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RAPE IN WARS: ANALYTICAL APPROACHES
An extended version of this article was published in German in Alexandra Stigimayer (ed.), "Massenvergewaltigung. Krieg gegen die Frauen," Freiburg, 1993
In 1992 camps were established in the area of the former Yugoslavia, i.e. in the middle of Europe, for the single purpose of committing rape and sexual torture. Thus, violence against women has reached a stage many had not considered possible almost 50 years after the end of World War II. According to an investigation committee of the European Community the mass rapes and sadistic tortures of women in Bosnia-Herzegovina must be considered to be a systematic and ordered action. Also, the testimony of eye witnesses prove that rape must be considered an important element of the Serbian military strategy. Not taking into consideration the undiscovered cases, the number of raped and sexually tortured women at present is said to be 60,000 and rising (Frankfurter Rundschau March 3rd 1993).
In the following I shall attempt to open up an analytical perspective on these events. First, the question of the purpose of rape in general will be posed. Second, five explanations of the function of rape in war will be developed. Finally, some light will be thrown on the logic of silence that is characteristic of war crimes against women to this day.
I. The Function of Rape
When trying to find out the reasons for rape, one comes upon a host of myths and ideologies. The most popular and probably most effective myth is that rape has something to do with an irrepressible male sexual drive which, if not restrained, will regrettably but inevitably have its way. In actual fact there are good reasons to assume that rape has little to do with nature or with sexuality. Rather, it is an extreme act of violence perpetrated by sexual means. This is illustrated by numerous studies on rape conducted mainly in the United States, but recently also in German-speaking countries (e.g. Heinrichs, 1986; Feldmann, 1992). These studies show that rape is not primarily a sexually motivated act, but an act of aggression. In other words: Rape is not an aggressive expression of sexuality, but a sexual expression of aggression. In the perpetrator's psyche, it does not fulfill sexual functions, but...