RAPE as A WEAPON of WAR

• In times of peace women fear the possibility of rape; in times of conflict rape is inevitable.  Women and children’s bodies are the 2nd battleground, raped by men–both soldiers and civilians, enemy and neighbor, as “spoils of war”.
• How can we stop the global epidemic of war-rape tragedies like the Congo? How do survivors heal?  Can perpetrators heal from being rapists/sex offenders?  What does their impact and presence mean for their post-war communities?

•Support the International Violence against Women Act
•Support Panzi Hospital, the Congo’s pre-eminent treatment center for rape survivors

RAPE in the U.S. MILITARY radio interview with Helen Benedict, author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq and Reverend Dorothy Mackey of Survivors Take Action Against Abuse by Military Personnel, with host Nathalie Thandiwe.

• U.S. Women Soldiers face battle on two fronts–the enemy on the frontlines and the enemy within the military.  Increasingly, women soldiers in Iraq and on other fronts report deep-seated hostility, widespread sexual harassment and assault from their fellow male soldiers.
• 30% of women veterans surveyed reported being raped in the military, in a study of Vietnam-Gulf War enlistees
• 90% of women veterans surveyed reported being sexually harassed, in a study of those enlisted between the Gulf war and earlier wars.

What recourse do U.S. female soldiers have and what happens to both targets and perpetrators of sexual violence after these crimes?

Additional Resources:
• Military Rape Crisis Center: www.stopmilitaryrape.org
• S.W.A.N. Service Women Action Network: www.servicewomen.org
• Military Families Speak Out: www.mfso.org