Rape as a Weapon of War - Article Example

Raphael Ng Rape as a weapon of war - The long-term effects and consequences of rape on women Rape has been used as a weapon of war; used in wars throughout history and, recently, in many countries, such as Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur (Sudan), it is a global issue. Estimates printed by the UNOCHA show that it is a phenomenon that is still ever present; whether it was the rape of around 50,000 women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or of 500,000 of women in Rwanda in the early 1990s, or more than 60,000 women being sexually attacked in Sierra Leone, or even the average 40 women that get raped in South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo every day, rape is an ever present war phenomenon. (The citation is placed at the end) Rape was also used as a consequence to war in certain Western European countries, such as Germany, as recent as the middle of the twentieth century. At the end of the Second World War, the Women in Berlin showed their ability to overcome the nightmare and managed to live through their horrendous experiences. There are many consequences of rape beyond the actual physical violation it constitutes, which have both immediate and long-term effects on women. After Nazi Germany’s surrender in World War Two, the Russian army advanced into Berlin. Most men in the Russian front line had not been with women for years, and under the effects of alcohol, the crime and rape rates sky rocketed. At the time the Russian soldiers had two favorite topics to discuss: to talk about the watches they had acquired, and the women they had slept with. In the book “Women in Berlin” another side of history was revealed from a victim’s perspective. Sexual violation of women does not only cause physical pain, but also mental agony. The mental pain is usually long-term and has an impact on her future life, in aspects like their future relation with men, and recognition, and acceptance, of reality. The anonymous author in “Women in Berlin” first described rape as raw pain, flourishing from inside out. “I was miserable, sore, barely dragging my self around”1. She experienced rape, which not only gave her physical aches but also led her to depression. This is extremely significant in the development of the story, because it affected the author’s emotions and perception; hence, she gave it a lot of thought and dedicated herself to saving other innocent girls from the barbarity. This change in perception also led her to become more determined. She began to work on the Russian language in order to be able to translate and deal with certain people, so that she could help the other innocents and sacrifice herself and her time for the benefits of others. Although the long-term mental pain evolved a positive change in the author, it could also have a completely different effect on others, causing them to move towards a path of self destruction and complete devastation. “She’d been raped repeatedly and attempted to poison her self”2, the author wrote about a girl who could not cope with being raped and chose to give up. This shows that though the mental anguish caused by rape can be overcome, it mostly depends on the person’s character. Some rape victims discover the value of life after the experience and transform their sorrow into motivation to make the best of what they have and live on, whereas some people end up isolating themselves from the world and giving up. The author of this book appears to be a strong and intelligent character. The shock consequential to rape is immense; someone who can not overcome it often remains in it for a long period of time. This shock is enhanced when it is coupled by the trauma of warfare. As mentioned in the autobiography “One thing is for sure: If this was the peaceful time and a girl had been raped by some vagrant…the girl would have reacted differently, would have suffered a different kind of shock”3. In one of the chapters, when various men raped a girl, her mind was full of blankness and she lost a sense of reality and doubted her value of existence. “Elvira started talking on her own, although we could barely understand, her lips were so swollen”4. The worst consequence of rape is that it can detach the victim from reality and as a result some of them withdraw and give up on their life. Another factor of withdrawing from reality results due to the excessive amount of pain and violence. “For three heartbeats her body became one with the unfamiliar body on top of her…Suddenly she felt, with uncanny precision, a different hand burrowing into her hair, the hand of her lover, perhaps long dead. She felt something swelling, churning, erupting inside her. Tears came streaming out of her eyes”5. During this stage the girl went out of her mind; she thought of her boyfriend, which in turn made her feel disgraced and devastated her. The physical violation inherent in rape also impacts the victim’s future relationships with men. This is especially true for those victims who lose their virginity in a rape. The author of the book believes sex is something to enjoy passionately with one’s lover, and having to lose one’s virginity to a barbaric animal would cause a long-term impact on the victim’s sexual life and relationship with men. Such events brand painful memories deep into the victim’s mind and can deprive her of feeling love. “She’s brimming with gall and hate: Life is filthy and all men are swine”6. In this case the rape caused the victim to develop hateful resistance to and fear of all men, and permanently affected her way of life. These girls can no longer enjoy and encounter the passion from love as anyone else would. “Whoever begins with the last phase, and in such a wicked way, could no longer quiver with the excitement at the very first touch”7. In this case rape has a permanent effect on the victim’s future relationships with men. Overall there are various factors of rape in wars, which have a long-term impact on the victims. Due to their devastating encounters, these girls can not experience love as any other girl would, nor can they fit back into the society and have a normal relationship with men. The physical aspects of rape are manifold, and in some cases women are deprived of much more than just their emotional well-being. This is exacerbated in some cases when the victims become pregnant after a rape; however, that is not a topic of discussion for now. It is clear that there is an inherent evil in warfare for men to cross the boundary of humanity into barbarism. This devastation need not occur and efforts should be made to make wars, already devastating, as humane as possible. Works Cited United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict: A Framework for Prevention and Response.” OCHA. United Nations, n.d. Web. 2 March 2010. < http://ochaonline.un.org/News/InFocus/SexualandGenderBasedViolence/AFrameworkforPreventionandResponse/tabid/4751/language/en-US/Default.aspx> Read More