Module 5 (DISCUSSION-1)Classification of Persons

Module 5: Sexual Violence and Genocide

Sexual Violence Zirpoli (2019) noted that the Secretary General of the United Nations defines sexual violence as, "...rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys..." (United Nations Security Council, 2018). Zirpoli (2019) also highlighted that the 1951Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defined genocide as a means of destroying a population in part or whole by (a) murdering members of the population, (c) injuring members seriously physically or mentally, (b) creating conditions that will result in physical destruction partially or completely, (c) using strategies to prevent birth within the population, or (d) force children to be members of another population (United Nations, 1948). This brings into question when sexual violence is used to commit genocide or ethnic cleansing of another group.

Historically, sexual violence has been viewed as an act of genocide versus genocide itself. For example, it has become clear that in particular situations, such in the Bosnian conflict between 1992 and 1995, sexual violence was genocide, though the documentation was needed for validation (Zirpoli, 2019). The aspects of genocide that are apparent include damage to humans physically and psychologically, when the act is intended (a) to destroy a cultural and/or community, (b) involves physical and psychological damage to individuals, (c) is a tool of cultural and community destruction, and (d) pregnancy that is forced to eliminate a pure ethnic background of children. Matusitz (2017) referred to the use of sexual violence in war as "communal terrorism" with a primary intent to destroy communities at variety of levels, i.e. destroy femininity.

Bosnian Conflict n Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzgovina, Bosnian Serbs killed approximately eight thousand Bosnian Muslims. On the face of the killings, it appeared that the intent of genocide was related to the difference between Christianity and Islam, but the sub- intent was actually the Serbian fear of losing power. This fear was based on the increasing size of the Muslim population and the belief on the part of Serbs that Muslims were planning genocide of their population. To the extent that religion was/is patriarchal in countries, religion plays a role.

Numerous experts have noted that there was systematic sexual violence perpetrated against both women and men in the Bosnian conflict (Korac, 2018, Lengel, 2018). In particular, forced impregnation of Muslim women was used as a means of transferring Muslim identity to Serbian identity (United Nations, 1948). One estimate is that Serbian

and Montenegrin soldiers ratped between 20,000 and 40,000 women in a sixth-month period of time (ten Bensel & Sample, 2017).

Despite these acts, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that the acts of sexual violence did not constitute genocide. Relative to this decision and in the context of patriarchal beliefs mandated that the ethnicity is paternal, the children of women who Serbian men raped and impregnated became Serbian without the consent of Muslim women, or in some cases, a person with no official identity. This brings into question how these children, many of whom were adopted, perceive themselves.

Victims and Perpetrators Feminist scholars have begun to revisit the topic of victims and perpetrators in the (Korac, 2018). While women were the majority of victims/survivors of sexual violence in Bosnia, it is important to note that men experienced sexual violence as well. Men were sexually assaulted in the interrogation process as a means of eliminating their political identity and were raped by captors or forced to rape each other. Forcing men as prisoners to rape each other was not atypical in Bosnia. Korac highlighted the finding that in one Serb concentration camp, the estimate is that 4000 of 5000 prisoners were raped either by their captors or forced to rape each other (see also Sivakumaran, 2010).

More important, when men refused to serve in the military and participate in acts of violence, especially toward women, it was necessary for them to seek refuge in other countries within the European Union (EU). The problem was that the EU refused sanctuary to men who would not be conscripted into their military during the Bosnian conflict as a function of recognizing the sovereignty of their countries. In the case of one man who was a reservist forced to either take up no arms and be stigmatized as a coward or to take up arms and commit acts of violence, his choice was to commit suicide by shooting himself (Korac, 1996).

Transitional Justice and Recovery Haider (2018) addressed transitional justice, or the way Balkan countries emerged from conflict to stability after the Dayton Peace Agreement between countires. Although women activists were able to bring attention to the sexual violence in the region while it was occurring, women's activism in the process of transitional justice process after the conflict has been less effective due to the patriarchal norms and gendered roles that still guide the behaviors many countries. For example, not a single woman participated in the peace agreements, women are not fairly represented in the labor force relative to socio-economic outcomes, and they are not active in the political life of the country. Di Lillio (2016) noted that the voices of women who survived sexual violence have been silenced to a large extent, and in this context, Lengler (2018) noted the need to help women find a balance between remembering and forgetting.

In terms of positive aspects of recovery for women, the Women's Court began operations in 2015 (O'Reilly, 2016). The Court is staffed by women with the intent of giving women a voice regarding the violence they have experienced both during and

after the conflict. While the emphasis is on empowering women, O'Reilly noted that the Court has failed to the extent that it has given no recognition to all the activities of women in wartime. For example, several thousand women served in national armies in combat, and as such, they do not perceive themselves to be victims. Golubovic (2019) highlighted that the voices of Serbian women and the shame they too feel from the behavior of Serbian men need to be heard in the wake of transitional justice.

Social Work Response In response to sexual violence as either an act of genocide or genocide itself, social workers in all countries should engage in activism and advocacy on behalf of both women and men who experience sexual violence in warlike situations. Social workers in the United States should ask National Association of Social Workers to take a position on sexual violence in conflict within the context of globalization. At the micro level, it seems that social workers will need to help victims and perpetrators they encounter in the United States and/or abroad find a balance in narratives between remembering and forgetting what has occurred, which will require social workers to have a good understanding of narrative therapy. Social work educators who are interested in expanding international social work specialty should engage students in dialogue about sexual violence as a weapon of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and communal terrorism. This dialogue should include sexual violence against men, as well as against women.

Practice Exercise

Sexual Violence and Genocide

1. Men did not experience sexual violence in the Bosnian conflict. a. True

False

Feedback: The correct response is (b) because men in prison camps were forced to rape each other as a means of eliminating political affiliation.

2. Which of the following are aspects of genocide? a. murdering members of the population,

b. injuring members seriously physically or mentally,

c . creating conditions that will result in physical destruction partially or completely of a country,

D. using strategies to prevent birth within the populations,

E. all of the above

Feedback: The correct response is (e) because all of the four choices may constitute genocide.

3. Which of the following are considered sexual violence? a. forced prostitution b. forced marriage c. forced pregnancy d. All of the above e. Only a and c

Feedback: The answer is (d) because the United Nations defines forced prostitution, marriage, and pregnancy as sexual violence.

4. The Dayton Peace Agreement has served the interests of women very well. a. True

False

Feedback: The correct response is (b) because the voices of many women who experienced sexual violence during the Bosnian conflict have been silenced.

5. Women who experienced sexual violence in the Bosnia and other Balkan countries have received justice within the context of transitional justice in Bosnia and Balkan ountries in general.

a. True

False

Feedback: The correct response if (b) because very few women have been given the avenue to the balance between remembering and forgetting.

6. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that the acts of sexual violence constituted genocide.

a. True

False

Feedback: The correct response is (b) because the ICTY did not find that the acts of sexual violence constituted genocide.

Summary The intent of this lesson was to highlight the importance of sexual violence as an act of genocide or genocide itself. As such, sexual violence and genocide were presented as they related to the Bosnia conflict wherein sexual violence was used to transfer the ethnic identity from one group to another through forced impregnation. The notion of who are victims and perpetrators of sexual violence in the conflict, noting the importance of understanding the shame of those associated with perpetrators. In the process of transitional justice to stability, the voices of victims, especially women who experienced sexual violence seem to have been silenced because stabilization has resulted to an extent in a regression to pre-conflict patriarchal norms and gendered roles in the Bosnia and other Balkan countries.

References Lengel, L. (2018). Mediated memory work and resistant remembering of wartime sexual violence,

1992-1995. Feminist Media Studies, 18(2), 325-328.

Di Lillio, A. (2016). Seeking justice for wartime sexual violence in Kosovo: Voices and silence of women. East Eastern Politics and Societies, 30(3).

Matusitz, J. (2017). Gender communal terrorism or war rape: Ten symbolic reasons. Sexuality & Culture, 21. 830-844.

Golubovic, J. (2019). "One day I will tell my daughter:" Serb women, silence, and the politics of victimhood in Sarajevo. Anthropological Quarterly, 92(4),1173-1199.

Haider, H. (2017). Gender and conflict in the western Balkans. K4D Helpdesk Report. Institute of Development Studies.

Korac, M. (2018). Feminists against sexual violence in war: The question of perpetrators and victims revisited. Social Science, 7(10), 182.

O'Reilly, M. (2016). Peace and justice through a feminist lens: Gender justice and the Women's Court for the Former Yugoslavia. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 10(3), 419- 445.

Sivakumaran, S. (2010). Lost in translation: UN responses to sexual violence against men and boys in situations of armed conflict. International Review of the Red Cross, 92, 259-77.

ten Bensel, T., & Sample, L. (2017). Collective sexual violence in Bosnia and Sierra Leone: A comparative case study analysis. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(10), 1075-1098.

United Nations Security Council. (2018). Report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence. United Nations.

UN General Assembly. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. United Nations.

Zirpoli, P. (2019). Establishing the men's rea of genocide within sub-intentions: A study of systematic sexual violence Myramar and Bosnia. Senior Thesis.23.