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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:50 am
Time: 11:50 am
Results for civil war
2 results foundAuthor: Cohen, Dara Kay Title: Causes of Sexual Violence During Civil War: Cross-National Evidence (1980-2009) Summary: Why do some armed groups commit wartime rape on a large scale, while others never turn to sexual violence? Although scholars and policymakers have made many claims about the rates, severity and locations of wartime sexual violence, there have been few systematic efforts to gather data on sexual violence during conflict. Using an original dataset, I examine the incidence of sexual violence by both insurgent groups and state actors during civil wars between 1980-2009. I first establish that there is substantial variation in the severity of wartime sexual violence, both across and within conflicts. I then use the data in a statistical analysis to test a series of competing hypotheses about the causes of wartime sexual violence. I find strong evidence that the choice of recruitment mechanism—namely, whether the armed group abducted or press-ganged its members—predicts the use of sexual violence. I maintain that this finding supports an argument about the use of rape as a method of combatant socialization, in which members of armed groups who are recruited by force use rape to create and to maintain unit cohesion. I also find that contraband funding and genocide predict sexual violence by insurgents. Notably, there is no support for several common explanations for wartime sexual violence, including ethnic war and gender inequality. Drawing on data from the Sierra Leone civil war, I examine the observable implications of the proposed mechanism on the micro level in a brief case study. The results undermine conventional wisdom on the causes of sexual violence and suggest that multiple mechanisms may be at work in understanding wartime sexual violence. Details: Minneapolis: Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 2011. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 9, 2011 at: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/gpa/globalnotes/Cohen%20MIRC%203-28-11.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/gpa/globalnotes/Cohen%20MIRC%203-28-11.pdf Shelf Number: 122329 Keywords: Civil WarRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Muvumba Sellstrom, Angela Title: Stronger than Justice: Armed Group Impunity for Sexual Violence Summary: What conditions lead to confidence among civil war combatants that they will not face accountability for perpetrating sexual violence? This study investigates the causes of impunity for sexual violence among armed actors. It develops a theoretical framework which identifies three explanations for armed group impunity for sexual violence, namely (1) flawed prohibitions inside an armed group; (2) negligent enforcement by its authorities; and (3) pardons in the form of amnesties during the peace process. Adopting a two-pronged approach, the study first explores the associations between amnesties arising from concluding peace agreements and post-settlement levels of sexual violence in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and South Africa. A small-scale, events-based dataset of sexual violence by governments and rebel groups in the first three years after war was constructed. The second and main part of the study is a comparison between two rebel groups in Burundi's civil war (1994-2008), CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and Palipehutu-FNL (Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation) and their practices of prohibition and punishment of wartime sexual violence, taking into account also the possible influence of amnesties. Based on original data from 19 focus groups of ex-combatants from these rebel organisations, it is found that flawed prohibitions and negligent authorities are the main explanations for armed group impunity. The findings do not support amnesties as a cause of armed group impunity for sexual violence. Moreover, additional findings suggest that accountability for sexual violence is triggered by dependency on civilian support, while impunity is facilitated by an armed group's ability to secure recruits, material and other resources without the help of local communities. Details: Uppsala: Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 2015. 273p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 17, 2018 at: http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:766398/FULLTEXT01.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Africa URL: http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:766398/FULLTEXT01.pdf Shelf Number: 150896 Keywords: Civil WarHuman Rights Abuses Military Personnel Rape Sexual Violence |