Rape in Warfare, Part II

The paper that I posted on the subject of rape in warfare arose from work I did in a comparative studies course last year (Comparative Studies: War in Literature and Film) . For our final paper we were asked to address any overarching theme that was present in the various works of art, literature, and film that were covered. I immediately latched on to the overarching images of rape that were present. Why rape? It is one of the most uncomfortable topics that one can discuss is most societies and is not often examined in terms of military history. Moreover, the links between genocide and rape are to compelling to ignore. Researching these accounts was not easy work , not because there is not ample evidence of the phenomenon but because of the horror that is contained within them. I went into a deep depression upon realzing how deeply the pairing between war, sex, violence, art, literature, and film had become.

I plan to present several short postscripts to my original paper in order to illuminate some of the current issues surrounding sexual violence on the battlefield and these incidents have affected the recent cultural output. It also must be noted that I do not hold the view that every solder with post traumatic stress disorder is a rapist at heart. While presenting my paper on at the University of Calgary a veteran of the Canadian Forces (with post traumatic stress disorder) took great offense to my linkage of post traumatic stress syndrome with rape in combat. He stated that he was unable to be sexually intimate with a woman because of his condition. I explained that I had come to understand that combat stress effects every soldier differently, and where he had trouble being sexually intimate; some individuals' disorders manifests itself in other ways. In this way it is my hope that any members of the Armed Services that come upon my writings understand that I believe war itself creates the conditions for such inhumanity while not removing culpability for its' individual participants.