Open UKLSR Volume 1(2) - Uklsa

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Violence Against Women During Armed Conflicts against women. 67 It humiliates and stigmatises the victim and can have horrific physical and mental consequences. 68 A powerful indication of the suffering that gender-based violence can cause to men is the fact that they have been forced to rape their own daughters. They have also been made to stand and watch their female relatives being sexually abused. Little has been documented on the trauma that men must face when seeing this happen and the psychological impact that this must have. 69 The improvements that have been made to recognise the violence that women face in wartimes has had a negative impact on male victims because of their complete nonrepresentation. For example, it has been claimed that no international organisation or NGO has established a research programme that focuses on male victims of sexual violence. 70 Male sufferers are less likely to admit that they have been subject to sexual violence because of the stigma and fear this can cause. There is also a lack of experienced professionals who look out for the signs of males being abused because of the greater focus on women victims. 71 This is a big problem because although we know that sexual violence against men exists in conflicts, we have no idea about the extent to which this occurs. 72 There is also a lack of sufficient humanitarian assistance available for male rape survivors, which is likely to have damaging consequences. 73 Therefore, Carpenter makes the valid assertion that it is impossible to know whether women suffer more sexual violence during armed conflict than men, because no comparable data exists. 74 Gender-stereotyping needs to be eradicated 75 and it has been argued that ‘the single biggest gap in programming’ needs to be closed. 76 Although a real concern exists that gender-mainstreaming could move the focus away from women and solely onto men, this could be avoided if both male and female violence is dealt with concurrently rather than as separate issues. 77 There needs to be a shift from focusing only on the violence that women face in armed conflicts because male victims are currently left voiceless, defenceless and unprotected by international law. In the same way that gender-equality cannot occur without considering the effects on both men and women; gender-based violence against women cannot be solved without also dealing with the violence that men similarly face in matching circumstances. 67 Ibid 270. 68 W. Russel, ‘Sexual violence against men and boys’ (2007) 27 Forced Migration Review, 22. 69 R. Charli Carpenter (n53) 96. 70 A. DelZotto and A. Jones (n60). 71 S. Sivakurmaran (n62) 256. 72 Ibid, 254. 73 R. Charli Carpenter (n53) 95. 74 Ibid 87-88. 75 S. Sivakurmaran (n62) 275. 76 R. Charli Carpenter (n53) 87. 77 Ibid 99. 48
UK Law Students’ Review – 2013 – <strong>Volume</strong> 1, Issue 2 V – Conclusion This paper has demonstrated the concerns that exist for women in conflict zones because of the mass violence that they are subjected to because of their gender. Current deficiencies in IHL and the recent improvements that have been made for women in international law have also been looked at to reveal how slow progress is taking place to allow for greater protections for women; yet many deficiencies still exist that need to be resolved. Nonetheless, a slight change of focus is necessary by looking at the gender-based violence that both men and women face in conflicts. There still remains a major gap between the laws that have been put in place and the political will of Member States to enforce these laws. Violence against women is the most effective indication of the extent to which gender inequality exists throughout every society across the world. It is a form of discriminatory force that is used to degrade women by enforcing male dominance within domestic and social settings. Despite this paper focussing on armed conflict settings, it must be remembered that women are equally vulnerable in times of peace and in times of conflict because all cultural backdrops have enabled men to exert arbitrary power over women. Only when complete gender equality exists in every society across the world, will violence against women no longer be a major global concern. 49
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