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Military sexual slavery is a fact and is a crime that had prevailed during wartime and even at the time of peace. The dual aspect of this issue is that women are not safe in a time of peace. During wartime, raping of women is considered as aggressiveness and the embodiment of power. When a country is under military rule or is under threat of another country, the personal rights and liberty of women, children, and senior citizens are under severe threat.
When a country is under military rule, there is no other force to question the deeds of the military. The force which is proposed to defend the individual rights of the citizens is committing crimes and there is no other way to escape from this threat. In this essay, it will be shown that military power and sexual slavery are interconnected, how the human rights of women are violated by the military, and how gender is related to a war crime.
When one glances at the world wars and wars between neighboring countries, it can be seen that women are victimized and were treated cruelly. Military sexual slavery is not a momentary one but it is a well-organized long-term mode of exploitation. So as to bring meet the sexual urge of the soldiers, thousands of women were used. During the war, most of them died and the remaining were infected with sexual diseases. Moreover, they were considered prostitutes.
He Soon Kwon points out that: “by force, deceit, or kidnapping in order to be used as military sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers. They were forced to serve about 30 soldiers daily on weekdays and 50 soldiers a day on weekends. These women were euphemistically called “comfort women”.” (Kwon 1994). During the war between Japan and Korea, women were used as sex slaves. When Japan occupied Korea, women were forcibly kidnapped and raped. Moreover, they were forced to serve so many soldiers and they were called comfort women. Here, one can see that women are considered as a commodity for mere comfort not as human beings.
When absolute power is given to the military forces in a country, there is a high chance for violation of human rights. More and more women are victimized in war zones and most of the stories of exploitation do not reach the media. When sexual exploitation is well organized and is done by the ultimate force in a country, the sound of the victims will not reach much far. Some of the women soldiers who are working in warfronts with male soldiers are sexually exploited.
Berry, Bonnie points out that: “Women soldiers are exploited in the US military, as are men, both with the distinction being that the presence of women-warriors provides supposed evidence that the administration equally admires women soldiers.” (Bonnie 2005). For example, women soldiers who are working and fighting with men soldiers in the US military are under the threat of exploitation. So, one can see that military power is used for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery.
Worldwide, the sex trade is an important mode of violation of human rights. The sex trade is closely related to the development of tourism. From the viewpoint of a human rights activist sex trade and the sex, the industry is well organized by the male and is another way of gender discrimination and sexual exploitation. Most of the girls and women who are working as sex workers in South East Asia are under the threat of HIV/AIDS infection.
Chris Beyrer points out that: “The human rights abuses which occur during civil conflicts pose special threats to the health and lives of women. These can include rape, sexual violence, increased vulnerability to trafficking into prostitution, and exposure to HIV infection.” (Beyrer 2001, p.543-550). The violation of human rights during civil conflicts among countries poses threat to women. Moreover, their health and lives are under threat. In this condition, death is considered better for survival. When a woman is sexually exploited during the war, her future is defined. Most of the women who are exploited during the war are thrown into prostitution and are exposed to HIV/AIDS infection.
When military forces enter the territory of the enemy nation, their first aim will be to exploit the weaker section of the society. Here, women and children become victims and are helpless to fight against the powerful military forces. When there is no one to question injustice the forces which are supposed to defend the violation of human rights will become the violators of human rights. Yuki Tanaka and Toshiyuki Tanaka are of the viewpoint that: “why US occupation forces did little to help the women, and argues that military authorities organized prostitution to prevent the widespread incidence of GI rape among the Japanese women and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.” (Tanaka and Tanaka 2002).
The US occupation forces who entered Japan at the time of the Second World War did not try to help the women in Japan. So as to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among Japanese women, authorities found out an innovative idea. It was to force women towards prostitution. So, the human rights of women are violated and are under severe threat of further exploitation. The problem becomes more serious than for a woman once trapped by exploiters gets less chance to escape from the situation.
Thus, the global expansion of military forces and the development of tourism can be considered as the basic reasons for sexual exploitation and violation of human rights. Globally, prostitution is closely related to the military because women are used to fulfilling the sexual urge of soldiers who are away from their families for a long period. Moreover, on a war front, there is less chance for survival. So there is a tendency among soldiers to exploit the available time and chances.
Kane and Stephanie C are of the opinion that: “First world militaries based in “third world” countries offer an appropriate context for developing AIDS intervention models that are keyed to large-scale population movements and regional differences in HIV infection.” (Kane and Stephanie C 1994). The military forces of developed countries which are based in developing and underdeveloped countries cause the widespread of AIDS because people are forced to move from one place to another and it causes the widespread of infection.
Women’s human rights are under threat and military forces are behind this violation of personal liberty and individual rights. Mentally and physically, rape is considered brutal because it is the worst thing that can be happened to a woman. Most of the women who survived after the First World War suffered from post-traumatic stress. Claudia Card points out that: “not of men in war but of women in civilian life and that women and children subject to civilian rape and domestic violence are in a war:” (Card 1996).
There were similarities among men and women those who survived from battlefields and from domestic violence and rape. So it can be seen that the stress which is created by sexual exploitation is as same as the stress which is created on battlefields. According to Myrna Goldenberg, the hardships and sexual exploitation suffered by the Jewish women who were confined in concentration camps during World War II were not well documented or reported. During wartime, there were restrictions to enter the camps and to collect information. So it can be seen that the cruel stories of rape, sexual slavery, and sex for survival were not recorded. (Goldenberg).
There is evidence to prove that sexual violence is used as a weapon of war. There is a complex relationship between sexual violence and war. But now, there are attempts to report the stories of wartime sexual violence and sexual exploitation against women. According to Inger Skjelsbaek, “In the 1990s there was more focus on wartime sexual violence than ever before.” (Skjelsbaek, 2001, p.211-237). now the reports related to wartime sexual violence are not kept confidential.
When one considers sexual exploitation as a violation of human rights, it is evident that the whole peacekeeping forces are to be blamed because their duty was to protect the weaker sections of society. According to Amnesty International USA, there were some faults by the side of the US by ratifying the treaty related to war and this resulted in the violation of women’s human rights. (About This Campaign 2008). In some countries like Japan, sex is considered recreation for soldiers.
So in these societies, there is less chance to have equal treatment for men and women. Chris Spackman points out that, a medical inspection of the prostitutes, who were used to fulfill the sexual urge of the Japanese soldiers were under the direct control of the military. (Spackman 2005).
There is an opinion that war is capable to unite the people. To an extent, it is right but when one considers the fact that wars are the products of extreme nationalism, it is helpful only to increase hatred among the people. According to Nancy Huston, “When the war in former Yugoslavia began, women protestors from all regions and ethnic backgrounds united around their identities as the mothers of sons serving in the Yugoslav Army.” (Ristanovi 1996, p.359-364). when war occurs, mothers show immense courage and they are even ready to unite and protest against the futility of all wars. For example, the mothers in Yugoslavia united and protested against war because their sons were serving in the army.
Gender and the issue of a war crime can be viewed from the perspective of a feminist. The forced sexual slavery exerted upon the female by the male-dominated society during wartime and peacetime creates a lot of physical and psychological stress in women. C Sarah Soh points out that: “attempts to historicize the experiences of wartime enforced sexual labor and its impact on reproductive capacity in post-war marital lives among some Korean, Filipino, and Dutch survivors.” (Soh 2005, p.67-80). There were reproductive problems among the women who were forced to do sex labor during the war in Korea. The attempt to historicize the hardships and experiences of women who are marginalized from the mainstream of history is great.
In history, all the stories are based upon the bravery of men and the stories of women who fought for their country are marginalized and even totally excluded. This is because women as considered weaker than men and are conditioned to look after domestic matters. They were not allowed to cross their private domain, i.e. family and its surroundings, and to enter the public domain, i.e. the society. Nancy Huston points out that: “the exclusion of women from the making of war and war narrative has meant that they have played predominantly passive or reactive rather than active roles in both.” (Huston 1982, p.271-282). When women were marginalized, they were excluded from direct participation in wars and were considered commodities that can be used for recreation and to raise the morale of soldiers.
In this essay, it has been shown that the military is the place of forced sexual slavery, and women are exploited by the military. There is nothing to do with women’s human rights and military exploitation because it is well organized. Moreover, the whole control of the exploitation is in the hands of those who are proposed to help the weaker sections. Military sexual slavery is against the development of humanity because when a section of the society is totally under the control of another section, individual freedom is under threat. War affects women, children, and senior citizens of society. Sexual slavery and war affect the psychological and physiological health of women.
So, before concluding, one can see that gender and war crimes are interconnected, and the military is behind the violation of women’s human rights. When more and more stories about the exploitation of women in war zones come to the court of humanity, there is a high chance to have a transformation that will result in a society without exploitation.
Bibliography
About This Campaign. (2008). [online]. Amnesty International USA: Action For Human Rights Hope For Humanity. Web.
BEYRER, Chris. (2001). Social Science and Medicine: Abstract. [online]. Science Direct. 53(4). 543-550. Web.
BONNIE, Berry. (2005). The Criminal Exploitation of Women: Abstract. [online]. All Academic Research. Web.
CARD, Cludia. (1996). Rape As A Weapon Of War. [online]. Hypatia. 11(4). Web.
GOLDENBERG, Myrna. Sex Rape and Survival: Jewish Women and the Holocaust. Web.
HUSTON, Nancy. (1982). Tales Of War And Tears Of Women. [online]. Women’s Studies International Forum, 3(4). 271-282. Web.
Kane., and Stephanie C. (1994). Pesquisa em Bases de Dados: Resumo. [online]. Biblioteca. Web.
KWON, Hee Soon. (1994). The Reality of The Military Sexual slavery Issue. [online]. Web.
RISTANOVI, Vesna Nikoli. (1996). War National and Mothers: Abstract. [online]. Peace Review, 8(3). 359-364. Web.
SKJELSBAEK, Inger. (2001). Internal Peace Research Institute Norway. [online]. Sexual Violence and War. 7(2), 211-237. Web.
SPACKMAN, Chris. (2005). An Encyclopedia Of Japanese History. [online]. Web.
SOH, C Sarah. (2005). Infertility Among Korea’s Comfort Women Survivors A Comparative perspective: Synopsis. [online]. Web.
TANAKA, Yuki., and TANAKA, Toshiyuki. (2002). About This Book: Japan’s Comfort Women. [online]. Web.
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