Thesis: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have been internationally recognized as independent entities of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro) since 1992. Even though these nation-states are all independent of one another, the international community refuses to see them as such. The resulting impact of the lack of recognition has added fuel to the fire that has been raging between these nation-states for decades, and the number of victims that have been unfortunately involved continue to grow. Allen directly addresses the indifference of the international community in Rape Warfare and how it contributes to the ‘ethnic’-genocide that is occurring in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. “Never comfort yourself with the thought that because the worst things …show more content…
Allen’s placement of these definitions, stresses and implies the importance of both terms. These two terms are vital for understanding the conflict that is occurring Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Furthermore, Allen bases the central arguments of Rape Warfare off of these terms, and the context that they are used in. Allen’s arguments tie back to these terms, because she is asserting that the perpetrators are using rape as a means of genocide and biological warfare. Allen divides Rape Warfare into six separate themes. These themes serve as a guide for Allen to collect her thoughts, but also as a way to evoke emotion from the reader. Allen uses these themes to call attention to terminology that parties use when referring to the conflict, issues of representation, and the existence of the rape/death camps.
Sources: Allen uses primary sources and secondary sources (book and articles) to support the central argument in Rape Warfare. She uses multiple primary sources, most of them anonymous because Allen strives to provide these victims with proper representation. “I cannot name most of the women who have so generously educated me in this because to do so would place their lives again at risk (pg
... sabotages the subject-object relationship. To display an autonomous, free willed being will dismantle the taken for granted passivity and vulnerability of the victim. Meanwhile, it is crucial for women to acknowledge the vulnerability of male genitalia. Yet this is not the final solution to rape, Marcus argues. Rather, individuals need to “frighten rape culture to death” (p. 379).
Susan Brownmiller’s excerpt Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape written in 1975 explores rape. It argues that from the beginning of time men had an advantage over women because their genitalia can serve as a weapon, which, in turn, generates constant fear. “Rape provides a sufficient threat to keep all women in a constant state of intimidation, forever conscious of the knowledge that the biological tool must be held in awe for it may turn to weapon with sudden swiftness borne of harmful intent”(Brownmiller, 312). Females are subjected to the harsh reality of rape at a young age through fairytales such as Little Red Riding Hood. Stories like these emphasize how weak women are and how heroic, brave and strong men are. Susan Brownmiller believes that the way to destroy the idea that “you can’t thread a moving needle,” and “no women can be raped against her will” by spreading awareness about rape and how it is a moral wrongdoing and punishable under the
Dr. Farmer in his article address the subject of structural violence and suffering by utilizing personal narratives. Dr. Farmer travels Haiti, a place deemed by experts to be undergoing “extreme human suffering” (Farmer 262) and recants the narratives of two Haitians, Acephie Joseph and Chouchou Louis, who both suffer premature deaths due to the Haitian Army. Acephie contracts HIV from a Haitian Army Captain and Chouchou is beaten to death by soldiers. At the hands of the Army, Acephie deals with structural violence against women, while Chouchou deals with structural violence against political expression. Although, Acephie and Chouchou are victims of two different forms of structural violence, Dr. Farmer observes one commonality that unites
Stiglmayer, Alexandra. 1994. Mass Rape: The War against Women in Bosnia-herzegovina. Lincoln: university of Nebrask Press.
“The sweetly sickening odor of decomposing bodies hung over many parts of Rwanda in July 1994: . . . at Nyarubuye in eastern Rwanda, where the cadaver of a little girl, otherwise intact, had been flattened by passing vehicles to the thinness of cardboard in front of the church steps,” (Deforges 6). The normalcy of horrible images like this one had cast a depressing gloom over Rwanda during the genocide, a time when an extreme divide caused mass killings of Tutsi by the Hutu. Many tactics such as physical assault or hate propaganda are well known and often used during times of war. Sexual assault and rape, however, during times of war is an unspoken secret – it is well known that rape occurs within combat zones and occupied territories, but people tend to ignore, or even worse, not speak of the act. There have been recorded cases of rape and sexual assault in almost every war in human history. Genocidal rape was used as a gendered war tactic in the Rwandan genocide in order to accomplish the Hutu goal of elimination of the Tutsi people in whole, or part.
Genocide is a pressing issue with a multitude of questions and debates surrounding it. It is the opinion of many people that the United Nations should not get involved with or try to stop ongoing genocide because of costs or impositions on the rights of a country, but what about the rights of an individual? The UN should get involved in human rights crimes that may lead to genocide to prevent millions of deaths, save money on humanitarian aid and clean up, and fulfill their responsibilities to stop such crimes. It is preferable to stop genocide before it occurs through diplomacy, but if necessary, military force may be used as a last resort. Navi Pillay, Human Rights High Commissioner, stated, “Concerted efforts by the international community at critical moments in time could prevent the escalation of violence into genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing.”
Ode, Kim. "Sexual Trauma: Women Vets' Secret War." ProQuest, 18 Dec. 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
Searles, Patricia and Berger, Ronald. Rape and Society: reading on problem of sexual assault. Westview Press, 1995
Greenfield, Daniel M. "Crime of Complicity in Genocide: How the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia Got It Wrong, and Why It Matters." The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 98.3 (2008): 921-24. HeinOnline. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.
In the past two decades, there has been much turmoil throughout Serbia, and without any consistency or certainty for the nation, it has led to frustration and anger for the people. They have an unfortunate past of Human Rights violations and particular regions, such as Vojovodina, have been placed on Human Rights Watch by the European Parliament. Many of these issues began with the ethnic cleanings issues during the war in Bosnia. After June of 1999, International Red Cross identified 150,000 Serbs who had fled from terror, intimidation and primarily ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija, a province of Serbia. Only about 6,000 people have been able to return home since, making Serbia Europe’s country with the most refugees. The UN is in the process of trying to get as many of these people to return as possible, but efforts have proved difficult. In addition, in this same province, nearly 1,000 Ser...
Paradigms of Genocide: The Holocaust, The Armenian genocide, and Contemporary Mass Destructions, 156-168. Sage Publications Inc., 1996. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1048550
Gagnon, V. P. (2004). The myth of ethnic war: Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Zurbriggen, E. (). Rape, War, And The Socialization of Masculinity: Why Our Refusal To Give Up Was Ensures That Rape Cannot Be Eradicated. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 538-539
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.
Print. The. Hymowitz, Sarah, and Amelia Parker. " Lessons - The Genocide Teaching Project - Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law." American University, Washington College of Law. American UniversityWashington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2011.