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.
