Rape as a Weapon of War

Graham Bailey* argues that rape and sexual abuse are often used to break down activists, their families and their communities

In the struggle for freedom, dignity, emancipation, and enfranchisement in South Africa, activists were up against a brutal regime. The extent and effects of that brutality will never be completely known. Though much of the repression and many of the methods have been researched and publicised, the use of rape and sexual abuse in repressive contexts including war, have not been adequately discussed. The primary targets of repression in a war situation are usually the leaders, political dissidents, activists, and their organisations. However the secondary targets are often the women and families of the leaders, activists and their communities. Rape and sexual abuse is often used to break down activists, their families and their communities.

The purpose of torture is to destroy the personality, the identity and the humanity of the activist.

This is done by dehumanising the person. There is a larger picture here too. By damaging activists through the use of torture, the community is also damaged. The ability of the community to support and nurture the activist is limited and resistance is damaged.

Different forms of torture

There are many forms of torture including, beatings with hands, fists, boots, and instruments of various kinds. Mock drowning, mock executions, suffocation and electric shock treatment constitute other widely used forms of torture. The job of the torturer is to find that weakness and exploit it to get whatever it is that they need from the victim. Often animals and insects are used to terrorise victims, playing on people’s weaknesses and phobias. Solitary confinement is feared by many as the worst form of torture, and its primary objective is to break down the detainee, both psychologically and physically. After may years many detainees who were held in solitary for extended periods claim that they have still not recovered. The effects of long-term sensory deprivation are unpredictable. That, coupled with the rape / repeated rape of a detainee, it is psychological Hell.

The most severe effect of torture is death, and this affects not only the person killed but also the immediate family and friends. The psychological damage done to a parent, wife, or husband of someone who dies under torture is profound. So damaging that it has caused the deaths by suicide of those close to the victim of torture. People who

have been tortured usually bear the scars – physical and mental – for life. The mental scars are usually the hardest to heal. Threats like “We will get your mother / father / sister / brother /daughter …” usually places the detainee in the position of being responsible for the torture or death of another, often a loved one. This is often an intolerable burden.

Victims often suffer from PTSS/ PSSD (post traumatic stress syndrome / post traumatic stress disorder) for a many years and some for the rest of their lives. The effects of torture are borne by the victim, but often the families and loved ones of the victim are traumatised too, and need counselling. Relationships and marriages, and the children of these, are often also damaged.

The migrant labour system and the pass laws, notorious for their brutal effects on women and children, and the destruction of family life are also forms of torture, not often recognised as such. The destruction of normal relations between husband, wife and family is a form of torture.

Women and Rape

During the mid 1980’s the women from the East Rand communities were being targeted for abduction into the hostels, for use as hostages and sex slaves. This was a brutal feature of the internal war between the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The intention here (apart from the obvious use of women for sex), was to provoke feelings of inadequacy and humiliation on many different levels. This was to show that opposing men could not protect their women, and thereby undermine their strength physically, and psycho-socially their potency. The psychological torture that results from a loved one ‘missing’, or in the hands of a brutal enemy knows no bounds.

The knowledge that a mother, sister, child or wife could be raped and/or gang raped is hard for anyone to deal with, and the psychological effects are myriad. It is also torture to be forced to watch the rape of a loved one or family member.

This results in the loss of confidence and depression. In addition, by humiliating women, men are humiliated too. One should point out here that humiliation and torture by rape is not only used on women. It is used very successfully on men too. Men who are raped are in some cultures thought of as women. In many males the damage to their ego and self-esteem is often very serious. This is how torture neutralises activists politically.

Cultural Norms used to break down resistance

In many cultures virginity is prized. A woman who is raped or sexually abused is degraded and often shamed in the community in which she lives in, and can lose her marriage prospects. Similarly, wives, lovers and husbands returning to their partners are often unable to reveal to them what happened, due to their shame. This places an added psychological burden and torment on the people involved, as the after-recovery of torture is in many cases aided greatly by being able to talk about the experience suffered.

An “extended benefit” for the torturers is that long after being released from incarceration, the detainee, whether female or male has to deal with the effects of the sexual torture. In many cases the effects of the torture/sexual abuse experiences severely damages marriages/relationships. At times this manifests itself in people’s fear of sex, lack of interest or inability to participate or “perform” sexually. Clearly the damage is not just to the activist but also to the whole family structure.

Torture has been used deliberately as a military tactic or tool to achieve the goals of their perpetrators. The South American countries of Argentina, Paraguay and Chile are well known examples, infamous for their use of torture.

Nearer to home, the “Selous Scouts”of Ian Smith’s Government in (Rhodesia) Zimbabwe, the Portuguese surrogates Renamo in Mozambique, raised the use of torture to new heights during the liberation struggle in those countries. In South Africa the ‘security police’ learned many of their torture methods from expatriate “Rhodesians” from Smiths security services, who contracted their expertise to Vorster, Botha and De Klerk’s governments and put their talents to infamous use.

Rape as a weapon, against ethnic minorities in Burma

Recently we have seen the use of rape against women in conflicts in Serbia and Bosnia, in Eastern Europe. The rape of women is currently used by the military in Burma as a means of ethnic cleansing of minorities. This situation is contained in a report, ‘Licence to Rape’ based on the Burmese military’s use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan state, in Burma. The report was compiled by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network and details the systematic and widespread use of rape by the Burmese military against civilians. The report notes that due to the stigma attached to rape, most women do not report it. The report details 52 battalians as being involved in the rape of civilians. This is compelling evidence that rape is an accepted practice throughout the ranks of the Burmese army. In fact, 83% of the rapes detailed were carried out by officers.

* Graham Bailey is a human rights activist in the Free Burma Campaign in SA. For more information on the campaign email:burmamtk@iafrica.com or phone T.Win @ 011-8821421 or 0823673188