This blog has been written by Anushka Kalluri, a student at Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, India. She can be reached at anushka.kalluri07@gmail.com.
Introduction
A chilling film from a war-infested region shows the execution of two bound men before shifting to a ghastly sight of at least seven naked women lying dead. The obscene, sexually charged taunts from their onlookers were incriminating of the ugly reality of sexual violence that took place with these women. Shown by Channel 4 News and subsequently verified as authentic by the United Nations, this footage bears witness to the most gruesome collision of gender, violence, and systematic oppression in conflict: where the bodies of women become battlefields upon which power and control are contested.
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a devastating war from 1983 to 2009 spanning over 26 years, killing an estimated 70,000 people and leaving 100,000 Tamils displaced along with the death of two international leaders among other lasting implications. It fueled human rights violations, sexual violence, mass displacement, and abuse of humanitarian laws. The Sinhalese Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers aka the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) faced off in a series of wars called the Eelam Wars for a separate state for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. 74.9% of the population of Sri Lanka is predominantly Sinhalese and 11.2% are Sri Lankan Tamils both faced historical disputes due to the power dynamics, imperialistic rule, socio-economic changes, discriminatory legislations by the government, physical and geographical divide. Growing frustration among the Tamil people due to the dismantling living conditions led to the demand for a separate Tamil State and the LTTE rose as the sole champion of this cause. A series of riots dubbed the Black July in Colombo in 1983 targeting the Tamils led to the start of the Civil War. Among these atrocities, the effects of intersectionality affecting the nature and targets of Sexual Violence are overlooked by mainstream discourse. Although gender-based violence is often discussed in general terms, understanding its intersectionalities tells us how different social, political, and ethnic factors shaped the experiences of victims in terms of their vulnerability, the processes of the attacks they suffered, and the path to justice that had been available or shut to them. This blog aims to examine and understand intersectionality and its disproportional effects.
SV as a weapon of war
Sexual violence is an act or attempt of a sexual nature against a person regardless of their relationship using coercion, in any setting through forceful penetration, wherein consent does not exist or has been obtained under coercive situations. Sexual violence has been historically treated as a weapon of war and also an inevitable consequence of it. It is used to propagate fear, and inflict psychological, social, and political damage therefore achieving military, ethnic, and ideological objectives and ensuing ethnic cleansing, genocide, demoralisation, militarisation and as a tool of torture. Although men, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other marginalised groups are also victims of SV, the effect on women is highly disproportional and alarming comparatively. The perception of women as a symbol of purity in the community causes this act to disrupt ethnic lineage, erase future generations, and demoralise the population. It humiliates men, weakens the enemy, instills long-term fear, and is a strategic act to dominate, control, and dismantle enemy communities. Moreover, Conflict-related sexual violence (CSRV) is a war crime under International Humanitarian law as per the Customary IHL Rule 156 and the Rome Statute of the ICC. CRSV includes acts of rape, forced pregnancy, and other forms of sexual violence and acts of this kind were reoccurring during this conflict.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality was first coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw. Various identities including ethnicity, gender, and socio-political status layer together the experiences of sexual violence committed during the Sri Lankan civil war. Women from marginalised backgrounds encountered compounded vulnerabilities; each layer of their identity conjoined with another to create subjugation in the form of sexual violence. The intersectionality in the Sri Lankan Civil War was through their Ethnicity, Class, Language, Caste, Political affiliation, Geography, and Religion among others. In utilising such a framework for the Sri Lankan Civil War, this analysis can highlight how identities that may have been characterised along the lines of, for example, Tamil or Sinhalese ethnicity, refugee status, caste, and gender, created differential experiences of sexual violence for women. This insight is important not only in understanding the differential targeting of specific groups but also in explaining how their suffering is often eclipsed in mainstream discussions.
Layers of Sexual Violence in the Sri Lankan Civil War
The violence against women was defined in multiple ways during the Sri Lankan Civil War by a variety of intersecting factors. These layers of identity further constituted women's vulnerability to violence and one of the many considerations in their experience of violence and in matters of justice and support.
Ethnicity
Tamil women, particularly those suspected to be affiliated with the LTTE, were targets of military sexual violence. The Sri Lankan army used rape as a calculated weapon to humiliate the Tamil community on an international scale and demoralise those resisting an independent Tamil state. Women suspected of being LTTE sympathisers were disproportionally targeted along with Sinhalese women. Around 13% of the Sri Lankan population had personally experienced various counts of sexual assault during the war. This prevalence is ten times higher than elicited by direct questioning which is alarming. 53% of Tamils who have affiliation or had family that was associated with the LTTE faced sexual assault.
Class and Caste
Women from impoverished economic backgrounds stand as an especially vulnerable class for sexual violence instances since they have no resources and no social support to protect them. The fact that they lived in poverty and lacked necessities made them easy targets of exploitation, be it from military personnel or local aggressors. In Tamil society, the caste system also played a role in shaping women's experiences. Lower-caste women became victims of war and caste discrimination, which further marginalised them from support mechanisms and justice delivery systems.
Language
Language served to distinguish among ethnic groups during war and Tamil-speaking women were confronted with their own set of challenges. Tamil cultural identity and national political identity during the civil war led to Tamil women becoming the symbols for the separatist cause and were, therefore, subjected to mass rape by the military as a means of establishing control over the Tamil population. Sinhalese women were less prone to be specifically targeted, yet they were also affected by militarisation and all acts of suppression of dissent owing to the conflict.
Geography
Geographic location greatly influenced the use of sexual violence. Women in active combat zones on both sides such as in Jaffna were at a higher risk of facing sexual violence due to military operations. Refugee camps carried out in an overcrowded manner under poor resources became places where women were greatly susceptible to sexual exploitation. On the other hand, women in Colombo under less direct attack by sexual violence were nevertheless subjected to constant military control and surveillance.
Religion
For women within the Tamil Hindu and Muslim communities, religion added to the problems stemming from sexual violence. Expectations of purity and family honour around rape further deepened the stigma. Tamil and Muslim women, whose social status was closely tied to how "pure" they were suffered ostracisation or rejection. Many women were either coerced into silence and Muslim women were subjected to even greater burdens in terms of religious codes that imposed standards regarding modesty and chastity. Sinhalese Buddhist women were also marginalised in the public discourse of this phenomenon as the state's narrative on the violence perpetrated against Sinhalese civilians was oftentimes diluted.
Conclusion
The understanding of the intersectionality of sexual violence lies in the vastly developed dynamics of power, ethnic tension, socio-political formation, and experiences of the victims. The war hit some people through the wars of all classification. Women from marginalised backgrounds faced a multitude of vulnerabilities affecting their exposure to violence, access to justice, and seeking redress. An intersectional framework helps us not only speak of gender-based violence in generic terms but also move towards vocalising how sexual violence became a weapon of war in support of ethnic oppression, militarisation, and social control. Without a better understanding of these identities and their role in defining experience, it is not equitable to pursue justice, accountability, and the framing of inclusive policies for conflict resolution and post-war rehabilitation. Otherwise, the narratives of history and transitional justice mechanisms would fail to tell the story of the utmost suffering and grievous standing structures of inequality suffered by survivors of all forms of violence.
References
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Channel 4 News. (2010, January 7). “Sri Lanka execution video appears authentic.” Channel 4. https://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-execution-video-appears-authentic
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