Genocide and Sexual Violence Essay

The Bosnia, Rwanda, and Nazi Germany Experience Genocide is defined in international law as acts which have the intention of destroying â€Å"in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group . . . † (Genocide Watch, n. d. ). Mass killings have been one of the most controversial events in the world. This incident even plays a more important part in the historical experience of those countries which undergone it. When the idea of genocide is being discussed it is always associated with different forms of violence. One of its most prevalent forms is sexual violence against women. Sexual violence is the most common act by which women are degraded and violated. Referring to sexual violence does not only connote the idea of rape. Rape being the process of forced penetration of the penis or any foreign object inside the anus or the vagina, or placing the penis inside the mouth. Sexual violence also includes other related sexual crimes like prostitution, sexual slavery, forced impregnation, mutilations, and other similar practices (West, 2005). Employing sexual violence especially rape, aids conflicting parties to achieved their desired outcomes or objectives. Its negative social effects help in accomplishing the primary goal behind the idea of violence. The main reason why violence exists is to make sure that coexistence would not continue and rape is considered to be a more powerful instrument than murder that could obtained this end (West, 2005). Being the case, sexual violence is utilized as a tool of genocide because of the social disgrace that it brings. This holds true in countries that gives importance to the idea of virginity and chastity because these symbolizes honor not only for the women but also for her family. Sexual violence humiliates both the women and also the men because if such act took place it gives the idea that men are not strong enough to defend their women (Chenoy, 1997). In connection to that, the process of ethnic cleansing would become easier because these abused women would be forced to leave their home and flee to other areas. Such acts of violence are done to induced hatred coming from the members of the targeted group towards their enemies so that they would no longer come back (West, 2005). However, there are instances that opportunistic sexual violence takes place. This kind of sexual crime is done based simply on the individual desire of the abuser. During times of conflict, violent acts escalate because there are no foreseen penalties or consequences in doing such. But this is not always the case especially in a more organized government or regime. In a more centrally organized and powerful state this kinds of crime are not seen as an instrument to inflict terror and humiliation towards the enemy but simply an individual taking advantage of the situation in order to fulfill ones’ aggressive sexual wants (West, 2005). The Bosnian Experience The end of the Soviet Union has brought significant changes in the structure and alignment of the region. The declaration of independence of states coming from the Eastern bloc started their animosity against each other. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in July 1991 that brought war between Croatia and Yugoslav state as well as slight conflict between Yugoslavia and Slovenia. During the early parts of 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina achieved independence, this event culminated in a civil war against the Serbs, Croats, and the Muslims in Bosnia. The war lasted for several years, which is characterized by various forms of atrocities (Weitsman, 2006). One of the most disturbing forms of atrocities in the former Yugoslavia was the sexual violence inflicted upon Bosnian Muslim women by the Serb militias. Rape camps were created wherein women are segregated and raped everyday for months. Rape is not only the form of sexual violence that these women have to endure but also forced impregnation and maternity. Based on the Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 789 (1992), the former Yugoslavia has 162 detention sites wherein people were sexually abused. Bosnian Muslim women were repeatedly raped by various men and then they murdered them or detained them to become sexual slaves. Some women were even raped by 40 men in one night while other were gang raped. Mass rape and forced impregnation is utilized as a strategy in the policy of Serb authorities. Serbs denies such kind of allegations but the identical ways by which the rape camps were established as well as the pattern of sexual abuse tend to proved otherwise. The mass sexual abuses of women as well as men have the primary goal of shaming, degrading, torturing, and violating their victims. Forced impregnation of women was also done with the intent that the offspring will live because the Serbs considered such as their primary goal. This is further proven by the accounts of women who experienced being held in rape camps. They narrated that they were impregnated and detained until such a time where abortion is no longer possible (Weitsman, 2006). Scholars and experts of international politics analyzed that sexual violence such as mass rape, forced impregnation, and forced maternity were strategies employed by the Serbs in order to accomplish their objective of ethnic cleansing and even genocide. Forcing women to bear children connotes the idea they want the offspring to acquire the identity of the rapists being paternally derived and thus, disconnect whatever attachment it might have from the mother. In doing so, the Serbs deem that they succeeded in their idea of ethnic cleansing because they are putting a stop to the propagation of the culture and genes of the Bosnians. The identities of the father are commonly unknown because of cases wherein a woman impregnated has been raped by many men. In such cases, the identity of these children as â€Å"genocidal babies† or little â€Å"chetniks† still continues because it is reinforced by the media and their community. The identity of the babies is already constructed in such a way that they would forever be linked to their Serbian fathers (Weitsman, 2006). The Rwandan Genocide The genocide that happened in Rwanda is a product of ethnic hatreds and rivalries that is rooted in the early parts of this country’s history. The animosity among the two ethnic groups in the country, namely the Hutus and Tutsis goes a long way. During the pre-colonial era these two ethnic groups realized the distinctiveness that they have from each other in terms of economic status, occupation as well as slight variations in their physical appearance. Despite such differences no conflicts were observable in these groups. However, the European colonizers emphasized the distinctness of these ethnic groups based on biological superiority. Europeans allocated more power, authority, and privileges over to the Tutsis due to their tall built and angular faces, which is said to make them superior in the racial hierarchy (West, 2005). The Belgians established a democratic institution in the country that attributed more power to the persistent Hutus. This event started the tension between these two groups that resulted for the Tutsis to flee towards neighboring countries. Animosity between the groups escalated as Hutu extremists continue to perceive the other ethnic group as a â€Å"Tutsi Threat†. The situation is further worsen by the violent acts of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Hutu extremists were greatly concerned with the threat posed by the Tutsis that they decided to create a policy of genocidal mass killing. They deem that the complete annihilation of the Tutsis is the only way possible to solved this insecurity that they felt because other means are ineffective like the deportation of Tutsis to other countries, which they believe would only allow the continuation of the problem (West, 2005). The government was responsible to most of the violent attacks that happened, which intensified the feeling of terror among civilians. It is also because of fear that the civilians learned to act violently in order to defend themselves (West, 2005). Furthermore, Hutu extremists also used propaganda through the media in order to instil the hatred that the Hutu civilians must feel against the Tutsis. They also make sure that they degrade the Tutsi women by describing them as object of sexual desire (Weitsman, 2006). The participation of the civilians is needed in order for the complete annihilation of the Tutsis to be possible. During the mass killings, many women were kidnapped by their perpetrators and were raped, shamed, and left to die of depression; they did such because it contributes in the humiliation of the Tutsi culture. Sexual violence in this case is a means to deconstruct the Tutsi group of their spirit, willingness to move on and their very idea of life. Violent attacks were experienced by men and women of all ages but the women were greatly susceptible to it because of their gender and ethnicity (West, 2005). Basically, there are two purposes why sexual violence is employed. First, it is utilized in order to destroy the Tutsi race. The women symbolize their ethnicity and by raping, shaming, and lowering their morale they also destroys their ethnic group. Effects of sexual violence also humiliate their families and community. Using sexual violence invoked feelings of fear and humiliation that the Hutus believe would helped in the annihilation of the Tutsis. Second, it makes ethnic power inversion possible. Inflicting harm invokes hatred and a sense of revenge among the Tutsis. This feeling of vengeance only adds to their idea of the â€Å"Tutsi Threat† (West, 2005). The Nazi Germany The genocide that happened in the history of Germany is grounded in the idea that Germans or the Aryan race are the most racially pure and sophisticated people making them superior as compared to other races. Adolf Hitler made sure that the superiority of their race continues by first, eliminating the physically unfit members of the Aryan race like the handicapped and the mentally ill. Afterwards, he proceeded in annihilating the Jewish population, which he perceived as the greatest threat to their race. He disseminates the idea that the Jews are dirty and they are trying to infiltrate and destroy their superiority. Furthermore, he also accused that the Jews have connection in the Bolshevism of Russia and Stalin’s Communism. He succeeded in spreading the feeling of hatred among the Aryan race towards the Jews through propaganda in posters, newspapers, and radio reports. Basically, the perception that Jews are inferior and their connection to Bolshevism led to the conclusion that the only way to save the Aryan race as well as the entire Europe is through the elimination of the Jewish race (West, 2005). Unlike the case of Bosnia and Rwanda, there was very minimal practiced of sexual violence before and during the Holocaust in Germany. It is interesting to note that despite the long periods of incarceration that Jewish women spent in the concentration camps, they were not sexually abuse. Some reports of sexual crimes were more individualistic in nature as compared with the Rwandan and Bosnian experienced of mass raped. Sexual violence was only limited among Germans that hold high position in authority who are often left in charge making it opportunistic in nature. However, there are also instances that women are humiliated inside concentration camps. This is when they are forced to stand naked, be shaven, searched and experienced invasive medical tests. They also undergone psychological fear as soldiers would threaten them of sexual violence. But this merely becomes psychological means to infused terror because there are rarely cases of rape inside the concentration camps (West, 2005). Sexual violence was not employed during the genocide in Germany because of several factors. First, the strong and radical belief of the Nazis about their race. Their belief in the preservation of the purity of their race entails with it policies that prohibits them in engaging in sexual practices with inferior races as it is seen as dirty and they condemned the reproduction of Jewish people. This is proven by incidents wherein pregnant Jewish women are immediately killed. Second, Nazis have a very disciplined military that strictly obeyed the rules of their superiors as well as the ideology of their race. Being the case, they would not subject themselves in acts of sexual violence as this is prohibited in their laws and beliefs. Lastly, their strong hierarchical state which assures that the codes of conduct and laws are followed by the military as well as the civilian members of their population (West, 2005). This served as the strong foundation that holds the people belonging in the Aryan race to act accordingly with regards to their beliefs and objectives. Similarities and Differences The ethnic cleansing and genocide that happened in these three countries have its similarities and differences in terms of how the conflict escalated the usage of sexual violence, as well as their reasons in employing or not employing these violent acts. Bosnia, Rwanda, and Germany’s genocide are similar in the fact that it involves the leadership of political elites who devised ways in order to heighten the feeling of animosity among conflicting parties. In the case of Bosnia, the Serbs made a policy that created numerous rape camps that will aid in the rape and impregnation of women. Rwanda also employed a similar strategy by including the citizens to further aggravate the conflict that is taking place. They propagate the idea of â€Å"Tutsi threat† so that Hutu civilians would participate in the annihilation of the Tutsis. The strong political leadership of the Nazis also reinforced the superiority of the Aryan race and they created the idea of the Jews being a threat to their superiority in order to justify their actions of mass killings. Moreover, all of them used propaganda by means of the media to influence the mind of their fellow citizens and eventually aid them in their desired objectives. This is exactly what happened in Rwanda when they announced the â€Å"Tutsi threat† together with their perception of Tutsi women as sexual objects in their radio stations and newspapers. Similarly, the media also aided in propagating the idea that the offspring’s of the impregnated Bosnian Muslim women are â€Å"little chetniks† which heightened the stigma that these children’s identities would be forever linked to their fathers who are responsible for such violent act. Nazi Germany is also no different as they strengthened the idea of the Aryan race’s superiority and the threat the Jewish imposed upon this dominion through the same method as the two aforementioned incidents. The differences they have are focused on their idea of what sexual violence is and what are its effects to the ends that they are fighting for. In the genocide that happened in Rwanda they employed sexual violence as a means to humiliate and violate not only the women that they raped and their families but also their communities as well. The reason for such course of action is the high regards given to the honor of women because she symbolizes the very ethnicity of her race. Destroying her morale is also synonymous to the destruction of the race she symbolizes. In contrast, even though Bosnia practiced the same mass rape as Rwanda their perception towards it is different. Rwanda used sexual violence as a means to destroy the ethnic race by humiliation unlike in Bosnia wherein sexual violence is considered more as an after effect of their actions of ethnic cleansing. Their forced impregnation of women in their process of genocide was utilized in order to create â€Å"little chetniks† or offspring that would increase the Serbian race. The most unlikely among these three cases of genocide is the Nazi Germany experience. Sexual violence is not utilized by the Nazis to propagate mass destruction of the Jewish race. There are only minimal incidents of rape during those times and it was caused by opportunistic reasons rather than a method of ethnic cleansing. The rationale behind such incident is the fact that Nazis have a more disciplined military and strong hierarchal structure. In an organized government like the Nazi regime violent acts such as sexual abuse is not as rampant as compared to Bosnia and Rwanda because perpetrators are sure to face the consequences and penalties of their actions. Furthermore, a disciplined military would not adhere to sexual misconduct because of the fear of being punish by their superiors as well as their high regards to their beliefs. Sexual violence is indeed commonly used in most cases of genocide. Contrary to this usual practice there have also been instances wherein mass killings took placed but there are very minimal reports of sexual violence. In such cases, sexual violence was not perceived as an instrument in order to accomplish the goals of the perpetrators. This kind of observable discrepancy among the employment of sexual violence could be attributed to the idea that this concept is still very subjective. Its meaning, practice, and usage tend to vary from one person to another and in this case from one race from the other. References Chenoy, A. (1997). Demystifying Terrorism: a War Against Terror & The Terror Of War, US Hegemony & Militarism. ARENA. Genocide Watch. (n. d. ). What is Genocide? Retrieved 22 May 2008, from http://www. genocidewatch. org/aboutgenocide/whatisit. html.