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Tag Archives: rape as a weapon
Rape as a Weapon II
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“‘Neighbourhoods and homes were continuously attacked, looted, burned and destroyed,’ especially those where Masalit and other African communities lived, and their people were harassed, assaulted, sexually abused, and at times, executed [1A].”
The United Nations confirms that rape is being used as a weapon against women and girls in the Sudanese civil war [1B][2A].
NGOs describe rape as an everyday occurrence, with both warring parties participating, and numbers estimated as high as 4,400 during this latest conflict [2B]. But civil war has been ongoing in Sudan (in three stages) since 1955, and rape has been employed from the outset [3].
“…systemic rape in homes, detention facilities, public checkpoints, and interrogation centres…committed mainly by members of the police force, intelligence officers, interrogators and prison guards…[including] forced nudity, [punitive] virginity test, and sexual torture [4A].”
This tactic is not new. We have seen it used in Iraq; Rwanda; Syria, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere in the Middle East during the Arab Spring; in India; and most recently against Israel [4B][5][6][7A][8][9]. In Rwanda, between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped during the three months of genocide. Continue reading
Rape as a Weapon
Protester holding sign which reads: “Don’t Kill Us!”
Photo: ROCIO VAZQUEZ/AFP via Getty Image
WARNING: Graphic Images
Rape is being used as a weapon in Mexico against women and girls protesting femicide and other gender violence [1]. Women who dress in black or cover their faces – even as a hygiene measure against COVID-19 infection – are viewed as suspect.
Femicide in Mexico
The World Health Organization defines femicide as the intentional murder of women because they are women.
Nearly 3500 femicides were committed in Mexico in 2019 alone [2]. Approximately 10 women are killed everyday by strangulation, suffocation, stabbing, and drowning. Some 93% of crimes are either not reported or not investigated.
The inaction of Mexico toward this situation has drawn criticism from around the world.
Media Demonization
Women taking part in protests have been demonized by the media. In this way, authorities have undermined the legitimacy of protest. To further assure that women know their place, law enforcement uses violence to punish women who dare to take to the streets.
Human Rights Violations
More than two years after a judgment in the case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Mexico has made little progress in preventing human rights violations against women demonstrators. Continue reading
Filed under Abuse of Power, domestic abuse, domestic violence, Justice, Law, Rape, Violence Against Women
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