States of emergency, states of terror

Sexual violence in the South African and Peruvian counterinsurgencies

Bibliographic Data

ID5789463
AuthorsLisa Sharlach (University of Alabama, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume2
Issue3
Pages441-460
Publication date2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Power (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1754-0291 • E-ISSN: 1754-0305
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17540290903345914
OpenAlexW2055424693
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

Rape has functioned as terror and torture inflicted by men of the security forces of the apartheid and Peruvian states upon women of disempowered ethnic groups during counterinsurgency operations. Both South African and Peruvian state agents arrested and violated women whom they suspected to be insurgents, or who associated with guerrilla men, or who simply had the misfortune to live in communities thought to harbor insurgents. The state of emergency imposed in both countries gave extraordinary powers to security forces, effectively permitting those inclined to rape to do so with near-impunity. Additionally, some of the guerrillas themselves raped in order to discipline women within the resistance armies or those within the subordinated ethnic or class group believed to be complicit with the government forces

Impunity · Misfortune · Security forces · Sexual violence · State of emergency · Torture · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Torture, Ethics, and Law