Rape of women as a weapon of war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rape of women as a weapon of war - Essay Example It has been misinterpreted as a sex act, but for the victim, it is far from being erotic, sensual or pleasurable. It entails more of aggression and fear in the guise of passion. (Rosen para. 8 http://www.counterpunch.org/rosen04042008.html) Rape has been widespread among warring forces throughout Africa, Southern Europe, and parts of Asia. These include conflicts in Darfur, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Peru, Uganda, C d parts of Asiaovina, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, ngo, rnment troops wal troops. During the day, they carry heavy materisyprus, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Peru and Uganda. (Rosen para. 7 http://www.counterpunch.org/rosen04042008.html) Why is rape being used as a weapon? A probable and major reason for this perhaps is because the rapists are trying to undermine or obliterate enemy communities through sexual violence. It is also surmised that rape is a form of genocide. In Bosnia, the Serbian camps are attempting to make it a Serbian state by impregnating Muslim mothers with Serb babies. More than 40,000 Muslim women are estimated to have been raped, and those who were impregnated were forced to bear the child. (Clifford and Ntiricya pg. 1 http://allafrica.com/stories/200712230021.html; Robson para. 9 http://www.newint.org/issue244/rape.htm; Rosen, para. 30 http://www.counterpunch.org/rosen04042008.html) Although the issue has only been brought up recently, the raping of women has been around since the ancient times. In the Old Testament, there are accounts of women being raped and kidnapped by conquering tribes, and they are usually forced to marry their captors to survive. Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman pioneered total war in 1846. He believed that conflict should not only involve recognized combatants but the enemy’s entire society as well, from its natural resources to other aspects of their civilian life. (Rosen, para. 4,