Sexual violence is one of the most horrific weapons of war, an instrument of terror used against women. Yet huge numbers of men are also victims. In this harrowing report, Will Storr travels to Uganda to meet traumatised survivors, and reveals how male rape is endemic in many of the world's conflicts.
The Observer, Sunday 17 July 2011

Of all the secrets of war, there is one that is so well kept that it exists mostly as a rumour. It is usually denied by the perpetrator and his victim. Governments, aid agencies and human rights defenders at the UN barely acknowledge its possibility. Yet every now and then someone gathers the courage to tell of it. This is just what happened on an ordinary afternoon in the office of a kind and careful counsellor in Kampala, Uganda. For four years Eunice Owiny had been employed by Makerere University's Refugee Law Project (RLP) to help displaced people from all over Africa work through their traumas...

It's not just in East Africa that these stories remain unheard. One of the few academics to have looked into the issue in any detail is Lara Stemple, of the University of California's Health and Human Rights Law Project. Her study Male Rape and Human Rights notes incidents of male sexual violence as a weapon of wartime or political aggression in countries such as Chile, Greece, Croatia, Iran, Kuwait, the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. Twenty-one per cent of Sri Lankan males who were seen at a London torture treatment centre reported sexual abuse while in detention. In El Salvador, 76% of male political prisoners surveyed in the 1980s described at least one incidence of sexual torture. A study of 6,000 concentration-camp inmates in Sarajevo found that 80% of men reported having been raped...

The research by Lara Stemple at the University of California doesn't only show that male sexual violence is a component of wars all over the world, it also suggests that international aid organisations are failing male victims. Her study cites a review of 4,076 NGOs that have addressed wartime sexual violence. Only 3% of them mentioned the experience of men in their literature. "Typically," Stemple says, "as a passing reference."...

"International human rights law leaves out men in nearly all instruments designed to address sexual violence,"...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men

No hiding place: Politically motivated rape of women in Zimbabwe
Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR)
December 09, 2010

Executive Summary

Politically motivated sexual violence against women in Zimbabwe takes many forms. These include extreme violence, gang rape and insertion of objects (bottles and sticks) into the women's genitalia. This report is the first coming out of Zimbabwe focusing particularly on politically motivated rape; the aim of the study was to provide a valid and reliable description of cases of politically motivated rape. Since this was a clinical rather than an epidemiological study, there was no attempt to determine either the prevalence of political rape or to establish how representative the sample was.

The sample was chosen from women members of a voluntary network set up to provide support for female victims of politically motivated rape. A total of 34 women were interviewed, but 7 were excluded from the study as they could not be traced on follow-up for medical examinations and finalizing and signing affidavits. Hence, the data is drawn from a final sample of 27 women.

Rapes were reported as occurring in 2001 [1], 2002 [1], 2003 [1], and 2008 [24]. Hence, most rapes [89%] occurred in 2008, but, of course, there is no suggestion that rape was actually more common in 2008 than in any other year.

There have been many reports about the use of “bases” as places where violations take place, but, for this sample, the rape was just as likely to have taken place at or near the victim's home [15] as at a base [12].

Most [21] were beaten prior to rape, some quite severely.

Over three-quarters [21] were victims of multiple rape, with an average of three rapists per incident. One woman reported a total of 13 perpetrators, and 14 women reported 3 or more perpetrators to their rape. One woman reported 3 separate rape incidences in June 2008 by a total of 13 perpetrators.

A distressingly high number of the rapes [11] took place in public, at or near the victim's home, and witnessed by the victim's family and children.

Ten women reported that their estimate of the number of perpetrators was only certain for a specific number, and that there could have been more than the number they specified as they had fallen unconscious, or had lost count as they seemed to be so many. They could be certain, however, of at least the number of perpetrators that they specified.

Most [23] did not report the rape to the authorities at all.Only 4 reported the rape.

Most of the women did not receive appropriate care for the trauma that they had experienced. Only one of the women reported having received therapeutic care for psychological consequences of the violence following the sexual assault. This is in contrast to the high proportion of study participants displaying symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the presence of some with symptoms suggesting psychotic depression.

Women in the study exhibited high levels of sleeplessness, nightmares, flashbacks, and hopelessness. A third of the women reported these symptoms, which are commonly associated with experiences of trauma. For some, flashbacks are triggered by large gatherings, particularly where political slogans were being chanted while others had recurring nightmares during which they relived the rapes. Traumatic memories may continue for extended periods of time.

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Business Day (Johannesburg) Africa

UNITED Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday lauded the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for classifying rape as a form of genocide.

In his latest report on the scourge to the UN Security Council, Ban said the tribunal in Rwanda recognised sexual violence was a step in the process of group destruction "of the spirit, of the will to live, and of life itself".

Understanding men's health and use of violence: interface of rape and violence in South Africa [executive summary] (June 2009) by Rachel Jewkes, Yandisa Sikweyiya, Robert Morrell, Kristin Dunkle

From Polity SA

From The Guardian:

Raped and killed for being a lesbian: South Africa ignores 'corrective' attacks

Video link to Interviews with SA women victims of "corrective rape"

Sexual Violence in Disasters: A planning guide for prevention and response (PDF; 17.9 MB)
Source: Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault & National Sexual Violence Resource Center

This guide, written by Alisa Klein, offers readers important information about sexual violence and disasters that will help communities to understand the connection and develop better disaster responses. It presents a range of recommendations from suggesting small changes to developing comprehensive plans, making preparations, and coordinating far-reaching policy change. The guide is arranged according to phases of a disaster, and the color-coded phases offer a multitude of things to consider. The ‘Getting Started’ work sheets in the back have been designed to facilitate the process of disaster planning.  

From Docuticker

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched a new website, Stop Rape Now: UN action against sexual violence in conflict. The site provides suggestions for individual action, and links to agencies in the UN system working to end sexual violence.

Permanent Link: Stop Rape Now UN Pulse

UNITE to end violence against women

One in three women in the world is likely to be subjected to violence in her lifetime. The Secretary-General has launched a campaign to end violence against women, in conjunction with the opening of the 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Read the statement of the Secretary-General, watch the webcast (3 hours 11 minutes), or explore the work of the organization related to women.