Description
Book SynopsisRape is common during wartime, but even within the context of the same war, some armed groups perpetrate rape on a massive scale while others never do. In Rape during Civil War Dara Kay Cohen examines variation in the severity and perpetrators of rape using an original dataset of reported rape during all major civil wars from 1980 to 2012. Cohen also conducted extensive fieldwork, including interviews with perpetrators of wartime rape, in three postconflict counties, finding that rape was widespread in the civil wars of the Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste but was far less common during El Salvador''s civil war.Cohen argues that armed groups that recruit their fighters through the random abduction of strangers use rapeand especially gang rapeto create bonds of loyalty and trust between soldiers. The statistical evidence confirms that armed groups that recruit using abduction are more likely to perpetrate rape than are groups that use voluntary methods, even controlling for other
Trade Review
Brilliant, groundbreaking.... [Cohen’s] ability to address this difficult subject in a way that is analytical and sensitive, and to point to clear policy prescriptions that could apply her findings to very practical solutions to the problem of wartime rape is admirable. Cohen’s approach to generating new data through innovative and careful methodologies is one that future scholars who want to study rape and other sensitive topics should follow. Rape During Civil War is an agenda-setting book, a model of high-quality scholarship and a must-read for anyone interested in stopping rape in conflict before it happens.
* The Washington Post *
[Cohen's] achievement is to shift the debate away from the question of whether rape most often occurs as a result of a deliberate military strategy, ethnic hatred, or simple opportunism and to instead focus on what she calls 'combatant socialization.'
* Foreign Affairs *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Puzzle of Rape in Civil War1. The Logic of Wartime Rape2. Research Strategy, Cross-National Evidence (1980-2012), and Statistical Tests3. Mass Rape by Rebel Actors: Sierra Leone (1991-2002)4. Mass Rape by State Actors: Timor-Leste (1975-1999)5. Less Frequent Rape in Wartime: El Salvador (1980-1992)Conclusion: Understanding and Preventing Rape during Civil War
