Security, peace and development: Unpacking discursive constructions of wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria

The ‘rape-as-a-weapon’ of war narrative has been particularly influential in the securitization of sexual violence. Drawing upon ideas about the fetishization of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) (Meger 2016a, 2016b), this article unpacks the language used within this security paradigm. Using an original case study, discourse analysis is used to unpack how policymakers, activists and the news media construct a ‘truth’ about rape and sexual violence committed in Syria. It is argued that the international political economy of this conflict is being obscured by a biopolitical security agenda that prioritizes CRSV. The foreign policy implications of this security narrative are reviewed within the broader context of International Peace and Development. Using secondary data analysis, this study examines how gendered dimensions of the Syrian conflict interact with global economic and local state/military practices to (1) reinforce existing patterns of violence against women and girls and (2), expose them to new forms of Gender-based Violence. Analyzing concepts such as ‘rape-as-a-weapon of war’ and terms such as ‘widespread’ and ‘systematic’, findings suggest that the selective focus on wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria, particularly by extremist groups, precludes an understanding of the complexities of conflict violence and impedes efforts to eliminate it

Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict

Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies, Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict delves into visual as well as text-based materials to unpack gender-based violence(s) perpetrated and experienced by both genders within and beyond the conflict zone. Considering examples of old and new wars ranging from the Holocaust, the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh; and the armed conflicts in the DRC, Iraq, Syria and Darfur, this book uncovers sexualised, genocidal and reproductive violence against both genders. Crucially, the author showcases examples of male victimisation, and thus redresses gaps within the literature. In particular, as part of an original gendered analysis of the war on terror, Banwell unpacks women’s involvement in sexual violence against male prisoners at Abu Ghraib. By going beyond instances of interpersonal violence, and looking additionally at structural forms of gender-based violence, state violence, institutional violence and climate variability, this book broadens our understanding of both the causes and consequences of modern conflicts. Through her critique of gender essentialism, the author challenges gendered notions of who ‘is dangerous’ and who is ‘in danger’ during war/armed conflict. Eclectic in its approach, and multi-disciplinary in scope, Banwell’s text is illuminating reading for academics, students and professionals working with war-affected populations

Karla Homolka: victim or agent? Women, violence and gray zones

This paper is based upon the case of Karla Homolka. Karla's case is problematic. Karla was both a victim and a perpetrator of sexual violence. Despite her seemingly active participation in sexual violence, her agency and her legal culpability remain contested issues. Many have attempted to answer the overarching question: was she a coerced/compliant victim or a culpable perpetrator? This paper will attempt to resolve the tension between her non-agency and her legal responsibility by drawing upon Primo Levi's (1988) concept of 'gray zones'

Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict

Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies, Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict delves into visual as well as text-based materials to unpack gender-based violence(s) perpetrated and experienced by both genders within and beyond the conflict zone. Considering examples of old and new wars ranging from the Holocaust, the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh; and the armed conflicts in the DRC, Iraq, Syria and Darfur, this book uncovers sexualised, genocidal and reproductive violence against both genders. Crucially, the author showcases examples of male victimisation, and thus redresses gaps within the literature. In particular, as part of an original gendered analysis of the war on terror, Banwell unpacks women’s involvement in sexual violence against male prisoners at Abu Ghraib. By going beyond instances of interpersonal violence, and looking additionally at structural forms of gender-based violence, state violence, institutional violence and climate variability, this book broadens our understanding of both the causes and consequences of modern conflicts. Through her critique of gender essentialism, the author challenges gendered notions of who ‘is dangerous’ and who is ‘in danger’ during war/armed conflict. Eclectic in its approach, and multi-disciplinary in scope, Banwell’s text is illuminating reading for academics, students and professionals working with war-affected populations

Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict: More Dangerous to be a Woman?

Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies, Gender and the Violence(s) of War and Armed Conflict delves into visual as well as text-based materials to unpack gender-based violence(s) perpetrated and experienced by both sexes within and beyond the conflict zone. Considering examples of ‘old’ and ‘new’ wars ranging from the Holocaust, the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh; and the armed conflicts in the DRC, Iraq, Syria and Darfur, this book uncovers sexualized, genocidal and reproductive violence against both sexes. Crucially, the author showcases examples of male victimization, and thus redresses gaps within the literature. In particular, as part of a broader and original gendered analysis of the ‘war on terror,’ Banwell unpacks women’s involvement in sexual violence against male prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The book makes an innovative contribution to the literature by going beyond instances of interpersonal violence, looking additionally at structural forms of gender-based violence, state violence and institutional violence. Broadening our understanding of both the causes and consequences of modern conflicts, Banwell also traces the relationship between climate variability, extreme weather events and gender-based violence(s). Through her critique of gender essentialism, she challenges gendered notions of who ‘is dangerous’ and who is ‘in danger’ during armed conflict. Eclectic in its approach, and multi-disciplinary in scope, Banwell’s text is illuminating reading for academics, students and professionals working with war-affected populations

Land of the Fur’: using complex systems science to unpack the relationship between climate change, racialized, gendered and ethnopolitical violence during the genocide in Darfur

This article explores the relationship between climate change and racial genocide. Drawing on Complex Systems Science it provides an original analysis of the 2003-2005 conflict in Darfur. It connects the genocidal and reproductive violence(s) committed against black African Darfuri males to environmental, gendered and racial institutional and interpersonal causal factors. Genocidal violence included rape and sex-selective killing, while reproductive violence involved acts of genital harm. I argue that in order to understand the nature and the causes of the genocide in Darfur one must connect phenomena in the natural/physical world - the earth’s climate system - with phenomena located in the social world: gender roles, gendered hierarchies and political institutions. Droughts are caused by severe rainfall shortages. They are extreme weather events caused by climate variability. This analysis reviews the cascade effect of the drought in Darfur, specifically in relation to the racialized, gendered and ethnopolitical violence(s) that followed

Green criminology, biopolitical violence and the war against nonhuman animals

This article explores the relationship between climate change and racial genocide. Drawing on Complex Systems Science it provides an original analysis of the 2003-2005 conflict in Darfur. It connects the genocidal and reproductive violence(s) committed against black African Darfuri males to environmental, gendered and racial institutional and interpersonal causal factors. Genocidal violence included rape and sex-selective killing, while reproductive violence involved acts of genital harm. I argue that in order to understand the nature and the causes of the genocide in Darfur one must connect phenomena in the natural/physical world - the earth’s climate system - with phenomena located in the social world: gender roles, gendered hierarchies and political institutions. Droughts are caused by severe rainfall shortages. They are extreme weather events caused by climate variability. This analysis reviews the cascade effect of the drought in Darfur, specifically in relation to the racialized, gendered and ethnopolitical violence(s) that followed

Women, rape and warfare: a gendered critique of Just War theory and the Immunity principle

The just war tradition is based on two principles: jus ad bellum - just war-making, and jus in bello - just war-fighting. Jus in bello contains the non-combatant immunity principle. This “protects” civilians during war giving them “immunity” from the violence of war-fighting. Women are, for the most part, non-combatants. Still, their experiences during war are far from “protected”. Rape has been a feature of both traditional and civil warfare. The just war tradition is fundamentally ill-equipped to confront the lived experience of rape and sexual violence in the former and does not apply in the latter. Following the widespread use of rape in the conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the raping of women in combat and occupation zones is now considered a human rights violation and treated as a crime against humanity. Yet, despite developments in international law and policy making on sexual violence in armed conflict, rape continues to be used as a weapon of war. This paper will consider the experiences of women who are raped during war and civil conflicts. It will demonstrate that the immunity principle does not protect women from the realities of war or other armed conflict. This paper will consider strategies of prevention and protection for women

Which bodies matter? A review of sexual, coerced and reproductive violence committed against nonhuman animals

This paper reviews crimes committed against nonhuman animals within the dairy industry. It argues that sexualized, coerced and reproductive violence is committed against female dairy cows when they are forcibly impregnated through artificial insemination. Reproductive violence is violence that violates a persons’ reproductive autonomy or violence that is directed against an individual due to their reproductive capabilities (Grey, 2017). Within the dairy industry female dairy cows are impregnated through invasive methods. ‘Recto-vaginal rape’ (Vandermark, Salisbury and Boley 1951) - the process - and the ‘rape rack’- the device - are the terms used to describe the artificial insemination of cows. Both involve the nonconsensual penetration of the cows’ anus and vagina. Drawing parallels between the sexual objectification and domination of female bodies, and the commodification of nonhuman reproductive systems, this paper seeks to answer the following questions: which bodies matter? And which lives are griveable? (Butler, 2007)

The war against nonhuman animals

Adopting the Clausewitzean (1968) argument that the aim of war is the complete domination of the ‘opponent’, this paper makes the case that we are currently engaged in a species war against nonhuman animals. It argues that during this war War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity are committed against nonhuman animals: rape, forced pregnancy and ‘any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions… or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity.’ Based on a reinterpretation of non-international armed conflict, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross (2008), this paper offers practical and operational guidelines for protecting nonhuman animals from these acts of reproductive violence. Drawing on Article 53 of the Geneva Conventions - The Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) - it argues that nonhuman animals should be treated as noncombatants during war, and that existing protections within International Humanitarian Law should be applied to them as ‘protected persons’ rather than the property of ‘protected persons.’ In sum, this paper advocates granting nonhuman animals legal personhood and replacing the human security framework with personhood security to protect nonhuman animals from the biopolitical violence(s) of industrialized slaughter and industrialized reproduction