Rape and sexual violence in war: The vexing issue of causation and some reflections from Bosnia

Refugees; Srebrenica; the siege of Sarajevo; burning villages such as Ahmići and Stupni Do; the Omarska camp. Captured in these words are some of the most powerful and lasting images of the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Media cameras captured many of the crimes committed in this bloody conflict. In contrast, one particular set of crimes typically occurred behind closed doors – in homes, camps and other places of detention. These crimes could not remain hidden, however, and more and more reports began to emerge of mass rapes occurring. The Bosnian conflict significantly contributed to raising international awareness of this persistent scourge of war, and 21 years on there have been huge developments in this field. Most recently, on 21 March 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first conviction for rape against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, the former Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. While important progress has been made, we still do not know enough about the reasons why rape frequently accompanies warfare. It is a highly useful weapon of war but, as this post will show, this is not the whole story.