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The following are my contributions to our group work on the article "Sexual Violence". However we worked on the introduction portion all together. The exercise was part of a course assignment. We have decided we prefer to be graded as a group for the project.

Main Introduction for the whole entry

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Sexual violence includes, but is not limited to rape. Although there is no agreed upon definition of sexual violence, the ones commonly applied encompass any act of sexual nature, or an attempt to obtain a sexual act, carried out through coercion. Sexual violence also includes physical and psychological violence directed at a person’s sexuality, including unwanted comments or advances, or acts of traffic such as forced prostitution or sexual slavery.[1][2][3]

Sexual violence, both in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread and considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common violations human beings suffer.[4][5] It is a serious public health and human rights problem and has a profound both short- and/or long- term impact on physical and mental health. Though women and girls suffer disproportionately from this kind of violence, it can occur to anybody at any age. It is also an act of violence that can be perpetrated by parents, caregivers, acquaintances and strangers, as well as intimate partners. Sexual violence is rarely a crime of passion, it is rather an aggressive act that frequently aims to express power and dominance over the victim.

Sexual violence remains highly stigmatized in all settings, thus levels of disclosure of the assault vary between regions. In general, it is a widely underreported phenomenon, thus available data tend to underestimate the true scale of the problem. In addition, sexual violence is also a neglected area of research, thus deeper understanding of the issue is imperative in order to promote a coordinated movement against it. It is important to distinguish between domestic sexual violence and conflict-related sexual violence.[6] Often, people who coerce their spouses into sexual acts believe their actions are legitimate because they are married.In times of conflict, sexual violence tends to be an inevitable repercussion of warfare trapped in an ongoing cycle of impunity.[7][8] Rape of women and of men is often used as a weapon of war, as a form of attack on the enemy, typifying the conquest and degradation of its women or men or captured male or female fighters.[9] Even if strongly prohibited by IHRL, Customary law and IHL, enforcement mechanisms are still fragile or even non-existent in many corners of the world.[10][11][12][13]

From a historical perspective sexual violence was considered as only happening to women and as being commonplace and “normal” during both war and peace times from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century. This led to the negligence of any indications of what the methods, aims and magnitude of such violence was. In fact, only at the end of the 20th century sexual violence was not considered anymore as a minor issue and was gradually criminalized with a wider focus on the victims.

Victims of sexual violence

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A whole spectrum of actors can fall victim to sexual violence. This includes women, men and children, but also people who define themselves in other terms, e. g. transgender individuals.

It is possible for individuals to be targeted based on sexual orientation or gender-exhibiting behavior. Such attacks, which are often called "corrective rapes" have been performed to conform an individual to a heterosexual orientation or to more accepted notions of behavior for the perceived gender of the victim.


Children

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Main article: Child sexual abuse

Sexual violence against children is a form of child abuse. It includes harassment and rape, as well as the use of children in prostitution or pornography.[14][15]

Sexual violence is a serious infringement upon a child's rights, and one which can result in significant physical and psychological trauma to the victim.[14][16] A 2002 WHO study approximated that 223 million children have been victims to sexual violence involving physical contact.[17] Yet, due to the sensitivity of the issue and the tendency of the crime to stay hidden, the true figure is likely to be much higher.[14][16]

Boys and girls are not targeted or experience sexual violence on equal terms. The WHO study found that 150 million girls were abused compared to 73 million boys. Other sources also conclude that girls face a greater risk of sexual violence, including prostitution.[18]

Feminism and sexual violence

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Feminist scholars and activists have made unique contributions to the discourse on sexual violence against women. They have proposed that the root causes of sexual violence lie in the social structure characterized by severe inequality, in which the male is dominant and the female exploited. Feminists also hold that the weak institutional arrangements in place to address consequences of sexual violence, as well as unfair treatment of the victims (or survivors, an alternatively proposed terminology) are direct reflections of the ways in which society regards men, women and the sexual relations between them. Furthermore, feminist critique has led to a closer convergence between feminism and psychology in the study of sexual violence [19].

Conveying a connection between gender-based sexual violence and concepts of power-seeking and subordination was pioneered in 1970s and has proven to be very influential. Within this context, rape has been assessed as a foremost tool of intimidation used by men against women [20]. Similarly, domestic violence can be viewed as a particularly severe form of patriarchal domination and oppression.[21]

Feminist interpretation of pornography also suggests a link between rape and pornography, by which pornography that degrades, humiliates and exercises violence upon the female body feeds a culture which a culture which validates this kinds of behavior.[22]

An intersection of Marxist and feminist theories has been utilized to offer additional insight to the topic of sexual violence. According to this argument, labor and sex are analogous in the roles they play in their respective overarching exploitative systems: both are produced by the exploited person and both are forcefully taken away from them. [23]

Some feminist scholars have illuminated the idea that all women cannot have uniformly similar experiences of sexual violence or its aftermath. For instance race and ethnicity are significant determinants of these experiences, which serves to show that approaches which are exclusively feminist or exclusively anti-racist in nature are misguided. Instead, a proposition has been made for use of inter-sectionality when studying these cases [24]

Feminist ideas have served as catalysts for transnational movements to combat violence against women, including sexual violence. This agenda has also been adopted by feminist organizations, as illustrated by the current initiative titled the Rape Task Force of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Domestic sexual violence

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Main article: Sexual violence by intimate partners

Domestic sexual violence includes all forms of unwanted sexual activity. It is considered abuse even if the victim may have previously engaged in consensual sexual activities with the perpetrator. Men and women can both fall victim to this type of abuse. [25]

A 2006 WHO study on physical and sexual domestic violence against women conducted across ten countries, finds that prevalence of sexual domestic violence ranges on average between 10 to 50%. Domestic sexual violence is also considerably less common than other forms of domestic violence. The variations in the findings across and within countries suggest that this type of abuse is not inevitable and can be prevented. [26]

References

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  1. ^ [WHO (2002), ’Sexual violence’, in World Report in violence and health, Chapter 6, pp. 149]
  2. ^ [Elements of Crimes, Article 7(1)(g)-6 Crimes against humanity of sexual violence, elements 1. Accessed through http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/legal%20texts%20and%20tools/official%20journal/Pages/elements%20of%20crimes.aspx]
  3. ^ [McDougall, Ms. Gay J. (1998), Special Rapporteur, Contemporary forms of slavery: systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict, Final report submitted by Ms. Jay J. McDougall, Special Rapporteur, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/13, para. 21]
  4. ^ Lindsey, Charlotte (2001). Women facing war. Geneva: ICRC. pp. 57–61.
  5. ^ "Advancement of women: ICRC statement to the United Nations, 2013". Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. ^ [Human Security Report (2012), Sexual Violence, Education and War: Beyond the mainstream narrative, Human Security Research Group, Simon Fraser University, Canada, Human Security Press]
  7. ^ International Committee of the Red Cross (2008). Women and War. Geneva: ICRC. p. 12.
  8. ^ United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2007). The shame of war: sexual violence against women and girls in conflict. OCHA/IRIN Publication. pp. 57–75.
  9. ^ Swiss S et al. Violence against women during the Liberian civil conflict. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998, 279:625–629.
  10. ^ Physicians for Human Rights (2002). War-related sexual violence in Sierra Leone : a population-based assessment : a report. Boston, MA: Physicians for Human Rights. ISBN 1-879707-37-3.
  11. ^ "Advancement of women: ICRC statement to the United Nations, 2013". Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  12. ^ Lindsey, Charlotte (2001). Women facing war. Geneva: ICRC. pp. 57–61.
  13. ^ United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2007). The shame of war: sexual violence against women and girls in conflict. OCHA/IRIN Publication.
  14. ^ a b c UNICEF(2011)Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse - Sexual violence against children. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58006.html
  15. ^ World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (1996). Declaration of the Stockholm Convention. Pg. 1. Available at: http://www.csecworldcongress.org/
  16. ^ a b OHCHR (2010). Addressing sexual violence against children. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRCChildren.aspx
  17. ^ Global Estimates of Health Consequences due to Violence against Children, op. cit. at note 8, based on estimates by G. Andrews et al., Child sexual abuse, chapter 23 in M. Ezzati et al., (2004) Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and regional burden of disease attributable to selected major risk factors (Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004), vol. 2, pp. 1851-1940, and using data of the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs for population under 18 years.
  18. ^ Pinheiro, P. (2006). Rights of the Child: Report of the Independent Expert for the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Pp. 11, 13-14, 17.
  19. ^ Ward, C. A. (1995). Attitudes toward rape: Feminist and social psychological perspectives (Vol. 8). Sage.
  20. ^ Brownmiller, S. (1972.). Against our will: men, women and rape. Available at: http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/against_our_will.html
  21. ^ Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. (1979). Violence against wives: A case against the patriarchy (pp. 179-206). New York: Free Press.
  22. ^ Brownmiller, S. (1972.). Let's put pornography back in the closet. Available at: http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/antiporno.html.
  23. ^ MacKinnon, C. A. (1982). Feminism, Marxism, method, and the state: An agenda for theory. Signs, 7(3), 515-544.
  24. ^ Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford law review, 1241-1299.
  25. ^ Smith, M. and Segal, J. (2013). Domestic Violence and Abuse: Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships. HelpGuide. Available at:http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm
  26. ^ Garcia-Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A., Ellsberg, M., Heise, L., & Watts, C. H. (2006). Prevalence of intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence. The Lancet, 368(9543), 1260-1269.
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