civil War.” A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she teaches courses on comparative politics, political violence, collective action, and qualitative research methods.

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Veranstalter:
Exzellenzcluster "Die Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen"