Sexual Assault as a Weapon of War: History, Effects and Prevention

by Ifeoluwakiisi Olanrewaju

Abstract

The history of war is tightly intertwined with the history of mankind and it is trite to say that along with human existence came war. In addition, as war arises for a myriad of reasons, different weapons have been utilised throughout the generations to combat war. In our world today, forceful sexual exploitation, committed largely against women and girls, has become a tool utilised in armed conflicts. This essay focuses on the use of sex and sexual assault as a weapon of war in Nigeria, particularly in the fight against terrorism in North-east, Nigeria. Spotlight is specifically made on the history of this conflict, the consequence of uncensored use of sex as a weapon and recommendations on addressing this issue.

Sexual assault is defined as an act in which a person or group of persons wilfully or through coercion, physical force or threat of force, sexually touch another person without that person’s voluntary consent. It includes touching another person’s body in an offensive manner, even through clothes, rape, forceful giving / receiving of oral sex, inappropriate sexual comments, amongst other forms.

A weapon is a thing designed or used for inflicting harm or damage. According to the Cambridge Dictionary (online), a weapon is “any object used in fighting or war” while war is described as a “state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between state or nations” as well as factions within a state.

The North-east, Nigeria conflict started in 2009 when the insurgent movement Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, otherwise called “Boko-Haram”, began its violent campaign. Founded in 2002, in the same region as a religious movement committed to building a society based on its interpretation of Islam, the group turned violent after clashes in 2009 between Boko Haram members and the Nigerian security forces as well as the extra-judicial killing of its leader, Mohammad Yusuf. Despite government’s military intervention and support from the Civilian Joint Task Force (“Civilian JTF”), from 2010, when revenge attacks on police commenced till date, Boko Haram has reportedly abducted at least 4, 000 people and trapped tens of thousands others when it took control of north-eastern towns.

Asides the forceful abduction, extra-judicial killings of thousands of people and forceful eviction of over two million others, sexual violence and gender-based violence has been widely documented as war-fare tactics used by both the Boko Haram fighters and members of the Nigerian Security force. Researched reports by Human Rights Watch (2014), Forbes (2017), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2017 and Amnesty International (2018 & 2020), state that as much as 80, 000 women, girls and children have suffered horrific abuses not limited to battery, rape, forced marriages, forced prostitution and sexual slavery. Phrases such as “he threatened me with a knife and gun”, “he began to rape me every night”, “they fell on me”, “coerced to become girlfriend” colour these reports as they describe the sexual violations of victims.

Nordstorm (1991) in fully capturing the effect of sexual violation, using rape as a figure, said “Rape, as with all terror-warfare, is not exclusively an attack on the body — it is an attack on the ‘body-politic”.

In effect, sexual violation has severely brutalizing impacts on the psychology and physical health of individuals as well great social and economic cost to society. It results in mental trauma evidenced by acute stress disorder symptoms or post-traumatic stress disorder, exposure to sexually transmitted infections and victimization and isolation by members of the community and in the case of many women in North-east, Nigeria, discriminatory name-calling like “Boko Haram wife, book haram child”, as well as inhumane treatment because of such tags. It may also be inflicted as a predecessor to murder or death arising from depression, abortion of unwanted pregnancies, and so on.

The costs definitely weigh heavier than individual suffering as it extends to offspring that are born from sexual violation like rape, destroys family and communal ties, re-enforces gender inequalities and creates a society which normalises sexual violence. The effect of this choice weapon of war transcends generational divides because it contributes greatly to dysfunctional family lives thus affecting society.

In view of its several devastating effects, the use of sexual assault as a weapon of war can be curbed via:

1. Individual Efforts: evidenced by:

• Provision of family and community support for victims as opposed to victimization.
• Communal protection of those most vulnerable to sexual assault in war, that is women and children. Indeed, there is strength in unified numbers.

2. Institutional Support: via

• Collaboration of civil society organizations, traditional and grass-root leaders and non-governmental organizations with the government agencies in the areas of:
• Re-education of society on how to support sexual assault victims.
• Provision of grass-root access to aid whether legally, medically and as may be required.
• Creation of centralized databases on the rate of sexual assault arising from war. Reliable statistics would help in increasing the awareness on this issues as well as aid the government in development of specific, measurable and attainable framework that can address this issue.

3. Government Intervention: Which include:

• Display of accountability by the Government towards sexual exploitation. This is because each sexual assault incident amounts to a violation of both international human right and humanitarian law, which many governments, the Nigerian government inclusive, have adopted. Thorough investigations that are devoid of any bias and victim-centric must be established to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice through trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• Establishment of grass-root report mechanisms and monitoring agencies that are accessible and secure for victims to report cases of sexual exploitation. A major issue which affects the reporting and recording rate of this issue is the absence of trust by citizens in the existing structures. Reports have shown presence of further and sometimes worse sexual violations at the hands of the government-installed monitoring agents. This must be holistically investigated also with guilty personnel brought to justice.
• Establishment of reparation programs with special focus on restorative and psycho-social help for women who have suffered sexual exploitation, all at an accessible and meaningful way to victims.

In conclusion, sexual assault as a weapon of war does not attack single victims, it ravages the very core of society as its purpose is the control of socio-political processes and cultural integrity. The failure and ‘blind eye’ attitude accompanying the use of sexual assault has encouraged its impunity, thus collaborative effort must be implemented to combat this crime because

Safety and security don’t just happen: they are the result of collective consensus and public investment…We must address the roots of violence. Only then will we transform the past century’s legacy from a crushing burden into a cautionary lesson.

— Nelson Mandela, WHO (2002).