“Sexual violence is a brutal form of physical and psychological warfare rooted in the gender inequality extant not only in zones of conflict, but in our everyday personal lives … The prevention of sexual violence must remain one of our highest priorities.”

United Nations secretary-general António Guterres

What is the stigma?
The stigma suffered by survivors of conflict-related sexual violence has to stop.  When sexual violence occurs during war time, the victim is traumatised twice. Firstly by the violent acts of the perpetrator and then again by the reaction of their community. This reaction is the reason sexual violence during an armed conflict is used as a tactic of war or even terrorism.

The perpetrator clearly understands the perceived dishonour of war time rape. Women suffer through the stigma of lost virginity or pregnancy out of wedlock. Children conceived through rape are often considered “children of the enemy”. Through male rape there is often a loss of masculinity, homophobia, and the shame of being unable to defend oneself and loved ones.

What can be done ?
To address this stigma, the conduct of society and the state as a whole needs to change. It is of utmost importance that the underlying social norms that have encouraged victim-shaming be addressed and hopefully put to an end. In order to bring in this change, it is necessary that legal and policy approaches bridges formal and informal spheres in a society.

The UN report on Conflict Related Sexual Violence has clearly observed that there is a trend of outdated and incomplete definitions of sexual violence at the national level. The law often fails to criminalise marital rape, ignore coercive circumstances, domestic violence and exclude males from the scope of protection. This leads to permissive circumstances and attitudes in wartime regarding sexual violence in the context of sex-slavery and forced marriages.

This, in turn, is observed to be a legitimate practice in the post-conflict phase. The transitional period after conflict can provide an opportunity to transform certain inadequate laws, public perception of sexual violence and societal norms that have shamed victims.     

Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash

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