Sexual Violence against Men in Armed Conflicts : Destroying Individuality and Communities through the Annihilation of the Concept of Masculinity

Temps de lecture : 6 minutes

Sexual Violence against Men in Armed Conflicts : Destroying Individuality and Communities through the Annihilation of the Concept of Masculinity

02.06.2020
Justine Lefeuve
Key words: sexual violence, armed conflict, masculinity, gender
Since “modern torture now nearly always encompasses a sexual attack^[1]O’Connell, “Gambling with the Psyche: Does Prosecuting Human Rights Violators Console Their Victims?”, 2005, in Harvard Journal of International Law, Volume 46, Number 295, p. 312.”, especially during wartime, post-conflict societies need to confront all types of sexual violence in order to achieve a successful process of transitional justice and national reconciliation, enabling victims to recover^[2]Manivannan, “Seeking Justice for Male Victims of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict”, 2014, in New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Volume 46, p. 636.. There is a growing recognition on the international scene that men and boys can also be subject to sexual violence. However, this has not yet been translated into practical efforts to raise awareness, prevent and deal with such a problem, whether at a political or legal level^[3]Sivakumaran, “Lost in Translation: UN Responses to Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in situations of Armed Conflict”, 2010, in the International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 92, Number … Continue reading. Besides obvious considerations of humanity, it is of paramount importance to address more the topic of male sexual violence in armed conflicts for a number of reasons.
What does the Notion of Sexual Violence against Men Encompass?
In order to address the problem of male sexual violence, it is first necessary to examine what exactly is meant by that term. International law does not provide a globally accepted definition of sexual violence, but according to the UN Special Rapporteur on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict, sexual violence can be defined as “any violence, physical or psychological, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality^[4]McDougall, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of slavery: systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict, Final Report, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/13, para. 21.”.
Therefore, sexual violence against men entails all different kind of abuses and mistreatments. Rape is probably what first comes in mind, but one should not omit enforced sterilization, such as castration and sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual ill-treatments – which can include enforced masturbation and enforced nudity for instance^[5]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 266.. This article will not go into too many details on the nature of the sexual crimes committed against men, but it needs to be borne in mind that human beings can be very imaginative when it comes to inflicting sexual pain to others – as the atrocities committed during the conflicts in e.g. the former Yugoslavia, DRC, Sri Lanka and Kosovo have revealed.
Male Sexual Violence in Warfare : The Difficulties to Render Justice linked to the Concept of Masculinity
There is evidence that sexual violence against men is a recurrent feature of armed conflicts in which sexual crimes are committed^[6]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 255.. Such type of violence against men is usually more frequent than we think because survivors are often reluctant to talk about it, due to fear, confusion and the social stigma attached to it. Indeed, in numerous societies, there is an inherent incompatibility between the concept of masculinity and victimization : the patriarchal system makes one believe that a man cannot possibly be a victim – otherwise, he is not truly a man^[7]Stanko and Hobdell, “Assault on Men: Masculinity and Male Victimization”, 1993, in British Journal of Criminology, Volume 33, p. 403.. If they decide to open up, male victims can also suffer from under-recognition and scepticism^[8]Manivannan, “Seeking Justice for Male Victims of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict”, 2014, in New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Volume 46, p. 652.. In case they are unable to prove that they were raped, they could also be prosecuted if the domestic legislation of their country prohibits homosexuality^[9]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 256.. Moreover, if a trial finally takes place to judge those crimes, the perpetrators are generally under-punished – if punished at all –, which only feeds impunity and the vicious circle of under-reporting of male sexual violence^[10]Manivannan, “Seeking Justice for Male Victims of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict”, 2014, in New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Volume 46, p. 657.
Sexual Violence against Men as a Tool to Destroy the Individual in Warfare
Rape and other forms of sexual violence are obviously not about lust and sexual desire; those acts are committed out of hunger for power and domination^[11]Wencelblat, “Boys Will Be Boys – An Analysis of Male-on-Male Heterosexual Sexual Violence”, 2004, in Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, Volume 38, Number 1, p. 62.. In wartime, this power dynamic is even more exacerbated since armed conflicts usually disrupt the status quo and the traditional political and social order.
Furthermore, this craving for domination is present and applies to all types of sexual violence, irrespective of the victim’s gender. However, what is particularly striking when it comes to this kind of acts directed towards men is that it is often used to destroy the individual’s masculine status by “feminizing” and/or “homosexualising” them^[12]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 270–273.. Indeed, in societies where men are still considered as the epitome of power and might, subjecting them to violence amounts to rendering them unfit to protect their household and communities because they were apparently unable to protect themselves from such acts. The victim is thus frequently stigmatised after having been abused because he is perceived as weak and tainted. Sexual violence in armed conflict can be an atrociously useful tool to discredit and destroy the individual and to make him less of a man in the eyes of his close ones; in sum the victim is stripped of his masculinity since the sexual crime has emasculated him – whether literally, i.e. physically, or socially.
Sexual Violence against Men during Armed Conflicts as a Way to Destroy a Specific Group
Male sexual violence does not only make the victim disempowered and ostracised, but also can lead to the disempowerment and even, in some situations, to the destruction of the group the victim belongs to. In wartime, it is not rare for sexual violence to be committed publicly, in front of the victim’s relatives and friends, which adds humiliation and shame, but is also a way to spread dread and vulnerability through the entire community^[13]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 268..
Moreover, sexual violence affects directly men’s reproductive capacities. While castration renders them infertile at a biological level, other sexual ill-treatments can lead to psychological trauma impeding them from wanting sexual intimacy^[14]Bradford Di Caro, “Call it What it is: Genocide Through Male Rape and Sexual Violence in the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda”, 2019, in Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, Volume 30, … Continue reading. Emasculating the men of a certain community is a symbolic way to destroy the group that is being targeted^[15]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 274.. As Jones put it: “sexual humiliation of a man from another ethnicity is, thus, a proof not only that he is a lesser man, but also that his ethnicity is a lesser ethnicity^[16]Jones, “Straight as a Rule: Heteronormativity, Gendercide, and the Noncombatant Male”, 2006, in Men and Masculinities, Volume 8, Issue 4, p. 460.”. It also tends to reinforce group cohesion among perpetrators as well as their masculine status.
There are historical examples of rape being utilized as part of an ethnic cleansing strategy, in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia inter alia. Some commentators even qualify those systematic use of sexual violence as “genocidal rape” since such widespread sexual violence can prevent the group from being able to procreate, either physically or because of mental harm and social exclusion^[17]Bradford Di Caro, “Call it What it is: Genocide Through Male Rape and Sexual Violence in the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda”, 2019, in Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, Volume 30..
The Need to Rethink the Notions of Victim and Perpetrator
As it has been shown, male sexual violence in armed conflicts remains a question which is not addressed enough. If the international community were to change its traditional stance on sexual crimes, with women being the victims and men being the perpetrators, it would actually be very beneficial to everyone^[18]Sivakumara, “Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict”, 2007, in the European Journal of International Law, Volume 18, Number 2, p. 275.. Indeed, recognising that those roles are not intrinsically rooted in one’s gender could nuance gender stereotypes and erode toxic masculinity – which is problematic in many respects, but even more so when it comes to sexual violence since it tends to silence male victims.
Pour citer cet article : Justine Lefeuve, ” Sexual Violence against Men in Armed Conflicts : Destroying Individuality and Communities through the Annihilation of the Concept of Masculinity”, 02.06.2020, Institut du Genre en Géopolitique.