Hidden Wars: Gendered Political Violence in Asia's Civil Conflicts

by Sara E. Davies, Jacqui True

Overview

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has always been a part of warfare. In Asia, testimonies of egregious rape and sexual violence extend back to the Rape of Nanjing, to the experience of the Korean comfort women in World War II, and to forced marriages and sexual slavery during the Cambodian genocide. The past two decades have yielded crucial new insights about SGBV, but scholars and researchers still struggle to explain why and when this violence occurs. A major problem is that incidences of SGBV are vastly underreported; reliable data is especially scarce in Asia, where demographic and health surveys are infrequent and national reporting systems are underdeveloped relative to other parts of the globe. Asia also has some of the most protracted conflicts in the world but the complexity of subnational conflicts in Asia often masks the gendered dimensions of violence.

In Hidden Wars, Sara E. Davies and Jacqui True examine the relationship between reports of SGBV and structural gender inequality in three conflict-affected societies in Asia—Burma, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Based on extensive field research and an original dataset on conflict-related SGBV, Davies and True show how reporting is significantly constrained by a variety of factors, including normalized gendered violence as well as political dynamics affecting local civil society, humanitarian, and international organizations. They address the real-world limitations of data collection and argue that these constraints reinforce a culture of silence and impunity that perpetuates SGBV and permits governments to abrogate their responsibility for this violence. Hidden Wars breaks new methodological ground in showing that what we know about SGBV can be understood fully only if the politicized context of reporting SGBV and data collection is taken into consideration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190064167
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/22/2024
Series:	Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	9.25(w) x 6.12(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Sara E. Davies is Professor of International Relations at Griffith University, Australia and Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW).

Jacqui True is Professor of International Relations at Monash University and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
List of Tables and Graphs

Introduction

Chapter 1: Re-Framing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict

Chapter 2: Re-Thinking Methodologies for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict

Chapter 3: Interrogating Rumours: Beyond the "Rape as a Weapon of War" Narrative in Burma

Chapter 4: Probing Silences: Gender-Based Violence in Conflict and Peace in the Philippines

Chapter 5 Deconstructing Victory: Narratives of Absence of Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Sri Lanka

Chapter 6: Comparing Regional Patterns and Trends in Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Across Asia

Conclusion: Exposing Hidden Wars and Interrogating Silences to End Impunity

Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Hidden Wars is a book I have been waiting to read. It superbly captures the power dynamics shaping the narratives of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict-affected areas of Asia, and challenges us to listen to the silences, the enormous scars inflicted on women, difficult to forget but too dangerous and painful to speak about. The book provides useful insights to remedy the politics of reporting and end impunity for the violence that has shattered too many lives." — Noeleen Heyzer, former UN Special Envoy to Myanmar and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

"In this exceptional book, Davies and True underscore that before we can understand the causes of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), we need to examine how we know who is perpetrating what form of SGBV, when, and where. Based on over 10 years of research in Burma, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, they reveal the social and political conditions that hide SGBV. This book is an outstanding contribution to the field with important lessons for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike." — Robert Nagel, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security

"An important contribution on the topic of gender-based violence that highlights the structural inequalities and the 'gendered political violence' in Burma, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. This is a unique piece of work where the authors have conducted extensive research into the different debates, captured the lived realities in the three countries, and provides the reader a useful resource into multiple issues, linkages, and challenges that require attention." — Bhavani Fonseka, Senior Researcher and Attorney at Law, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka

"Hidden Wars makes a unique contribution to research and practice aiming to end the scourge of SGBV. By assisting us to better recognize factors that enable and constrain reporting, the book greatly improves our ability to understand SGBV. Through its analysis of three protracted conflicts in Asia, the book underlines how current efforts to prevent violence might exclude the most vulnerable. I highly recommend this book and believe that it will inform our discussions in the years to come." — Louise Olsson, Research Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo

"The authors duly acknowledge that there are few easy solutions either to the violence or to the inadequate reporting of it. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." — Choice

From the Publisher