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Women at the Borders: Rape and Nationalism in International Law

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References

  1. Numerous organisations have documented and produced extensive reports on the atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia in the name of “ethnic cleansing”. See, for example, the United Nations, Rape and Abuses of Women in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia, UN Doc. E/CN.4/ 1993/L21. The focus of my discussion will be primarily on the mass rapes of women in Bosnia Herzegovina. For a discussion of rape and other atrocities committed in Bosnia, see: Helsinki Watch, War Crimes in Bosnia -Hercegovina, vol. I (New York, Washington, Los Angeles and London: Helsinki Watch - A Division of Hutnan Rights Watch, 1992). It is important to note that while I am focusing on the rape of women, Helsinki Watch has documented rapes of men in Bosnia. The rape of women in the former Yugoslavia will be discussed in more detail below.

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  29. This characterisation of rape is consistent with earlier military prohibitions against rape which defined sexual assault as an attack on family honour. See for example, article 46 of Hague Convention (IV) which prohibits sexual assault but only explicitly refers to the protection of “family honour and rights”: “Final Report of the Commission of Experts Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992)”, Letter Dated24 May 1994 From The Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. SI 1994/674 [hereinafter “Commission of Experts Report”].

  30. Acts which constitute grave breaches of international law arc killing, torture or inhuman treatment, causing great suffering or serious injury, deportation, transfer or unlawful confinement, deprivation of the right to a fair trial, etc.: Article 147, Geneva Convention IV, supra n. 36.

  31. Supra n.36.

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  54. I am not suggesting by this analysis that men are not also constructed along predetermined guidelines. Men who do not conform to the ideal of masculine warrior are also marginalised within military discourse. Males who are very young, very old, or unfit for military service, arc feminised as part of the class of protected civilians: Tickner, supra n.69, at 271. In addition to being male, the “ideal” warrior is also heterosexual. A significant part of the construction of gender identities within war and military discourse has focused on sexuality, and gays and lesbians have been actively excluded from military service: W.J. Scott and S. Carson Stanley, Gays and Lesbians in the Military: Issues, Concerns, and Contrasts (New York: Aldine de Bruyter, 1994). My discussion in this section is focused primarily on the construction of female gender roles because of their importance in legitimating violence against women. Certainly, a part of this equation will be the role of the military in constructing a masculine culture which permits — or encourages — violence against women. Understanding military culture is an important but large area that I could not adequately cover in this paper. For work concerning women within the military, see: J. Holm, Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution, Rev. ed. (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1992)

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  58. In my analysis of the gendered nature of humanitarian law, I am influenced by the work of H. Charlesworth, C. Chinkin, and S. Wright, in “Feminist Approaches to International Law”, American Journal of International Law 85 (1991), 613–645.

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  73. Women can “contaminate” the mythical ethnic or racial purity of a nation by giving birth to babies of “mixed” parentage. This is particularly the case in Bosnia, where forced pregnancy has been part of the process of ethnic cleansing because babies are assumed to have the same ethnicity as their fathers: D.M. Hughes, L. Mladjenovic and Z. Mrsevic, “Feminist Resistance in Serbia”, The Europ ean Journal of Women’s Studies 2 (1994), 509–532, at 519.

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Many thanks to the following people who read and provided invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this paper: Susan B. Boyd, Didi Herman, Théèse Murphy, Carl Stychin, and NoelWhitty.

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Buss, D.E. Women at the Borders: Rape and Nationalism in International Law. Feminist Legal Stud 6, 171–203 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03359629

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