Weaponisation of Female Bodies: the case of Guatemala as a representative for Latin America

ABSTRACT

Sexual violence perpetrated as a weapon of war is an unfortunately common phenomenon for Latin America and the Caribbean regions, especially during conflicts and civil wars. This article will trace back such practices to their origins in colonialism and the culture of machismo that permeates the region. It will do so by focusing on the exemplary case of Guatemala as the first case of a national court holding a hearing for sexual slavery perpetrated by military officials during armed conflicts as a war crime, and the success story of the indigenous women of Sepur Zarco in receiving justice for the crimes they were victims of during the 1960-1996 Guatemalan civil war. [1]

By Giulia Prior

Studies carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) highlight how sexual violence (especially against women) is a serious problem for the region. These studies also show how the region has gained international recognition for the progress made there  in the field of legal reforms aimed at addressing violence against women. [2] In fact, LAC was the first region where all countries ratified the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1993), and the first to sign a regional treaty aimed at eliminating such violence (the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women or Convention of Belem do Para, 1994). [3] The problem, however, is that the enforcement of such laws is often weak, owing to a general culture of impunity that characterises the region. Therefore, most of the protection the laws offer remains theoretical and without practical application.

The 2010 Desk Review of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative identifies the following as the most common forms of violence against women by non-partners: sexual abuse of children and youth, trafficking and sexual exploitation, sexual violence during the migration process, sexual harassment in the workplace, and sexual violence in emergencies or settings of armed conflict.

‘Rape is an instrument or weapon of war. It is a way to attack the country, killing or raping the victims. The woman was seen as a military objective.’ These were the words of Yassmin Barrios, the chief judge of a Guatemalan court that made history in February 2016 for being the first national court to hear charges of sexual slavery perpetuated during armed conflicts as a war crime. [4] The court sentenced two former members of the military to prison for sexually enslaving and murdering indigenous women (of the Maya Q’eqchi’ communities) in the military outpost of Sepur Zarco, during the 1960-1996 Guatemalan civil war. [5]

Rape used as a weapon of war in the Americas can be traced back to colonialism, when Europeans started conquering the newly discovered West and imposing their patriarchy and their views onto Indigenous people. In this period, colonisers used rape to take power over Indigenous people, to dominate Indigenous societies and to take possession of their lands. [6]

Professor Rita Laura Segato explains:

In the old conventional wars, with conquered territories came the insemination of women’s bodies. Soldiers raped the women of conquered territories as if women’s bodies were extensions of those territories. [7]

More recently the region has experienced high levels of violence, in particular during the 20th century civil wars and military dictatorships. Guatemala is an exemplary case: during the 1960-1996 civil war, under the leadership of Efrain Rios Montt, and backed by the U.S., the Indigenous population of Guatemala was targeted with massacres, forced displacement, and systemic rape employed as a tool of genocide. [8] Data shows that during this internal armed conflict, more than 100,000 women were victims of systemic rape and the main perpetrators were identified in armed groups, government, and paramilitary forces. [9]

The issue with systemic violence is that often it continues in post-conflict periods, as a legacy of war. [10] In Guatemala, nearly 10 out of 100,000 women are killed on a yearly basis and the country ranks third worldwide in the killings of women. [11]

Such high degrees of violence can be traced back to the culture of machismo that is characteristic of  the LAC region. Machismo is a stereotypical concept that emphasises hypermasculinity, and in Latin America is a legacy of the Spanish conquistadores (as the conquerors of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires were identified during the colonisation of Latin America), who shaped the region’s gender identity and gender relationships. This culture manifests itself mostly through aggressive imposition on women. [12] This patriarchal culture perpetuates narratives of impunity, violence, and discrimination that have contributed to leaving millions of women voiceless to abuses for years.

The consequences of the instrumentalisation of rape against women are not merely physical. Much deeper is the psychological trauma these women endure, the stigma from their communities, and rejection from their husbands. [13] A large number of cases go undetected because women are too afraid of the consequences of speaking up against their abusers. Moreover, resources to treat the victims in these countries are often lacking. In the words of Doctors Without Borders’ head of mission in Guatemala, Fabio Forgione: ‘In Guatemala nobody speaks about sexual violence. Survivors are stigmatised and they cannot easily find treatment in Guatemala yet. There are no resources and too little comprehension of patients’ needs by the doctors.’ [14]

The Sepur Zarco case was emblematic in this regard. In fact, the Guatemalan court also issued a reparations decision, ‘which is perhaps the strongest example to date of a national court instituting transformative and comprehensive reparations for women,’ says UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, Luiza Carvalho. [15] Other than individual monetary compensation, the decision provided for the installation of a health center in Sepur Zarco, for improving education infrastructure, and providing scholarships for women, girls, and the whole community. Additionally, these reparations include reopening dossiers for land restitution and calling for the Government to institute local community development projects. [16] These measures seek to address the broader causes and consequences of the violences perpetrated against these women and their communities.

While there have been some major steps forward that have created the conditions for women such as the Sepur Zarco abuelas (as these women are respectfully referred to) [17] to be empowered and to speak up, with actual judicial consequences, there is still a long way to go, and there are still sectors of society that remain voiceless. [18] As the article has shown, the problem of gender-based violence in Latin America is one that needs continued international attention and immediate action. This will help in shedding light on such barbaric practices, and in finding ways to overcome them.

SOURCES

[1] UN Women (2018), ‘Sepur Zarco case: The Guatemalan women who rose for justice in a war-torn nation’, [online] available from https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/10/feature-sepur-zarco-case, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[2] Sexual Violence Research Initiative SVRI (2010) ‘Sexual Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Desk Review’, [online] available from https://www.svri.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2016-07-19/f_0024041_19595_original.pdf, accessed on 30th December 2020.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Reynolds, L (2016) ‘Landmark sexual slavery case in Guatemala examines use of rape as weapon of war’, [online] available from https://ticotimes.net/2016/02/18/sexual-slavery-case-guatemala, accessed on 12th January 2021.

[5] Castillo, M (2016) ‘Guatemala sentences two to 360 years in sex slave case’, [online] available from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/2/27/guatemala-sentences-two-to-360-years-in-sex-slave-case, accessed on 29th December 2020.

[6] Muñoz, M (2017) ‘10 Reasons Why Colonialism Strengthened Rape Culture In Latinx Communities’, [online] available from https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/07/colonialism-latinx-rape-culture/, accessed on 29th December 2020.

[7] Uribe-Uran, V. M (2013) ‘An Academic’s Search for Answers to Violence against Women: An Interview with Professor Rita Laura Segato’, [online] available from https://lacc.fiu.edu/hemisphere/volume-22.pdf, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[8] Susskind, Y (2016) ‘Guilty: What the Sepur Zarco Trial Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide’, [online] available from https://www.madre.org/press-publications/article/guilty-what-sepur-zarco-trial-means-women%E2%80%99s-rights-worldwide, accessed on 30th December 2020.

[9] De Pablo, O et al. (2011) ‘Guatemalan war rape survivors: 'We have no voice'’, [online] available from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/28/guatemalan-women-mass-rape-give-evidence, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[10] Sexual Violence Research Initiative SVRI (2010) ‘Sexual Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Desk Review’, [online] available from https://www.svri.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2016-07-19/f_0024041_19595_original.pdf, accessed on 30th December 2020.

[11] Guinan, J (2015) ‘Nearly 20 years after peace pact, Guatemala's women relive violence’, [online] available from https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/world/iyw-guatemala-gender-violence/index.html, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[12] Hardin, M (2002) ‘Altering Masculinities: The Spanish Conquest and the Evolution of the Latin American Machismo’, International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1-22.

[13] Lund, G (2019) ‘The Hidden Victims of Sexual Violence in War’, [online] available from https://www.warchild.org.uk/whats-happening/blogs/hidden-victims-sexual-violence-war, accessed on 6th January 2021.

[14] Doctors Without Borders (2009) ‘Guatemala: Treating Sexual Violence, Breaking the Cycle of Fear’, [online] available from https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/guatemala-treating-sexual-violence-breaking-cycle-fear, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[15] UN Women (2016), ‘Landmark ruling in Guatemala a victory against sexual violence in armed conflict’, [online] available from https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/3/guatemala-victory-against-sexual-violence-in-armed-conflict, accessed on 31st December 2020.

[16] Ibid.

[17] UN Women (2018), ‘Sepur Zarco case: The Guatemalan women who rose for justice in a war-torn nation’, [online] available from https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/10/feature-sepur-zarco-case, last accessed on 31st December 2020.

[18] Joffily, M (2016) ‘Sexual Violence in the military dictatorships of Latin America: Who wants to know?’, [online] available from https://sur.conectas.org/en/who-wants-to-know/, accessed on 31st December 2020.

Weaponisation of Female Bodies — Part I, “Comfort Women”

Comfort women were girls and young women working as sexual slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The term is a translation of the Japanese word ianfu, which means “prostitute(s).” [1] Usually the women employed were poor and non-Japanese, as the country wanted to preserve the purity of its own women. [2] Hence, the majority of comfort women were found in Japanese occupied countries — primarily, Korea, China, and the Philippines. [3]

The existence of atrocious systems such as comfort stations, exemplifies the weaponisation of female bodies in Japan. Even though this episode of forced prostitution ended, the idea behind it remains rooted in Japanese society as the country today continues to refuse to acknowledge their crimes. The topic of weaponisation of female bodies will be discussed deeply this month, as a series of articles will be published on the matter. This article will explore the topic of comfort women — particularly, the reasons behind its existence and the consequences of this phenomenon.

By Camilla Carlesi

FRAMING THE ISSUE

Even though the brothels started by employing solely voluntary prostitutes, many women ended up being forced to work there. Most of the women were abducted from their homes with promises of false job opportunities in restaurants or hospitals. At times, they were lured by propaganda supporting gender equality and female education. [4] Due to these false pretenses, the Japanese army — guided by the orders of the general office and the ministry of the army, in particular, of the supreme commander — managed to recruit and imprison an incredible number of sex workers. There is not an agreed number on the quantity of workers involved; however, the majority of historians estimate that there were around 200,000 women. [5] Among them, 80% came from Korea. [6]

The conditions of the brothels and the way in which these women were treated were horrendous. They were humiliated in multiple ways, deprived of their identity, culture and language. [7] If they were pregnant, they were forced to abort their children. If they refused to have sex, these women were raped, beaten, or even murdered. A survivor of these crimes, Jan Ruff O’Herne, witnesses:

‘I was systematically beaten and raped day and night. Even the Japanese doctor raped me each time he visited the brothel to examine us for venereal disease. And to humiliate us even more the doors and windows were left open, so the Japanese could watch us being examined.’ [8]

Today, these crimes are recognized by most countries in Asia and elsewhere, including the Philippines, Canada, Taiwan, Germany, and Australia. In 2007, the U.S. called for the historical recognition of Japanese sexual slavery and asked Japan to publicly apologize for their atrocious actions. Japan’s response to the American request has been extremely controversial. The former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to abide by the U.S.’s demand and stated that the government already addressed the topic in the past by giving aid funds to former sex slaves, while part of the Japanese population denies the existence of evidence on the topic. [9] Even though the country devoted 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to the cause, the money does not pay for the decades of atrocities experienced by these women, especially when Japan refuses to publicly acknowledge these mistakes.

THE RATIONALE BEHIND COMFORT STATIONS

The Japanese army justified the use of comfort women in many ways; among them, the decrease of rape and the prevention of secret-leakage, internal revolts, and the spread of diseases.

I) Reduce Rape Crimes

After the atrocities which took place in the past – when Japan expanded in Manchukuo, Nanjing, Shanghai and committed mass sexual violence – the country attempted to reduce sexual crimes by providing prostitutes to its personnel. [10] According to the Japanese government, decreasing rape crimes during occupation would help the colonized countries to better accept their invasion.

II) Prevent the Leak of Information from Soldiers

By confining the military sexual interactions with comfort women to specific controlled locations, the government was able to avoid the spread of information about the Japanese military plans. The comfort stations protected against the leakage of strategic information because if any incident would have ever occurred, it would have been almost impossible for the international press to know about it. What was said in these locations stayed in these locations. [11]

III) Avoid Internal Discontent

The Japanese government believed that comfort stations offered soldiers the opportunity to let out their stress and sexual impulses. By improving the conditions of their military personnel, the authorities decreased the likelihood of internal riots and enhanced their ability to fight. [12]

IV) Decrease Venereal Diseases

Because Japanese soldiers were highly exposed to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the government implemented comfort stations to decrease such problem. Brothels had better sanitary conditions and were more controlled by doctors, which they thought would decrease transmission. [13]

CONSEQUENCES OF THE COMFORT WOMEN SYSTEM

I) Increase of Rape Crimes and Sexual Transmitted Infections

Even though the comfort stations originated from the need to decrease STDs and rape, they ended up worsening both issues. With time, the number of people infected by diseases rose incredibly, as these brothels allowed soldiers to have intercourse more often; thus, to get sick more often. In addition, the more frequent sexual interactions only increased the sexual appetite of the army. [14] Overall, the comfort women system did not bring the results that the Japanese government was expecting.

II) Rise of Mental Illnesses

The comfort women system also fueled high levels of mental illnesses. The physical abuse which these women experienced greatly impacted their psychological health. Some of the main symptoms were anger, emotional stress, and distorted perceptions. [15] Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was also a very common problem. Forced sexual labor in WWII brought acute consequences to the lives of these women, but also long-term ones. Thus, a study found that even 60 years beyond the end of the war, the women were still prone to mental illnesses. [16]

III) Stigmatization of Survivors

Other than psychological diseases, there are many additional long-term implications that followed the end of Japanese forced prostitution. For instance, women who were employed as sexual workers were rejected and abandoned by their families and communities. As a consequence of this marginalization, multiple survivors committed suicide. Today, former comfort women are still stigmatized by some of their communities for their past. [17]

IV) Negative International Response

Lastly, the legalization of forced prostitution and the mishandling of the issue by the Japanese government caused a severing of ties with the rest of the world. The issue fueled tensions with South Korea, as Japan refused to engage in an historical debate in regards to the issue. Moreover, the humanitarian crimes committed by the Japanese army shed a bad light on the country in front of the global community.

CONCLUSION

The comfort women system was a barbaric program implemented by the Japanese government. Women were forced into prostitution, beaten, and obliged to live in terrible conditions. According to the Japanese government, comfort stations appeared to be an efficient way to reduce rape, ensure secrecy, improve soldiers’ wellbeing and decrease venereal diseases. Although, this forced prostitution structure only brought a boost of STDs, rape crimes, and mental illnessess. Today, the traces of this program are still visible in Japan, where survivors are neglected and marginalized. Issues continue outside Japan as well, as the comfort women atrocities have negatively impacted the global community’s view of Japan.

This analysis of the case of comfort women is one example of the lack of an adequate response to sexual violence in the context of global gender security. The lack of a sufficient apology from the Japanese authorities damages the state’s global image and is detrimental to the fight for women’s rights and equity. The next articles of this series will further explore the topic of women as a weapon of war through other case studies and will emphasize the need for a stronger international fight for women security.

SOURCES

[1] Soh, CS (2009). ‘The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan. University of Chicago Press. 

[2] Yoshimi, Y (2002). ‘Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery in the Japanese Military during WWII.’ Columbia University Press, pp. 155.

[3] (2013). ‘Women and World War II – Comfort Women.’ Womenshistory.about.com.

[4] Yoshimi, 2002.

[5] (2007). ‘Japanese opposition calls on prime minister to acknowledge WWII sex slaves, International Herald Tribune.’

[6] Gamble, A, Watanabe, T (2004). ‘A Public Betrayed.’ Regnery Publishing.

[7] Watanabe, K (1999). ‘Trafficking in Women's Bodies, Then and Now: The Issue of Military "Comfort Women".‘ Women's Studies Quarterly, pp. 19-31, available from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40003395.

[8] O'Herne, JR (February 15, 2007). ‘Statement of Jan Ruff O'Herne AO, Subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment.’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives.

[9] Constante, A (2019). ‘Who Are the 'Comfort Women,' and Why Are U.S.-Based Memorials for Them Controversial?’ NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, available from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/who-are-comfort-women-why-are-u-s-based-memorials-n997656.

[10] Tanaka, Y (2002). ‘Japan’s Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery and Prostitution during World War II and the US Occupation,’ Routledge, pp. 45, 60.

[11] Asian Women's Fund (2007). ‘The "Comfort Women" Issue and the Asian Women's Fund.’ Asian Women's Fund.

[12] Korea Times (2007). ‘Comfort women used to prevent military revolt during war.’

[13] ‘Why Did the Japanese Military Establish the ‘Comfort Women’ System?’ Fight for Justice, available from http://fightforjustice.info/?page_id=2762.

[14] Korea Times, 2007.

[15] Min SK, Lee CH, Kim JY, Shim EJ (November 2004). ‘Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of Former Comfort Women for Japanese Army during World War II’. Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (in Korean), pp. 740–748.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Watanabe, 1999.