The weaponisation of women’s bodies and sexuality in conflict is as old as war itself and leaves permanent scars that are more insidious due to their invisibilisation.
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IN the harrowing theater of conflict, amidst the chaos and carnage of warfare, there exists a weapon more insidious than any bullet or bomb— the weaponisation of women.
This barbaric tactic, employed with chilling precision by warring factions, seeks not only to inflict physical and psychological trauma upon its victims but also to shatter the very fabric of society.
The utilisation of this weapon has consistently constituted a grave offense against humanity, a war crime and an entirely unacceptable tool in warfare. Unfortunately, it has also proven to be highly effective in the context of armed conflict.
Women and their sexuality are manipulated during wars; a recent example being Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers showcasing Palestinian women’s undergarments.
Women and their sexuality are manipulated during wars; a recent example being Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers showcasing Palestinian women’s undergarments.
In recent years, these incidents reveal the inappropriate use of women’s undergarments as trophies. This deplorable behavior serves as a stark example of how women’s bodies are objectified and utilised to exert dominance.
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Such acts not only violate the dignity of the women involved but also perpetuate a culture of disrespect within the armed forces.
Credits: Younis Tirawi/XThe video depicting an Israeli soldier searching through a Palestinian woman’s bedroom and personal belongings, including her lingerie, in a Gaza home, unveils the profound moral degradation of the situation.
In the videos, the soldiers can be heard asserting that this invasion constitutes their most significant discovery and findings. The obscene nature of the countless videos by Israeli soldiers, reeks of racism and supremacy, as they document themselves in a state of self-congratulatory delight, wandering about with stolen bras and leering at panties.
Credits: Younis Tirawi/XWomen as tools of war: Beyond sexuality
For centuries, rape has been used as a tool of warfare, a brutal means of instilling fear and sowing discord among enemy populations.
It is used as a method for asserting dominance, highlighting the power dynamics at play during wartime. By subjecting women to such a heinous act, perpetrators aim to establish a sense of control and superiority over the targeted population.
The psychological impact of such a traumatic experience can linger long after the immediate physical harm has been inflicted. The fear generated by the threat or occurrence of sexual violence becomes a potent tool for manipulating and subduing enemy populations.
This terror serves to destabilise communities and undermine their resilience in the face of conflict. The resulting discord weakens the cohesion of the targeted group, making them more vulnerable to external pressures and less capable of mounting effective resistance.
Such acts not only violate the dignity of the women involved but also perpetuate a culture of disrespect within the armed forces.
In recent decades, examples abound of armed groups and State actors alike employing this as a strategic weapon of terror and coercion. From the systematic rape camps of Bosnia to the brutal campaigns of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the scars of this heinous crime are etched indelibly upon the collective consciousness of humanity.
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Other notable recent instances of sexual violence against women include the systematic sexual assault of anywhere between two to four lakh Bengali women during the Bangladeshi Liberation Movement, the sexual assault of over 60,000 women in Sierra Leone’s civil war (1991–2002), approximately 40,000 in Liberia during the 14-year civil war (1989–2003) and over 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998, among others.
Post-conflict effect on women
The post-conflict consequences of sexual violence on women during conflicts, such as HIV transmission, mental health issues and stigmatisation, often persist even after the cessation of hostilities. The capacity to provide medical and psychological care and justice for survivors (especially women) is also often lacking.
Further, women and girls face hazards even in refugee camps, as evidenced by a UN report estimating that approximately one in five female refugees living in humanitarian settings have been subjected to sexual violence.
For centuries, rape has been used as a tool of warfare, a brutal means of instilling fear and sowing discord among enemy populations.
“The consequences of using women’s harassment as a weapon of war extend beyond the immediate physical harm. Women who survive such incidents often endure long-lasting psychological trauma, social stigma and a disrupted sense of community,” says Vipasha, programme associate at CREA, a feminist international human rights organisation based in the Global South.
Arkina, her colleague, adds, “The pervasive culture of impunity surrounding these crimes perpetuates a cycle of violence, making it challenging to bring perpetrators to justice.”
Men at the forefront, women in hindsight
It is imperative to challenge the deeply entrenched notion that war is inherently male-dominated. While men may often be the visible face of warfare, the reality is far more complex, with women (not at the forefront) playing multifaceted roles that are frequently overlooked or undervalued.
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In the backdrop of armed conflict, women are not mere bystanders but active participants, contributing vital labor and logistical support behind the scenes. Yet, society’s narrow perception of war as a predominantly male endeavor perpetuates the erasure of women’s contributions, relegating them to the sidelines of history.
Women caught in the crossfire
Throughout history, women have often found themselves caught in the crossfire of armed conflicts, not only as victims but as tools exploited for strategic and psychological purposes.
World War II and the Occupation of Germany
During the later phases of World War II, as Allied forces entered and occupied German territory, widespread sexual assaults against women occurred. These incidents occurred in conjunction with combat operations and continued during the subsequent occupation of Germany by soldiers from all advancing Allied armies.
It is clear, however, that this violence was driven in no small part by a desire to exact revenge on the Germans for atrocities committed by German soldiers, including mass sexual violence perpetrated against ‘non-Aryan’ women.
In recent decades, examples abound of armed groups and State actors alike employing this as a strategic weapon of terror and coercion.
The number of female casualties linked to the rapes in Germany is estimated to be around 240,000 in total. British military historian Antony Beevor characterises this grim occurrence as the “most significant instance of mass rape in history” and asserts that a minimum of 1.4 million women experienced sexual assault in East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia alone.
World War II comfort women
One of the most infamous instances of women being exploited during wartime is the use of ‘comfort women’ by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Tens of thousands of women, mostly from occupied territories, were forced into sexual slavery to satisfy the soldiers’ desires. This systematic abuse exemplifies how women’s bodies have historically been considered collateral damage in the pursuit of military objectives.
The holocaust of Partition
The Partition of British territories in the Indian subcontinent in 1947 stands as a pivotal moment not only in the annals of the subcontinent but also in the broader world history.
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Yet, amidst the grand narrative of independence and nation-building, the voices and experiences of women, who bore the brunt of this cataclysmic event have too often been relegated to the margins of historical discourse.
As sectarian passions flared and violence engulfed the land, women emerged as the silent victims of rival factions, their bodies and lives commodified and brutalised in the name of communal strife.
An estimated 75,000 to 100,000 women endured unspeakable horrors during the Partition— they were abducted, raped, murdered or sold into prostitution, their dignity and agency stripped away by the merciless tide of conflict.
Further, women and girls face hazards even in refugee camps, as evidenced by a UN report estimating that approximately one in five female refugees living in humanitarian settings have been subjected to sexual violence.
In the chaos of civil war, where every man became a soldier fighting for his homeland, women found themselves reduced to mere pawns in a deadly game of territorial conquest.
They were seen not as individuals with inherent rights and freedoms but as ‘territories’ to be occupied, their bodies subjected to the whims of their captors. The trauma inflicted upon these women not only erased their sense of self but also ruptured the social and existential fabric that had once provided them with a semblance of security and belonging.
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War (1992–95) witnessed widespread sexual violence against women as a tool of war. Rape camps were established and women were subjected to sexual atrocities as a means of ethnic cleansing. The Bosnian war is also known for so-called ‘rape camps’ and other forms of sexual slavery which sometimes involved effectively forced marriages, as well as forced pregnancies, a phenomenon which has been significantly less examined.
The deliberate use of sexual violence highlighted the intersection of gender and conflict, emphasising how women’s bodies can be weaponised to achieve political and military objectives.
ISIS and Yazidi women
In more recent history, the rise of ISIS saw the deliberate targeting of Yazidi women in Iraq for sexual slavery. Women and girls were abducted, raped and sold as part of a systematic campaign to terrorise and subjugate entire communities. This exemplifies how groups exploit women’s bodies to establish dominance and control over territories.
Manipur violence
The Manipur violence in India during May 2023, brought to light another distressing incident where two women were paraded naked by a mob. The video of this heinous act went viral, sparking widespread outrage and raising concerns about the vulnerability of women during times of conflict.
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The incident underscores the urgent need for international attention to address the systemic issue of gender-based violence in conflict zones.
Understanding the historical context reveals that such actions are not isolated occurrences but part of a broader pattern of using women’s bodies as tools of war. Efforts to address and prevent these abuses must involve not only condemning individual incidents but also challenging the deeply ingrained gender norms that contribute to the systemic victimization of women in times of conflict.
Kashmir conflict and use of rape as State policy
According to a Human Rights Watch report, the conflict in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since January 1990 has witnessed a brutal confrontation between Indian security forces and local residents.
The report highlights the disturbing use of rape as a tactic by security forces to target women accused of supporting insurgents, aiming to punish and humiliate the entire community.
In the chaos of civil war, where every man became a soldier fighting for his homeland, women found themselves reduced to mere pawns in a deadly game of territorial conquest.
The Kunan Poshpora incident was a mass rape that occurred on February 23, 1991 when personnel from the Rajputana Rifles raped over 50 women in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir. There have been several such incidents in J&K.
The 2006 sex ‘scandal’ also made headlines only when the J&K police uncovered two video CDs depicting the sexual exploitation of minor Kashmiri women.
Subsequently, the police interviewed the minors, obtaining information that led to the identification of 56 individuals purportedly implicated in the scandal. Top police officials, bureaucrats and even politicians were named in this scandal.
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Afghan–Soviet war
During the Afghan-Soviet war, Soviet forces engaged in the abduction of Afghan women while conducting aerial searches for mujahideen. In November 1980, multiple instances of such incidents occurred across various regions, including Laghman and Kama.
Both Soviet soldiers and Khadamat-e Aetla’at-e Dawlati (the agency in charge of internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence and the secret police) agents were involved in abducting young women from Kabul, as well as the areas of Darul Aman and Khair Khana, situated near Soviet garrisons, for the purpose of sexual assault.
These abducted women were subjected to rape by Soviet soldiers. It is claimed that during the period, mass rape of around two million Afghan girls and women was undertaken by Soviet soldiers which resulted in children, who continue to make up a considerable part of the population today in Afghanistan.
Vietnamese women and abuses by the US army
During the Vietnam War, US soldiers stationed in South Vietnam were involved in a range of sexual abuses and incidents of rape. Retired US Army Colonel Gregory A. Daddis highlights that specific US army drill instructors reportedly conveyed to recruits that they had the liberty to rape Vietnamese women.
Daddis partially attributes this disturbing phenomenon to ‘Orientalist’ ideologies, which depicted Asian women as objects within a male power fantasy.
Numerous US veterans and eyewitnesses have attested to the sexual mistreatment of Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War. Kerry Crawford asserts that the rape of Vietnamese women was considered a “routine operating procedure”, and military installations even housed brothels to uphold morale and discipline.
Black July— Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka
The 1983 Anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, commonly referred to as Black July, was a brutal state-sponsored genocide. Armed with voter registration lists provided by the government, Sinhalese mobs took the lives of at least 3,000 Tamils and displaced 90,000–150,000 of them.
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Many Tamil women were raped and many families were burned alive. Throughout July, violence kept escalating. On July 22, the army abducted three Tamil girls in Jaffna and took them to their camps. News spread that they were raped and one had killed herself.
International response and accountability
Addressing the issue of women’s harassment in armed conflicts requires a concerted international effort. The United Nations Security Council has acknowledged the link between sexual violence and conflict, with resolutions such as Resolution 1820 condemning sexual violence as a weapon of war.
However, effective implementation and enforcement remain challenging, and more needs to be done to ensure accountability for those responsible.
Examining ongoing conflicts such as the one in Palestine illustrates the limited impact of international law in curbing the perpetration of sexual violence and harassment during conflict.
The use of women’s harassment as a tool of war is a disturbing and reprehensible trend that demands urgent attention and action from the international community. It is crucial to uphold the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law to protect the dignity and well-being of women caught in the crossfire of war.
A normative framework within international law addresses rape and sexual violence in conflict, but a substantial disparity exists between the expressed goals in these documents and the reality on the ground.
The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and subsequent amendments broadly acknowledge sexual violence during conflict. The Rome Statute classifies rape and other forms of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes, contingent on the context in which these offences occur.
Sexual violence may, under specific circumstances, be categorised as a crime of torture or an act of genocide. Various national and international bodies have condemned the use of sexual violence in conflicts.
Sexual violence during conflict can be categorised into three main types: employed as a deliberate war tactic, tolerated but not expressly ordered by leaders, and independently committed by individuals when the opportunity arises.
Examining ongoing conflicts such as the one in Palestine illustrates the limited impact of international law in curbing the perpetration of sexual violence and harassment during conflict.
International organisations must establish a framework for tailored, survivor-centric responses specific to different countries emphasising investment in local organisations whenever possible. This approach aims to provide resources and avenues to justice for victims.
In situations of conflict, both government and non-government armed groups employ sexual and gender-based crimes as tactics of warfare.
The extent and systematic nature of sexual violence in conflict zones remain largely unknown. Recognised as a weapon of war by many governments and international institutions, sexual violence profoundly affects thousands of women during and after conflicts. However, the widespread and systematic nature of such violence remains a puzzle that researchers aim to unravel.
In any war, women and girls emerge as the most vulnerable demographic. Unfortunately, the issue of gender-based violence in conflicts has not received adequate attention in discussions on gender equality and sustainable development and the perpetrators of such violence are seldom held accountable.
