http://www.npr.org/2012/04/30/151688541/peace-justice-elude-rape-victims-of-bosnian-war
I think this situation is the perfect example of the dominant patriarchal paradigm being in place and acting as a barrier to the rape victims of Bosnia getting true justice for the crimes that were inflicted upon them. Yes, the international community did finally establish rape as a crime against humanity after the genocide that ended in 1995, and yes a number of Serbian men have been charged for the crimes they inflicted on these women and the women's voices have been heard through their testimonies. But now what? As the article explains, women have received little help from the government and only 40 men have been charged with this crime ... although thousands of women were raped. The women also suffer with PTSD issues and very little has been done to address that too. It seems that by simply stating that rape is officially a crime and prosecuting men (whose trials have been going on for far too long as many keep finding ways to postpone hearings, etc.) this is supposed to make up for what these women went through. And what efforts are being done to prevent this in the future? Once again, this issue, just as many other issues pertaining to women's rights, safety, health, etc., remain on the back burner.
This is something we've talked about and read about quite a bit this quarter, especially in a number of testimonies discussed in Maria and Margie's FIRE readings. It's great that the international community is addressing women's issues such as rape during war, which has for far to long been ignored, however this doesn't mean that the job is done. I think the biggest problem here is the question of what will be done to prevent this in the future? Is it fair to say that the prosecution of a couple men will deter others from committing these crimes? We would be crazy to say yes to this question! So what's next. What else will be done to stop the targeting of women during conflicts. There have been some studies that have found a correlation between domestic violence and the use of rape during war, and I personally feel that more focus should be placed on domestic violence in peaceful times as a mode of prevention. Obviously women being abused and raped is not something that only occurs in times of war and it deserves attention for the simple fact that domestic violence is a terrible thing, but I wonder if addressing a problem that is happening in times of peace may also act as a preventative measure for possible conflict situations that may encourage rape as a weapon.
This is something we've talked about and read about quite a bit this quarter, especially in a number of testimonies discussed in Maria and Margie's FIRE readings. It's great that the international community is addressing women's issues such as rape during war, which has for far to long been ignored, however this doesn't mean that the job is done. I think the biggest problem here is the question of what will be done to prevent this in the future? Is it fair to say that the prosecution of a couple men will deter others from committing these crimes? We would be crazy to say yes to this question! So what's next. What else will be done to stop the targeting of women during conflicts. There have been some studies that have found a correlation between domestic violence and the use of rape during war, and I personally feel that more focus should be placed on domestic violence in peaceful times as a mode of prevention. Obviously women being abused and raped is not something that only occurs in times of war and it deserves attention for the simple fact that domestic violence is a terrible thing, but I wonder if addressing a problem that is happening in times of peace may also act as a preventative measure for possible conflict situations that may encourage rape as a weapon.
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