Politicization of Sexual Violence: From Abolitionism to Peacekeeping

by Carol Harrington

Overview

In the 1990s, feminist scholars on the politics of rape experienced a sudden surge of interest in their, until then, marginal field. Why was the 1990s the right time for rape to become an international security problem? Furthermore, why suddenly in the 1990s did rape become problematized as an international issue not just by the feminist fringes of protest movements but also by intergovernmental bureaucracies? To explore these questions, Carol Harrington traces the historical change in the politicization of rape as an international problem and explains how early international women's organizations gained expert authority on rape by drawing on abolitionist rhetoric of bodily integrity. She discusses why they abandoned their politicization of rape in the inter-war period and why rape only reappeared as an international security question requiring gender expertise on trauma after the Cold War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367605551
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/30/2020
Series:	Gender in a Global/Local World
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lecturer, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations vii

Acknowledgements ix

Series Editors' Preface xi

Introduction 1

1 Documenting Sexual Violence as a Problem of Individual Freedom 11

2 Unspeakable Outrages and Expertise on Women's Problems 31

3 Atrocity Propaganda, International Organizations and the Science of Peace 51

4 Silence on Sexual Violence? World War II and the United Nations Women's Bureaucracy 73

5 Pathologizing Unfreedom; Western Cold War Models of Human Rights and Public Mental Health 97

6 The Medicalization of Peacekeeping and Government of Sexual and Gender-based Violence 121

7 Gender Experts and Gender Police: Policing the Peacekeepers and Empowering Women? 145

8 Knowledge and Techniques for Governing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) 169

Conclusion 195

Bibliography 199

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

'The important contribution that Politicization of Sexual Violence makes is in revealing exactly how sexualized violence perpetrated by men against women during wartime has been turned into not just a political issue, but into an internationalized political issue. There has been nothing automatic about this issue-creating process. Carol Harrington reveals here how it has happened.' Cynthia Enloe, Clark University, USA, and author of The Curious Feminist ’As a historical account, this book is indispensible. As a theoretical contribution, it is innovative, interesting, and complex...Highly recommended.’ Choice ' ...comprehensive study of the politicisation of sexual violence within the international context... The book is written in an accessible, engaging style. Although it will be of interest predominantly within feminist scholarship, its appeal is much broader, and readers of international history and politics will find this book informative and thought-provoking.... the book provides an important reminder to academics and practitioners alike about the agenda that one brings when promoting public awareness of sexual violence.' Gender & Development

From the Publisher