Beyond the Weapon-of-War Thesis : Ordered and Enabled Wartime Sexual Violence

Abstract

This research brief presents the current state of research knowledge on the array of different types of wartime sexual violence. Drawing on the collective body of research, the brief introduces a novel categorisation of wartime sexual violence built on the distinction between ‘ordered’ and ‘enabled’ wartime sexual violence. Ordered sexual violence is carried out on the basis of explicit authorization or instruction, and generally has a strategic political and/or military purpose. Enabled sexual violence is not necessarily related to a strategic objective but is mainly facilitated by weak accountability mechanisms and norms that are supportive of sexual coercion.