SEXUAL VIOLENCE IS A WEAPON IN THE CONDITIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT

Abstract

The article reveals the concept of sexual violence in armed conflict as a weapon for control, punishment, weakening the morale of opponents and creating deterrence. Sexual violence during conflict is an act of domination, grounded in a complex web of cultural precon – ceptions, in particular as regards gender roles. It is used to torture and humiliate people, and to punish or humiliate an enemy group or community. Sexual violence may be encouraged or tolerated within armed groups. In some conflicts, it has been used strategically to advance military objectives, such as the clearing of a civilian population from an area. It has been proven that during military conflicts, gender polarization increases, as a result of which women feel the consequences of the conflict especially acutely due to gender-based roles. Police reform should consider how police services can better prevent and investigate crimes of sexual violence, provide support to the victims, and put in place effective measures to prevent and punish such abuses committed by police personnel. Human rights violations were committed by all parties to the conflict, which was characterised by a pattern of brutal massacres of large numbers of civilians, mostly in rural areas. Forms of sexual violence included rape, abduction for sexual slavery, forced marriage of women and girls to combatants, forced stripping, and the insertion of foreign objects into victims’ cavities. Although predominantly directed against women and girls, men and boys were also subjected to sexual violence. The attention is focused on the abduction of minors during armed conflicts, which take place for the purpose of using them in combat forces and exploitation. It is noted that acts of sexual violence are recognized as a separate category of war crimes (serious violations of international humanitarian law) in the context of international and non-international armed conflicts.