I. Observing Community Level Responses to Women

In Africa, South America, and the former Yugoslavia a stigma was attached to women who were victims of mass rape; this stigma had an observable impact on victims’ lives in the form of community responses directed at these women. While the precise nature of the stigma might vary across cultures, there are marked similarities in the community response to victims across cultures. For example, in various cultures, victims of mass rape became homebound, were divorced or could not marry, or lost family support causing victims to enter prostitution. These outcomes can be traced back to the stigma which attached to women as victims of rape. In instances where rape is alleged to have occurred, if anthropologists with an expertise in the local culture observe similar responses, then, even without individual, victim testimony, the prevalence of these community level responses could demonstrate the occurrence of mass rape. In many cultures, the presence of women who became homebound; were divorced or remained unmarried; and women who entered prostitution could be used to demonstrate the actual occurrence of mass rape.

A. Women who Become Homebound

Central Africa has a long history of the use of mass rape as a tool of war. In Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan, both rebel and government forces have used mass rape to intimidate, humiliate and degrade those seen as enemies or indifferent to their cause. In many instances, mass rape is carried out with extreme violence where women are left mutilated or mortally wounded. Many victims tell of being raped by multiple attackers and being violently abused. Therefore, medical examination might be able to confirm the occurrence of mass rape based upon the number of women affected and the nature of their injuries. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, medical professionals observed over seven hundred instances of fistula where the lining of the vagina is torn linking the vagina and the rectum and causing the uncontrollable leakage of urine and feces through the vagina.3 These injuries confirm statements from victims recounting assault by multiple attackers and the insertion of crude objects such as knives, gun barrels and bottles during and after a rape.4 However, the actual number of victims cannot be confirmed because many women refuse to come forward for fear of social stigma which may result from being labeled as an unchaste woman.5

Although women, even when suffering from painful and sometimes deadly injuries, may choose not to seek medical help, their absence from community life might be seen as credible indicia of the occurrence of mass rape. Many women suffering from fistula admitted that their incontinence had made them outcasts; victims credited the smell from their wounds as causing others to avoid them and the shame of their condition as requiring them to remain in their homes at almost all times.6 By observing the number of women who have become homebound after alleged crimes, expert anthropologists might be able to estimate the extent of the crimes committed without requiring the presence of victims before the Court. The very fact they a large number of women have become homebound after violent mass rape is alleged to have occurred might be used as circumstantial evidence to show that mass rape in fact occurred; such a response would be unlikely in the absence of actual injuries caused by mass rape.

B. Women who Become Divorced or Separated

Another observable result of the stigma against victims of rape at the community level is an increased number of women who become separated or divorced from their husbands. In some cultures, a woman’s standing derives from her relationship with her husband; a woman is valued for her ability to serve as a loyal wife and bear her husband’s children.7 If a married woman’s status as a victim of rape becomes known, her standing is destroyed because she is no longer seen as a loyal spouse. For example, in Rwanda, rape was used to belittle husbands as the rape was seen as destroying the value of a man’s wife.8 As a result, many men chose to divorce their wives after rape in Rwanda.9 Similarly, in Peru, women were seen as “wasted” after suffering mass rape and were condemned by their husbands and ostracized by their families.10 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, even if a woman was not abandoned, she might be pushed aside as a “second wife”—while her husband married a chaste wife to replace her.11 Lastly, in Yugoslavia, not only did women suffer divorce after revealing they had been raped, but a husband might kill his wife for adultery in order to preserve his own honor.12 Even where a woman was an unwilling victim, her suffering is seen as dishonor to her husband and many husbands would no longer accept their wives.

C. Women who Remain Unmarried

Similarly, a woman who is raped before she is married may be seen as damaged and, as a result, will find it near impossible to find a husband. In some cultures, if unmarried, a woman’s status derives from her potential to be an honorable wife as evidenced by her virginity.13 A woman who is not a virgin at the time of marriage is seen as suspect and brings dishonor to the man she marries. In Yugoslavia, the stigma against victims of rape was so strong that mass rape was used to prevent women from reproducing; those who had been raped were seen as “unmarriageable” within their community and were therefore unlikely to marry and raise a family.14 In Rwanda, some victims stated that being a victim of rape was a fate worse than death because it would destroy any value one had in her community.15 To identify oneself openly as a victim of rape would likely foreclose the possibility of marriage as well as deprive a woman of much needed support from a future husband. Moreover, in Sudan and Rwanda, where rape was carried out in public to intimidate local men, and women were often branded by cutting their skin, large numbers of women found themselves unable to marry after being victimized.16 Finally, in Rwanda, over seventy percent of rape victims contracted HIV; rumors persisted that militias recruited men who were HIV positive to rape women in order to infect victims of rape and their partners.17 As a result, potential husbands rejected women who had been raped for fear of contracting sexually transmitted infections including HIV.18 In many cultures, a large number of unmarried women in a community might be a credible indicator of the occurrence of mass rape.

D. Women who Become Prostitutes

A large number of women who become prostitutes after mass rape is alleged to have occurred might also demonstrate the occurrence of mass rape. In Africa and the former Yugoslavia, women who were victims of mass rape often entered prostitution after losing the support of their husband or other family members. It was common for victims of rape to lose family and community support in Yugoslavia especially if a victim had conceived a child as a result.19 Many women also found it near impossible to keep a job because the trauma they suffered caused lasting mental or physical injury.20 As such, many women were left with few means of survival other than prostitution. Similarly, in some African cultures, a victim of rape often cannot marry and may be abandoned by her family. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, focus groups with victims and family members suggested it was a widely accepted practice to expel rape victims from the community.21 Women who were abandoned by their families were left to trade sex for food, clothing and other necessities.22 However, numerous other factors might also push women into prostitution including discrimination in the labor market and vulnerability as a migrant.23 Therefore, simple increases in the number of women in prostitution may be inconclusive, unless anthropologists can demonstrate that women entered prostitution as a result of lost opportunities to marry or lost family support as a result of her status as a rape victim.

II. Observing Community Level Responses to Children

The stigma attached to women who are victims of mass rape is often carried over to children conceived as a result of mass rape as well. For example, in Rwanda children conceived during rape were given names such as “child of hate,” “the intruder,” and “little killer.”24 Similarly, in the former Yugoslavia, children who were conceived as a result of rape were referred to as “children of shame” or “children of hate” and were often ostracized by their community.25 The stigma against children conceived as a result of mass rape caused an observable increase in the number of children who were abandoned; infanticide and unsafe abortions; and led to the decision to deny children conceived by rape recognition in the form of birth certificates. These community responses were a direct result of the occurrence of mass rape and could be used to prove the occurrence of mass rape in those communities. Similarly, anthropologists might use these community responses to children where mass rape is alleged to have occurred as evidence of the actual occurrence of these crimes. Before the ICC, in instances where there exists a similar stigma against children conceived as a result of rape, anthropologists might eliminate other likely causes for these community responses to demonstrate the relationship between the observed community level responses to these children and the actual occurrence of mass rape.

A. Children who are Abandoned

Another community level response which might demonstrate the occurrence of mass rape is the exclusion or abandonment of children who are alleged to have been conceived by rape. In Rwanda, rape was used to cause victims to bear the children of their enemy and marked victims as unmarriageable.26 The children who resulted from rape were often rejected by their families and members of the community even threatened to kill “rape children” if they were not sent to be “where they belonged” with their fathers.27 Estimates state that as many as 10,000 children resulted from the mass rapes which occurred in Rwanda and the stigma attached to these children caused widespread abandonment.28 Similarly, in the former Yugoslavia, forced impregnation was used to cause Bosnian Muslim women to bear Serbian children.29 Bosnian women not only resented the child they were forced to bear, but the choice to keep a child would almost certainly prevent a woman from marrying causing both the mother and child to live in poverty.30 As a result, many women abandoned their children to government institutions upon birth.31 The total number of children conceived by rape in the former Yugoslavia is unknown, however, NGOs stated that in only a few months in 1993 between 500 and 600 children conceived by rape were born and abandoned to institutions.32 It might be difficult to determine if a child was abandoned because he or she was conceived by rape or because his or her mother did not have resources to provide for their children. However, abandonment along with other factors such as a lack of government documents as discussed below might clarify this inference.

B. Children who Suffer Infanticide or Illegal Abortion

Many women who conceived as a result of mass rape resented the child they conceived and the stigma against children of rape often allowed for these children to be killed shortly after birth. As a result, many children suffered infanticide after birth or mothers chose to have illegal abortions during pregnancy. In the former Yugoslavia, women who were forcibly impregnated were released by their captors only after passing the point at which one could legally have an abortion.33 As a result, high levels of infanticide persisted where children would be killed shortly after birth; within the Bosnian community there was widespread support for infanticide where a Bosnian mother was carrying a Serbian child.34 Similarly, in Rwanda, illegal abortions were common as well as infanticide where children were neglected after birth and allowed to die.35 In Peru, after mass rape, some women chose to have illegal abortions which they saw as a way to manage the shame of being a victim of rape.36 Lastly, in Sudan, Doctors Without Borders observed an instance where a pregnant mother starved herself to death rather than give birth to her child.37 Although the exact cause of infanticide and illegal abortion may be difficult to determine, anthropologists might trace the scale and community acceptance of infanticide and illegal abortion to the occurrence of mass rape. After ruling out other likely explanations, these instances might be presented as a response to the actual occurrence of mass rape; without the occurrence of mass rape, it would be unlikely for these responses to have occurred.

C. Children who are Denied Government Recognition

Lastly, anthropologists might document instances where large numbers of children are denied birth certificates or other government documents as evidence of mass rape. In the former Yugoslavia, government officials denied children conceived by mass rape necessary government documents such as birth certificates.38 Children were denied documents to ostracize them from the community and prevent intermixing between children viewed as foreign with those from the community. Because children lacked proper government documents, they were then denied citizenship and were refused access to the public education system.39 The absence of birth certificates also prevented these children from opening bank accounts as adults.40 The denial of basic government documents has had a lasting and observable impact on children alleged to have been conceived by rape. Similarly, where children have been denied documents where mass rape is alleged to have occurred, such might demonstrate the actual occurrence of mass rape. Where government documents such as birth certificates are of critical importance to a child, expert anthropologists might find that the denial of these documents results from a community response seeking to exclude those children who were conceived as a result of the actual occurrence of mass rape.

III. Community Level Responses to Victims and Children as Proof of Mass Rape

Changes within a community such as a greater number of women who become homebound; who become divorced or remain unmarried; and greater numbers of women engaged in prostitution might demonstrate that mass rape has occurred. Similarly, community responses to children conceived by mass rape such as abandonment; infanticide and illegal abortion; and the denial of government documents might show the occurrence of mass rape. Expert anthropologists could use the presence of a stigma against victims or children conceived as a result of rape, along with community responses which express that stigma, to demonstrate mass rape has occurred.

In Africa, South America, and the former Yugoslavia, the above responses were the result of the actual occurrence of mass rape. Similarly, anthropologists might identify these responses within other communities where mass rape is alleged to have occurred to demonstrate the occurrence of mass rape. Using accepted social science methods, anthropologists might be called before the ICC to disprove other likely explanations for these community responses or even to show that these responses are a direct result of the occurrence of mass rape. Although expert anthropologists might be unable to draw a clear conclusion where factors other than the occurrence of mass rape may cause an observed community response, where multiple community level responses discussed above can be observed, anthropologists might provide a dynamic picture of events affecting a population which eliminates other likely causes and demonstrates the occurrence of mass rape based upon the totality of community level responses observed.

Further, it is unlikely that a community could successfully manufacture the community level responses listed above. In the case of the alleged victims of mass rape, the high cost to victims and children suggests the truth of their story. For example, because women are oftentimes reliant on marriage and family support, it is unlikely that a greater number of women would choose to forego marriage or give up their status in the community to become sex workers. Similarly, high levels of abandonment, infanticide or the denial of government documents might be traced to the occurrence of mass rape if it can be shown that children who were not alleged to have been conceived by mass rape experienced a different result. By observing multiple community level responses in totality, expert anthropologists might demonstrate that only the actual occurrence of mass rape could explain the sum of community level responses observed together.

Conclusion

In some cultures a stigma is attached to women who are victims of mass rape and children who are conceived as a result. This stigma against victims of mass rape is often expressed as an observable loss of status as evidenced by a greater number of women who became homebound; a higher rate of divorce or an inability to marry; and lost family support causing women to enter prostitution. Similarly, children who were conceived by rape were more often abandoned; were likely to suffer infanticide; and may be denied recognition by government authorities as a result of their status. Where anthropologists with expertise in the local culture can demonstrate these community level responses flow from a stigma against alleged victims of mass rape and their children, observations of these responses might be relied upon as a powerful indicator of the actual occurrence of mass rape. In instances where mass rape is alleged to have occurred, the OTP might rely upon expert anthropologists to eliminate other likely causes for observed community responses or even to demonstrate that observed community level responses are the direct result of the actual occurrence of mass rape.

Endnotes — (click the footnote reference number, or ↩ symbol, to return to location in text).

1. 1.

   Jonathan Harwood, Ordeal of Rape Victim Amina Filali Shocks Morocco, The Week (March 19, 2012), available online. ↩

2. 2.

   Peter Moszynski, Rape Victims in Sudan Face Life of Stigma, Says Report, 329 BMJ 251 (2004). ↩

3. 3.

   Ahuka Ona Longombe, Kasereka Masumbuko Claude and Joseph Ruminjo, Fistula and Traumatic Genital Injury from Sexual Violence in a Conflict Setting in Eastern Congo: Case Studies, 16 RHM 132, 133 (2008). ↩

4. 4.

   Id. ↩

5. 5.

   Moszynski, supra note 2. It is important to note that experts believe the physical injuries which do not result in fistula often diminish within ten days of the attack, therefore it would be difficult for medical professionals to confirm instances of rape simply by observing the physical symptoms of a woman once time has passed. ↩

6. 6.

   Id. ↩

7. 7.

   Patricia A. Weitsman, The Politics of Identity and Sexual Violence: A Review of Bosnia and Rwanda, 30 Hum. Rts. Q. 561, 564 (2008). ↩

8. 8.

   Erin K. Baines, Body Politics and the Rwandan Crisis, 24 TWQ 479, 488 (2003). ↩

9. 9.

   Talea Miller, Victims of Sexual Violence Face Stigma, Unresponsive Justice System, PBS NewsHour (June 15, 2007), available online. ↩

10. 10.

    Jean Franco, Rape: A Weapon of War, 25 Social Text 22, 31 (2007). ↩

11. 11.

    Stefan Kirchner, Hell on Earth—Systematic Rape in Eastern Congo, JHA (August 6, 2007), available online. ↩

12. 12.

    Amanda Beltz, Prosecuting Rape in International Criminal Tribunals: The Need to Balance Victim’s Rights with the Due Process Rights of the Accused, 23 St. John’s J. Legal Comment. 167, 197 (2008). ↩

13. 13.

    Marleen Bosmans, Challenges in Aid to Rape Victims: The Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 4 Essex Hum. Rts. Rev. 1, 7 (2007). ↩

14. 14.

    R. Charli Carpenter, Surfacing Children: Limitations of Genocidal Rape Discourse, 22 Hum. Rts. Q. 428, footnote 59 (2000). ↩

15. 15.

    Beltz, supra note 12 at 189. ↩

16. 16.

    Justin Wagner, The Systematic Use of Rape as a Tool of War in Darfur: A Blueprint for International War Crimes Prosecutions, 37 Geo. J. Int’l L. 193, 205 (2005). ↩

17. 17.

    Lori A. Nessel, Rape and Recovery In Rwanda: The Viability of Local Justice Initiatives and the Availability of Surrogate State Protection for Women that Flee, 15 Mich. St. J. Int’l L. 101, 109 (2007). ↩

18. 18.

    Kirchner, supra note 11. ↩

19. 19.

    Kate Holt and Sarah Hughes, Bosnia’s Rape Babies: Abandoned by their Families, Forgotten by the State, The Independent (December 13, 2005), available online. ↩

20. 20.

    Id. ↩

21. 21.

    Bosmans, supra note 13 at 10. ↩

22. 22.

    Id. at 7. ↩

23. 23.

    Chris Corrin, Transitional Road for Traffic: Analyzing Trafficking in Women from and through Central and Eastern Europe, 57 Europe-Asia Studies 543, 550 (2005). ↩

24. 24.

    Weitsman, supra note 7 at 577. ↩

25. 25.

    Id. at 567. ↩

26. 26.

    Weitsman, supra note 7 at 577. ↩

27. 27.

    Bosmans, supra note 13 at 6. ↩

28. 28.

    Weitsman, supra note 7 at 577. ↩

29. 29.

    Id. at 570. ↩

30. 30.

    Id. at 577. ↩

31. 31.

    Holt, supra note 19. ↩

32. 32.

    Carpenter, supra note 14 at 465. ↩

33. 33.

    Weitsman, supra note 7 at 577. ↩

34. 34.

    Id. at 571. ↩

35. 35.

    Id. at 577. ↩

36. 36.

    Franco, supra note 10 at 33. ↩

37. 37.

    Miller, supra note 9. ↩

38. 38.

    Holt, supra note 19. ↩

39. 39.

    Carpenter, supra note 14 at 467. ↩

40. 40.

    Holt, supra note 19. ↩