TO DESTROY A PEOPLE: CONCEPTUALIZING MASS SEXUAL VIOLENCE AS A PRINCIPAL MODALITY OF GENOCIDE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
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Date
2024-06
Authors
Howard, Emma Marie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Throughout the twentieth century, mass sexual violence has been integral to genocidal campaigns, indicating that mass sexual violence is both a hallmark and weapon/means of genocide. This paper engages with eleven case studies from the twentieth century using both primary documentation of the occurrence and impact of mass sexual violence and secondary sources that analyze and discuss how gender and sexuality operate within war and genocide more broadly. Whereas previous scholarship and international law have included modalities of genocide that could, by interpretation, include mass sexual violence, this paper argues that weaponized mass sexual violence is an effective means of destroying identity both individually (at the micro level) but also collectively (at the meso and macro levels) and therefore must be included as a principal modality of genocide by definition in order to more accurately and effectively articulate genocide.
Description
105 pages
Keywords
genocide, sexual violence, gender, twentieth century conflict, ethnic cleansing