Sexualized War Violence: Subversive Victimization and Ignored Perpetrators

This chapter analyzes sexualized war violence in the former Yugoslavia. The author analyzes the challenges which sexualized war violence causes for the masculine identities of perpetrators as well as victims. Through her analysis of court transcripts from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the author argues that sexualized war violence directed at men is a means of emasculating the victim and confirming the masculine identity of the perpetrator. Thus, by viewing the actions of the perpetrators as expressions of what the author terms a "militarized masculinity," sexualized war violence can be seen as "merely" the extreme expression of a competitive and obedient masculine performance fostered through military training.