Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War?: Perceptions, Prescriptions, Problems in the Congo and Beyond

Too often in conflict situations rape is referred to as a "weapon of war" - a term presented as self-explanatory. In this book, the authors challenge the dominant understandings of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. Reading with and against feminist analyses of the interconnections between gender, warring, violence and militarization, the authors address many of the thorny issues inherent in the arrival of sexual violence on the global security agenda. Drawing upon original fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as research material from other conflict zones, the authors emphasize the importance of context and the multiplicity of factors involved in gender-based violence, such as the nature of civilian-military relations, and ultimately argue that it is misleading to isolate sexual violence from other aspects of conflict.