Expert Speak Terra Nova
Published on Mar 23, 2022
Can we achieve gender equality when sexual violence is still a weapon of war?
A war within a war: Sexual violence as a weapon of war

In any war, women and girls are the most vulnerable. The breakdown of institutions and social networks make women and girls extremely vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation. Sexual violence has also been used as a weapon in conflicts to humiliate, subjugate, and terrorise populations through history. For instance, anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women were systematically sexually assaulted during the Bangladeshi Liberation Movement. More than 60,000 women were sexually assaulted during the civil war in Sierra Leone between 1991-2002, about 40,000 in Liberia during the 14-year civil war between 1989-2003, nearly 60,000 in former Yugoslavia during 1992-95, anywhere between 100,000 and 250,000 during the Rwandan genocide, and over 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998.

More recently, Ethiopia’s descent from a fast growing African country to a conflict zone has unleashed a cataclysm of sexual violence, displacement, and exploitation on Tigrayan women and girls. Multiple forms of sexual violence—including rape, sexual slavery, gang rape, sexual mutilation, and torture—have been perpetrated against women and girls in the Tigray region by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. Victims include children and pregnant women, many of whom were also held captive as sexual slaves for weeks. Some Tigrayan men and boys have also reported incidents of sexual violence against them. There are some reports of Tigrayan soldiers sexually assaulting women and girls in the Amhara region, which was under their control last year.

Ethiopia’s descent from a fast growing African country to a conflict zone has unleashed a cataclysm of sexual violence, displacement, and exploitation on Tigrayan women and girls.

According to a report by Amnesty International, most survivors of sexual violence experience severe health issues, including mental health problems, and have almost no access to medical or psychosocial services. Contrary to the provisions of international humanitarian law, medical facilities have been deliberately targeted, and are occupied by armed groups. Ambulances have been seized, and medical personnel have mostly fled out of fear. Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) teams visited 106 medical facilities across the Tigray region and found that 87 percent of the medical facilities in the region were not fully functional, 73 percent had been looted, and 30 percent had been severely damaged. As a result, most survivors of sexual assault have received little or no care.

Most genocide scholars and rights groups have asserted that sexual violence is being used by both the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces as a weapon of war in Tigray. Most victims report that they were being brutalised because of their identity and the need to ‘cleanse’ them. Scholars such as  Dyan Mazurana argue that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) is a professional army with a reputation for discipline and is the largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces. Although the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) are much less reputed than the ENDF, they can’t be termed as an out of control military force. Therefore, large scale sexual violence cannot happen without the support and encouragement of commanding officers and political leaders. In other words, the pattern of sexual violence in Tigray points to its use as a weapon in war with the intention of destroying Tigray’s population.

Based on an alarming increase in reports of large scale incidents of rape as a weapon of war by rights groups, aid workers, and medical professionals who raised concerns early on, the United Nations began an investigation in May 2021. The joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Human Rights Office found that all parties to the conflict are guilty of acts of sexual and gender-based violence. The Ethiopian government, ironically led by a Nobel Peace Laureate, Abiy Ahmed, has waged a brutal war on the Tigrayans, with scant regard for human rights. However, Ethiopian forces have not only dismissed all allegations of sexual violence over methodology, they have also failed to publicly condemn the reports. The Ethiopian forces have also effectively blocked access to humanitarian aid in Tigray, worsening an already raging famine in the Tigray region. As many as 25 aid workers have also been killed in the conflict.

Scholars such as  Dyan Mazurana argue that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) is a professional army with a reputation for discipline and is the largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces.

The impacts of sexual violence during conflicts including HIV, mental health problems, and stigmatisation often persist even after the conflict has ended. For instance, in Liberia, rates of sexual violence continue to be very high many years after the conflict formally ended due to a culture of impunity and ‘hyper masculinity’ developed during the civil war years. Most post-conflict societies do not possess the capabilities of providing medical and psychological care to survivors, let alone justice.

Global silence

Unfortunately, the issue of gender-based violence in conflicts has not received adequate attention in the discourse on gender equality and sustainable development. Sexual violence in conflict zones has often been regarded as an inevitable by-product of war and the perpetrators of violence have seldom been punished. The feeble efforts of rights groups and the United Nations (UN) have mostly failed in the Ethiopian context. With weapons flowing in easily from China, Russia, Ukraine, and most importantly, the UAE, the Ethiopian government is determined for a military solution to the conflict in Tigray with no concern over human suffering.

The Ethiopian crisis raises some tough questions though, regarding the global goal of gender equality, SDG 5, which calls for “ending violence against women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.” Is it possible to eliminate violence against women if countries refuse to take a tough stance against sexual violence in conflict zones? If respect for territorial integrity of a nation and non-interference in ‘internal’ matters override the need to condemn the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, then gender equality is a distant goal. A world that has committed to the achievement of SDGs, cannot remain silent in the face of such a massive violation of women and girls and the use of sexual violence as a weapon in conflict. There is an urgent need to mount pressure on the Ethiopian government to fulfill its obligations towards human rights and strongly condemn the sexual violence in Tigray.


*With inputs from Pranav Kumar, Research Intern at ORF.

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Author

Malancha Chakrabarty

Malancha Chakrabarty

Dr Malancha Chakrabarty is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director (Research) at the Observer Research Foundation where she coordinates the research centre Centre for New Economic ...

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