The author of this blog is Ritika Sharma. She is the Founder of the blog, HUMAN.DROITS, and is also an LL.M. Graduate from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She can be reached at ritika4523@gmail.com.
Silhouette of person on window
Introduction
"If I could prevent the sun from setting, I would, because whenever night fell, they would start raping us." said Narcisa Claveria in an interview with NPR. She was one of the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. They were regarded as "comfort women". These women were brutally assaulted by the military, and mental and physical pain still haunts them.
Wars grievously impact the common people for their lifetime. They are deprived of shelter and food, and their human rights are grossly violated. However, for women, the fear of sexual violence doubles their struggles. During armed conflicts, apart from going through the grave challenges of saving one's life, women have an extra burden to save themselves from sexual assaults. The shocking fact is that even the men of their own country take advantage of the war by committing sexual crimes against women.
Keeping in mind that the violence and atrocities during international and non-international armed conflicts are still uncontrollable, it is pertinent to address the issue of violence against women in war zones. Therefore, in this blog, I will talk about the reasons behind such violence and the historical instances of sexual violence against women and will continue the discussion in my upcoming blogs.
Why violence against women?
Owing to the emergencies prevailing at the time of conflict, women are subjected to all forms of sexual violence by the people of enemy countries or even by the government security forces. However, the question arises that why even in the 21st century, this form of violence and discrimination against women go largely uncounted or unredressed? The primary reason that makes violence against women so common is the deep-rooted patriarchal notions that glorify the superiority of men over women, thereby giving rise to feelings of aggression and dominance over women. This, together with the disruption of justice mechanisms at the time of armed conflicts, make women vulnerable at the hands of the security forces.
History of sexual violence against women
- "Comfort women" during World War II
As already discussed, "comfort women" was a term used for a group of young girls and women who were kept to provide 'sexual services' to the military personnel of Japan during World War II. The term seems to denote 'prostitution services', however, the elements like 'force' and 'detention' validly reflect that it was rather 'rape' and 'slavery' and that the term "comfort women" was euphemistically used. "Comfort women" included women from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Dutch, and Indonesia. There were comfort centres such as 'Red House' or 'Belo Mansion' where lakhs of women were enslaved and raped and beaten to death. And the redress? Asian Women's Fund was created by Tokyo in the year 1995 to pay compensation to the victims of this sexual slavery. However, the Fund is in no way similar to the relief granted by the government machinery, but it is made of donations from private parties. The voices for reparation also triggered chilly relations between Japan and South Korea, as the latter asked for compensation for its women citizens who were subjected to sexual assault and were forced into the role of "comfort women" for the Japanese army.
- The Holocaust
During the Holocaust, sterlisation, forced abortion, sexual abuse and rape were common. A gynaecologist named Gisella Perl talked about her horrifying experience during the holocaust and recalled, "On dark nights when everyone else was sleeping in dark corners of the camp, in the toilet, on the floor, without a drop of water, I delivered their babies" (Source: here).
Women were sexually assaulted for being disobedient or they had to 'voluntarily' submit themselves in order to save themselves and their families. It was like a norm then, in the absence of any morality or application of laws.
- Liberation War in Bangladesh
Between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women were raped during the nine-month war in 1971 (Source: here). This was one of the weapons of terror adopted during the war. Several times, the women and young girls were raped in front of their family members to inflict feelings of shame and terror. It was a war between the leaders and between the countries, but the price was paid by the women, which included both Hindu and Muslim women. They still seek justice, reparation and restitution.
- Darfur War
This is another story where rape was used as a weapon of war. In 2003, the civilians of Darfur were attacked, which included several incidents of women being raped and sexually assaulted. The saddening part of sexual violence is that many victims have been disowned by their own families or husband after having suffered the crimes such as rape at the hands of enemies. In an interview with Silaya by Amnesty International, she told, "Five to six men would rape us in rounds, one after the other for hours during six days, every night. My husband could not forgive me after this, he disowned me". The women whose legs and arms were broken during assaults were either killed or left on roads for dying.
- Syrian Civil War
Syrian war has been going on for almost 12 years now and the number of refugees and internally displaced people has tremendously risen. According to UN Reports, sexual violence is prevalent amongst IDPs and in refugee camps and checkpoints. The prolongation of the armed conflict has grappled the nation and is leading to more severe social impacts such as early marriages of girls to provide some form of physical security.
- Ukraine-Russia armed conflict
Sexual violence against women is not just an instance of the past, as the current Ukraine-Russia conflict highlights the forms of sexual violence against women. According to Hrystyna Kit, Ukrainian women right’s advocate (Source: UN Women), "Rape—usually gang rape—sexual torture, forced nudity […] and other forms of abuse have been documented by journalists, human rights organizations and law enforcement agencies.” OHCHR has reported 86 cases of conflict-related sexual violence between February 2022 and October 2022. It simply reflects that gender-based violence has become a common practice in conflict zones.
Final Thoughts
"On how bitter our lives have been
When they released us,
there's nowhere to go.
There's nothing to eat or nothing to wear."
This is a song written by the "comfort women" and described their condition in the 1940s, the scars of which are still fresh for many.
Distinctly, from the tragedy of "comfort women" to the current Ukraine-Russia Conflict, the story hasn't changed much, the conflicts inflict similar wounds, with little to no redressal mechanisms. Human rights were always violated, the difference is that earlier these rights were not codified, but now there is a prima facie breach of these rights, which I'll be discussing in my next blog.
Far worse is the fact that the discussion around sexual violence during these historical wars started quite late. We talked about religion, ethnic cleansing, and politics, but sexual violence emerged as a topic for discussion quite late. For example, it was in the 1970s that sexual atrocities against women during the holocaust were brought into the limelight. Also, the debate around the payment of compensation to the Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military is still going on, even after about 7 decades of sexual violence. The reasons? Apart from 'shame and silence' around these topics, the politics and the subject of genocide dominated and shadowed this issue.
How much compensation could be adequate for the trauma that women undergo in war zones? In my view, nothing could match the dispensation of justice via fair and speedy justice mechanisms and the adoption of strict principles that could prevent these atrocities in future.
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