Forced Marriage and the Absence of Gang Rape: Explaining Sexual Violence by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda

TitleForced Marriage and the Absence of Gang Rape: Explaining Sexual Violence by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsKramer, Sophie
JournalJournal of Politics and Society
Volume23
Issue1
Pagination11-49
Abstract

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), notorious for committing horrific atrocities against civilians in northern Uganda, presents a puzzle. The LRA systematically abducted girls and forcibly married them to the rebel commanders and soldiers. Yet rape outside of these marriages was rare, and gang rape of civilians was noticeably absent from the LRA's repertoire of violence. This paper examines the practices of sexual violence employed by the LRA during its rebellion in northern Uganda and analyzes the functional purpose of its violence. It will pose two questions. First, why did the LRA practice forced marriage? Second, why did the LRA not commit more rape outside of forced marriage than was observed? The author argues that the LRA's patterns of sexual violence result largely from its operating in an environment with few material resources and no popular support with an army composed almost entirely of abducted youth. Forced marriage and the prohibition of extra-marital rape were instrumental to the rebels' success under these circumstances.

URLhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:170109
Entry by GWC Assistants / Work by GWC Assistants : 
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