During the 36-year armed civil conflict, war rape was a common tool of torture used against women, their families, and indigenous communities, in general. Because there is considerable attention being given to the Sudan, Congo, and other areas where war rape are commonly occuring in a conflict environment, it is important to look back at the history of this war crime and consider how it has impacted violence against women and femicide in Guatemala's post-conflict environment.
Undoubtedly, the use of rape against women and their families during the 36 year armed conflict has implications for the current reality of femicide. It must be understood that the symbolism of these crimes, the abuse of women's bodies, is a tool to terrrorize the people of Guatemala at the community-level. It creates a sense of fear and chaos in the social order. Because everyone in Guatemala knows that they are vulnerable, even men know that their mothers, sisters, and wives are targeted for violence. As a result these crimes create a sense of insecurity. Who benefits from this insecurity? Narco-traffickers? Gangs? The elite, top 2-3% of Guatemala? There are no easy answers...
The truth and reconciliation process in Guatemala found that war rape as a commonly occuring feature of the oppression of indigenous women, their families, and communities. Often rapes would be carried out in public viewing as a message to the entire group and women's bodies would be brutalized in this manner to instill fear and terror while demoralizing the "enemy." One must ask, how has this dynamic of war rape translated into the current problem of femicide?
To learn more visit the Stop Femicide! web site
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