Wartime Sexual Violence in Guatemala and Peru

This article is a comparative analysis of sexual violence perpetrated by state armed forces during the Guatemalan and Peruvian civil wars. Focusing on the type of violation and the context in which it occurs provides new insights into the motives behind its use in war. It introduces a new data set on sexual violence compiled from truth commission documents and nongovernmental human rights organizations’ reports. The data reveal that members of the state armed forces perpetrated the majority of sexual violations, that rape and gang rape are the most frequent but not the only abuses committed, and that women are the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual violence. Aggregate patterns suggest that state authorities must have known of mass sexual abuse and failed to act in accordance with international law. Moreover, some evidence suggests sexual violence is used as a weapon of war. However, mono-causal models cannot sufficiently account for the variation and complexity in its use. Even within the same conflict, sexual violence can serve multiple functions in different contexts and at different points in time.本文针对危地马拉与秘鲁内战期间国家武装力量实施的性暴力行为开展对比分析。聚焦侵害类型与发生场景，可为战争中性暴力的实施动机提供全新研究视角。本文构建了一套全新的性暴力数据集，该数据集整合自真相委员会档案与非政府人权组织的研究报告。数据显示，绝大多数性侵害行为均由国家武装力量人员实施；强奸与轮奸是最为频发的侵害形式，但并非仅有的虐待手段；且性暴力受害者绝大多数为女性。整体数据特征表明，国家当局必然知晓大规模性虐待行为，却未依照国际法履行相应职责。此外，部分证据显示性暴力被用作战争武器。但单因果模型无法充分解释其实施形式的差异性与复杂性。即便在同一冲突中，性暴力在不同场景与不同时间节点也可发挥多重作用。