Rhythm Jain
(Institute of law, Nirma University)
It is no conundrum that during any armed conflict women are subjected to sexual offenses not restricted to only rape but also sexual violence, cruelty, forced prostitution, mutilation, and bondage. Though it is also undeniable that men also are subjected to such atrocities, however, it has been found during the time of World War that women were being subjected to forced prostitution, molestation, mutilation, and in some cases even unwanted pregnancies in addition to rape and other sexual crimes, and what is even more horrendous is that such atrocities were strongly reckoned with an inevitable and certain consequence of armed conflicts until the early 1940s. In the time of World War that is to say between the period of 1920s to 1940s and even after the 1940s to 1990s, women were not able to report such crimes committed against them as rape, molestation, mutilation, forced prostitution, all these were considered to be a taboo at that time and international communities played a major role in the failure of women to seek redress or to report the crimes committed against them.
After the 1990s, it can be said that such horrifying and defenceless condition of women was recognized by the government and various organizations. For instance, in 1992, detention camps were formed with the sole purpose of raping women in Yugoslavia, however, this matter was then highlighted by some media houses before it became a global issue for international organizations and communities.
WHY IS IT INEVITABLE?
Causes:
Women are frequently left out of discussions because there isn't high-level leadership motivated to incorporate their rights, especially in Security Council negotiations and peace talks. Women's grassroots organizations that aim to establish local peace and provide services have a difficult time receiving sufficient and dependable funding. Furthermore, despite the increased risk of violence faced by women with disabilities in armed conflict, these groups are typically marginalized in policy and programming, which frequently excludes them from decision-making processes and prevents them from accessing services.
Peacekeepers are posted in very unstable regions that resemble combat areas, where there is a lack of the rule of law, social unrest, and severe psychological and economic suffering Peacekeepers can readily misuse their sway over the local populaces because of their appearance of affluence and authority.
Additionally, peacekeepers bring the "hyper-masculine ideology" that promotes sexual abuse and exploitation with them into the peace operations as members of the forces of their respective nations.
Rape is not carried out as part of a war strategy that advances the objectives of the organization, as is the case with traditional offenders (government and rebel forces), but rather as a way of sating the perpetrators' sexual impulses, which are frequently influenced by military culture. In addition to threatening physical harm, offenders also coerce sexual activity from victims by offering or declining financial help and/or humanitarian aid.
Disregarding Women’s Experiences:
The most frequent difficulty in punishing offenders is the severe underreporting of the problem, which is primarily caused by three factors. First, due to societal prejudice towards victims of abuse in their own community, denial of aid, and victims' fears of retaliation from the offender(s), victims do not file or register complaints. Secondly, higher-ranking UN representatives previously ignored such claims by saying that "boys will be boys." Third, co-workers who work as peacekeepers are used to the "wall of silence" in order to uphold the military culture's spirit of brotherhood and to defend the image of their sending nation. Whistle-blowers are therefore frequently vilified.
In contrast, the UN established the Conduct and Discipline Teams (CDTs) to initiate an inquiry and refer any significant infraction claims to the Department of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). The type of disciplinary punishment taken after a conviction depends on the offender's employment level. Only the UN Secretary-General has the authority to revoke the functional immunity enjoyed by UN civilian employees and personnel. Military personnel falls under the sovereignty of the different governments that sent them. Offending soldiers have typically been repatriated and prosecuted in their native country. Punitive measures, such as demotion or dishonourable dismissal, are frequently implemented.
The fact that international human rights law focuses more on the experiences of men than of women is one of the reasons why women's issues and the violation of their rights are a neglected component of the human rights agenda. A framework for human rights is designed to address the issues that men encounter in the public arena. Most of the human rights interpretations and processes place a higher priority on abuses of rights that affect male citizens and persons. The feminist movement has drawn emphasis on the notion that gender discrimination is the foundation of the current human rights law's functioning in addition to the fact that the idea of human rights and its processes are founded on masculine experience.
CONCLUSION
The biggest issue is with regards to gender-based violence which is inexorable in women, as the moment any war starts, women get displaced, mistreated, abused, molested, raped, and in some cases also forced to conceive, and bring such harrowing conditions to come to an end, we must provide refuge to the women who are displaced, as there have been instances wherein women who were being tortured or mistreated in their country were being denied refuge in other countries. In the case of NC v Torture Claims Appeal Board ([2022] HKCFI 3388; [2022] HKEC 4786) Court of First Instance, the appellant was a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was sexually abused and raped in her country, so she escaped from DRC to Hong Kong via Bahrain as she was seeking asylum in the UK. However, she was detained by the airport authorities as she was traveling under a fake name and nationality, consequently, her refugee status was revoked by the UNHCR. She then filed a torture claim under which she contended that if she is sent back to DRC, then, she will be exposed to all kinds of sexual abuse and violence, however, her contentions were not taken into account and she was directed to go back to DRC. The above-mentioned case exhibits the actual situation and circumstances of women during any kind of conflict and even if they file a complaint against the offenders, their complaints are repudiated. We need to make sure that women going through such ordeal are addressed with utmost consideration and sensitivity.