The Hidden Victims of Wartime Rape - Men and Boys

The New York Times has an op-ed piece that raises the issue of sexual violence and rape used as a tool of terror and humiliation that typically goes unnoticed - the rape of men and boys in wartime and civil wars. Just as rape against women and girls is a tool of humiliation and punishment, so too it is when utilized against males. And the irony is that it's often in "macho" societies that the abuse is the worse. Indeed, some within the USA's own military is likely guilty of the offense. Once again, our f*cked up societal notions seem to conspire to allow the tragic abuse to continue and sweep the issue conveniently under the rug. It needs to stop. As does the use of sexual violence against all individuals regardless of the gender. Here are some highlights from Lara Stemple's op-ed piece (Ms. Stemple is the director of graduate studies and of the Health and Human Rights Law Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law):
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As disturbing new reports of male rape in Congo made clear, wartime sexual violence isn’t limited to women and girls. But in its ongoing effort to eradicate rape during conflict, the United Nations continues to overlook a significant imperative: ending wartime sexual assault of men and boys as well.
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Sexual violence against men does occasionally make the news: the photographs of the sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi men at the Abu Ghraib prison, for example, stunned the world.
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Yet there are thousands of similar cases, less well publicized but well documented by researchers, in places as varied as Chile, Greece and Iran. The United Nations reported that out of 5,000 male concentration camp detainees held near Sarajevo during the Bosnian conflict, 80 percent acknowledged having been abused sexually. In El Salvador, 76 percent of male political prisoners told researchers they had experienced sexual torture.
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Rape has long been a way to humiliate, traumatize and silence the enemy. For many of the same reasons that combatants assault women and girls, they also rape men and boys. Nevertheless, international legal documents routinely reflect the assumption that sexual violence happens only to women and girls.
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[W]hen men have experienced sexual abuse and are treated solely as “torture victims,” we ignore the sexual component of their suffering. Indeed, doctors and emergency aid workers are rarely trained to recognize the physical signs of male rape or to provide counseling to its victims. Our failure to acknowledge male rape leaves it in the shadows, compounding the humiliation that survivors experience.
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The United Nations has attempted to take wartime rape seriously. In 2000 the Security Council passed Resolution 1325 which, among other things, promotes gender-sensitive training in peacekeeping, encourages hiring more women in peacekeeping roles and calls for better protection of women and girls in conflict zones. This is a crucial undertaking, but the agreement neglects to address sexual violence against men and boys.
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The United Nations and the White House must likewise move beyond the shortcomings of Resolution 1325 and commit to ending wartime sexual violence against everyone.