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We are currently on the verge of a new age in space activities. The proliferation of lunar exploration programmes and plans to build the first permanent settlements in the 2030s could have a great impact on future international economic and political dynamics. But what are the reasons to think of the Moon as a strategic objective? What countries are trying to capitalise on it? In the following article, I will try to answer both questions.
After the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the EU- and US-imposed sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin employed a counter-strategy: disinformation and propaganda. The Western Balkans, a key strategic partner to the EU and NATO, became a fertile ground for Russian disinformation campaigns. Capitalizing on ethnic divides, weak institutions, and the deteriorating freedom of media, the Kremlin inserted itself into the region. Using Serbia as a launch site for disinformation, Russia established a regional base for the Sputnik news agency in Belgrade.
For years Venezuela has been affected by mass displacement and famine, caused by natural disasters and a significant economic crisis. At the beginning of 2019, the United States sent food and medicines to the population of Venezuela to help mitigate the situation. President Nicolás Maduro— sworn in for a second term in January of the same year — refused to accept the help of the United States and ordered the barricade of the bridge where the American aid was supposed to be transported.
Internet shutdowns are becoming increasingly common across Africa. In Ethiopia, the practice has proven to be one of the government’s favoured tools to control information reaching its subregions’ ethnic groups since at least 2015. After the start of the Tigrayan War in November 2020, Internet cuts have heavily contributed to the creation of the humanitarian crisis.
Previous articles in this series have shed light on the evolution of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC). Growing beyond the commonly held conceptions in academia and of the industry itself, PMSCs are involved in conflicts around the world. Used by both states and non-state actors, these companies are also branching out into other demographics and types of security. These include intelligence gathering and analysis as well as cyberspace, domains that are typically the preserve of states. The cyber realm has not only been populated by a number of private cybersecurity firms but also hackers-for-hire willing to strike anyone anywhere. Additionally, this article will briefly explore the emerging opportunities for PMCSs in Latin America and China.
Public perception of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), or more colloquially mercenaries, is skewed and heavily influenced by pop culture [1]. PMSCs are not cowboys protecting a town from crime any more than they are the desperados terrorizing and extorting it. Rather, today, they are corporate entities acting on behalf of a state or another non-state actor (often NGOs or private corporations). The 21st century PMSC is more often involved in logistics, support and training than in actual combat. The combat that they do partake in is typically isolated or a defensive detail
This article will consider private military and security companies (further referred to as PMSCs) as violent, non-state actors and as a threat to existing theories of the state system. This article uses the case study of PMSCs used to protect private vessels travelling through the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden against piracy. It describes the way that PMSCs became involved in this sector and how they continue to stifle piracy, in accordance with state-centred efforts..
Today, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC) represent a growing and neglected topic in international security. Currently, various forms of PMSCs are known to be active in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Belarus, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and were also instrumental in the recent Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Furthermore, PMSCs are active in non-traditional roles such as the Cartel Wars in Mexico, the Gulf of Aden protecting freighters from Somali pirates, and, beyond these more obvious examples, PMSCs have taken on support roles for standing militaries.
A prevailing orthodoxy is recently emerging around hypersonic weapons. It is one characterised by eminent and imminent threat. This impression is largely misguided and misleading and should be challenged. Hypersonic weapons are an awesome military power that threatens to totally upend the conduct and course of modern warfare. A prevailing orthodoxy is recently emerging around hypersonic weapons. It is one characterised by eminent and imminent threat.
Space policy issues are often framed in the context of great power competition. States like Russia, the People’s Republic of China and the United States are the main drivers of technological innovation in this area, but their rivalries also constitute barriers in negotiations regarding international governance. Nonetheless, space efforts of middle powers are not just important for the preservation of these states’ economic position in the international system but
The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing “ a war within a war”, in reference to the large number of rapes perpetrated during the ongoing conflict in the Kivus. The academic literature has widely documented how rape is used as a weapon of war by combatants against women in the country. Several factors can explain, but never justify, the use of rape as a weapon of war. The two prominent ones are poverty and patriarchy. However, some researchers have challenged the ‘rape as a weapon of war narrative’, warning that this account excludes the increasing number of rapes perpetrated by ‘ordinary citizens’.
In 2014, the weaponisation of the female body materialized once again when Da’esh systematically raped and tortured thousands of Yazidi women, starting a genocide against the Yazidi people. Wrongfully labelled as dirty devil-worshippers by others, the Yazidi have suffered continuous massacres throughout history and are now faced with unbearable physical and mental traumas from the horrors brought upon them by Da’esh.
In male-dominated cultures characterised by machismo, women are victims of violence on a daily basis. In Latin America, hundreds of women are killed every year, simply for being women. Against this panoramic backdrop, this article focuses on the most severe form of violence against women (VAW); it concentrates on structural anti-female violence, particularly the weaponisation of the female body.
The use of bodies as weapons of war in the Donbas conflict is denied by the Ukrainian government and United Nations official reports, contrasting non-governmental organisation (NGO) documents which report the contrary. This article explores the gap between the survivors' testimonies, as captured by NGO research, and the official reports and questions the reasons for low victim reporting and high perpetrator impunity.
Sudan is at a democratic crossroads. In September 2019, following months of bloody protests, the thirty-year Islamic dictatorship of Omar el-Bashir was ended. [1] and a new interim civilian-military government, the Transitional Military Council (now the Sovereignty Council of Sudan), took his place. [2] The aim of this Council is to transform Sudan into a fully democratic state by 2022. [3] However, certain military elements, along with a still significant minority of Bashir’s Islamist National Congress Party still in Parliament are strongly opposed to this new objective.
The internet’s history is one of openness and decentralized control, largely supported by a US-led push for a laissez-faire approach to internet governance. An open internet was believed to be an essential building block of liberal world order, and any real drive towards global governance would open up the door to repressive regimes looking for justification to clamp down on online freedom (with China’s “great firewall” as the most obvious example).
Myanmar’s discriminatory policies against the Rohingya have been extensively addressed by academics. However, wartime sexual violence and its impact on Rohingya women have been overlooked, therefore requiring more detailed research. Attention must be dedicated to how mass rapes are being conducted against women, causing severe physical and psychological harm.
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.
[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.
Rare Earth Elements are a group of seventeen minerals that are vital for many industries, including renewable energies, high-tech, as well as defence industries. Thus, they are essential for modern economies and their armed forces. They are difficult to acquire, considering the expensive mining and refining practices necessary to exploit them. These minerals gained attention in 2010, when China, with a near-monopoly on the market, imposed a short-lived embargo on rare earth exports to Japan. More than a mere trade dispute, this incident raised concerns and questions over China’s possible use of economic statecraft. Concerned by the situation, both the United States and the European Union have engaged in taking actions that aim to strengthen their positions in the global supply chain and diminish the risks of future disruptions.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs), also known as rare earth metals or rare earths,[1] are defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as a group of seventeen elements; these are scandium, yttrium and the lanthanides.[2] They are divided into light and heavy categories.[3] The light REEs have atomic numbers between 57, 60, and 62, and are more abundant than the heavy ones. As a result, heavy REEs with atomic numbers 63 to 71 are scarcer and therefore, more expensive.
Contrary to what the name might suggest, REEs are not actually scarce.[4] Cerium (Ce) for example, the most common rare earth, with an abundance of 60 parts per million, is more common than lead (pb).[5] The least abundant, lutetium, has a crustal abundance of 0.5 parts per million. This makes it 200 times more abundant than gold.[6] They are called rare due to the fact that in the 19th century only one exploitable deposit was known: a quarry in the town of Ytterby, located in Sweden.[7]`
Nonetheless, it is important to highlight that their exploitation remains difficult to this day.[8] They are not found individually, but rather in low concentrations as part of bigger rock formations, most abundantly in the minerals bastnaesite and monazite. As a result, mining and sorting processes are very expensive.
Both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) consider these materials to be critical.[9] This means that they are essential for the well-being of their economies, while their supply may be challenged by scarcity, geopolitical disputes, trade policies or otherwise.[10] Their importance comes from their many uses. REEs are employed in almost every electronic device, in hybrid and electric vehicles, energy efficient lighting, renewable energy generation, and even fossil fuel processing.[11] In terms of military applications, rare earths are needed in the production of precision guided ammunition, lasers, defence radar systems, and even night-vision goggles.[12] They are employed in strong and permanent magnets that can resist extreme temperatures without losing their magnetic strength. As a result, they are the best option for applications such as missile control systems and fighter jets or satellite communication systems. For example, a F35 Lightning Two aircraft requires more than 400 kilograms of rare earth elements.[13] This means that every country with a modern military is to a certain extent dependent on the REE supply chain, as most of these technologies would be infeasible without them.[14] In addition, it is worth noting that today’s technology has a limited ability to recycle REEs, and there are very few other minerals that have the potential to substitute them.[15] Therefore, uninterrupted access to these elements is a worry shared by governments and defense industries alike.
With regard to the production and development of rare earths, the EU highlights that as of 2020, 98% of heavy Rare Earth production, as well as 99% of Light Rare Earth production, takes place on Chinese soil.[16] With control over approximately one third of the global proven reserves of rare earths, the country has held nearly monopolistic control of the international rare earth market ever since the 1990s. Until the late 1980s, the US was a net exporter of REEs, mainly thanks to the Mountain Pass mine in the Mojave Desert, California.[17] At that time China lowered its production prices to strengthen its own position, driving competition out of business.[18] Before joining the World Trade Organization, the PRC had introduced quotas, a list of eligible exporters, as well as prohibiting exports for processing purposes, which remained after it joined the organization.[19] Such a situation led to a decrease in funding for research and education in the US.
REEs returned to the spotlight internationally, in September 2010, after the infamous Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands incident which led to the Chinese embargo on REE exports to Japan.[20] Tensions started with a collision between the Japanese coast guard and a Chinese trawler in the East Chinese Sea, where the the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands are situated. Japan detained the captain of the Chinese vessel but was released shortly after.[21] It is reported that in response, Chinese authorities stopped all rare earth exports to Japan.[22]
It must be acknowledged that this was a one-time event. But considering the relevance of these materials, and China’s control over the market, the fear of future restrictions and supply chain bottlenecks remains ever-present.[23] Moreover, this event also highlighted the possibility that China could leverage its control over the REE markets to pursue its foreign policy and security goals, such as influencing its territorial disputes with neighbouring countries.[24] International actors have taken measures aimed at avoiding any similar situations in the future.
In the US, the Obama administration supported research and development specifically focusing on the downstream businesses of energy and defence.[25] Resource diplomacy focused on trade policy coordination and information sharing with allied countries. However, it did not clearly support upstream production, and there was limited engagement with the private sector and trade policy.[26] This is evidenced by the fact that Mountain Pass mine started operating once again in 2012. By 2015, however, the company declared bankruptcy due to an oversupply of products in the international market. At the beginning of the Trump administration, there seemed to be a mission to reverse decades long dependence on foreign imports,[27] highlighting the risks and threats for American national security originating from this dependence. Similarly, this administration showed interest in increasing funds and support for domestic upstream production. However, it can be argued that the implementation was lacklustre as budget and programme cuts have, for example, harmed interagency cooperation.[28]
In the European case, there was already a raw materials initiative in place in 2008. It was created with the aim of achieving a fair and sustainable supply of raw materials from global markets, a sustainable supply of raw materials within the EU, and resource efficiency and supply of ‘secondary raw materials’ through recycling.[29] Moreover, since 2011, the EU has addressed the markets for critical raw materials (CRM) and released a list of these materials every three years, highlighting the rate of import and substitutability.[30] As of 2020 it lists thirty CRMs.
The European Rare Earth Competency Network report in 2015 highlighted issues the EU might face and made valuable recommendations.[31] For instance, the potential of REE mining in Sweden and Greenland, which could secure European supply for decades. However, the report also highlighted that in order to make this a viable option there would need to be viable downstream processing capabilities.[32] It would be challenging to keep the process environmentally sound and to provide access to the necessary capital.
More recently, in September 2020, the European Commission presented an Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, the 2020 List of Critical Raw Materials, and a foresight study considering the 2030 and 2050 perspectives.[33] The action plan addresses the challenges in achieving the goals set by the EU Green Deal; the Union will become more reliant on Critical Raw Materials and therefore REEs as well.[34] In the latter case, the demand of those REEs used in permanent magnets could increase tenfold by 2050. Ten actions that must be implemented are highlighted in the document. The creation of the European Raw Materials Alliance is the first one. It was created with the aim of bolstering the creation of environmentally sustainable and socially equitable innovations and infrastructure. It focuses on implementing a circular economy of complex products, supporting Europe’s raw material industry capability to extract, design, manufacture, and recycle raw materials.[35]
China remains as the sole power in the rare earths industry, but these initiatives indicate that there is a reinforced interest in securing access to rare earths, both in the United States and European Union. However, considering the capital-intensive nature of some of the actions,[36] they will prove useful in the mid- to long-term, and therefore their effectiveness remains to be seen. Moreover, in times when international trade is a source of tension, a EU seeking to achieve more sovereignty over critical raw materials could bring a broader trade skirmish in return.[37]
[1] Voncken J.H.L. (2016) ‘The Rare Earth Elements—A Special Group of Metals’. In: The Rare Earth Elements. SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. Available from https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-319-26809-5_1, Accessed on 3rd December 2020.
[2] U.S. Geological Survey (n.d.) ‘Rare Earths Statistics and Information’, [online] available from https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/rare-earths-statistics-and-information, accessed on 3th December 2020.
[3] Kalantzakos, Sophia (2018) ‘What are Rare Earths?’ In China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths. New York: Oxford University Press.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Voncken J.H.L. (2016) ‘The Rare Earth Elements—A Special Group of Metals’. In: The Rare Earth Elements. SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. [online] Available from https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.gla.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-319-26809-5_1, Accessed on 3rd December 2020.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Wilson, J.D. (2017). ‘Securitising rare earth minerals’. In International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific. Pp: 167-188. Cheltenham: Edward Edgar Publishing.
[9] He, Yujia. (2018). ‘The trade-security nexus and U.S. policy making in critical minerals’. Resources Policy 59: 238-249.
European Commission. (n.d.) ‘Critical Raw Materials. International Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs’. [Online] Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_en . Accessed on 4th December 2020.
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) (2016) Assessment of Critical Minerals: Screening Methodology and Initial Application. [Online] Available from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/CSMSC%20Assessment%20of%20Critical%20Minerals%20Report%202016-03-16%20FINAL.pdf
[10] Geoscience Australia. (n. d.). ‘Critical Minerals: Introduction’. [Online] Available from https://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/resources/critical-minerals. Accessed on December 21st 2020.
[11] Hensel, N.D. (2011) ‘Economic Challenges in the Clean Energy Supply Chain: The Market for Rare Earth Minerals and Other Critical Inputs’. Business Economics 46, No. 3: 171-184.
[12] Hurst, Cindy A. (2010) ‘China’s Ace in the hole: Rare Earth Elements’. Joint Force Quarterly 59: 121-126. [Online] Available from: https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-59/jfq-59_121-126_Hurst.pdf.
[13] GRasso, V. B. (2013. ‘Rare Earth Elements in National Defense: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress’. Congressional Research Service Report.
[14] Voncken J.H.L. (2016)
[15] He, Yujia. (2018).
[16] European Commission. (n.d.) ‘Critical Raw Materials. International Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs’. [Online] Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_en . Accessed on 4th December 2020.
[17] Kalantzakos, Sophia (2018).
[18] Wilson, J.D. (2017).
[19] PRC State Economic and Trade Commission (2002) Announcement of Year 2003 Export Quota, Total Volume Distribution Criteria and Application Procedure for Export of Important Industrial Products.
PRC State Planning Commission. (2000). 10th Five Year Plan for China’s Rare Earth Industry.
[20] Wilson, J.D. (2017).
[21]McCurry, Justin (2010) ‘Japan-China row Scalates over fishing boat collision’, The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/09/japan-china-fishing-boat-collision. Accessed on 4th December 2020.
[22] King, Amy; Armstrong, Shiro (2013) ‘Did China really ban rare earth exports to Japan?’. East Asia Forum. [Online] Available from: https://crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/2432/digging-rare-earth-embargo Accessed on 4th December 2020.
Bradsher, Keith (2010) ‘Amid Tension, China Blocks Vital Exports to Japan’, The New York Times. [Online] Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/business/global/23rare.html. Accessed on 4th January 2020.
[23] Kalantzakos, Sophia (2018).
[24] Ibid.
[25] He, Yujia (2018).
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] European Commission (n.d.)
[30] European Commission (2011) Communication for the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Tackling the Challenges in Commodity Markets and on Raw Materials. [Online] Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0025&locale=en
European Commission (2014) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions On the review of the list of critical raw materials for the EU and the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative. Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52014DC0297
European Commission (2014) COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT On the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative. [Online] Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014SC0171&from=EN
European Commission (2014) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions On the review of the list of critical raw materials for the EU and the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative. Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014DC0297&from=EN
[31] The European Rare Earths Competency Network (EROCON) (2015) Strengthening the European Rare Earths Supply Chain. Challenges and Policy Options. Ref. Ares(2015)2544417 - 17/06/2015
[32] Ibid.
[33] European Commission (2020) ‘Commission announces actions to make Europe’s raw materials supply more secure and sustainable’. [Online] Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1542. Accessed 7th December 2020.
[34] European Commission (2020) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability. [Online] Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0474&from=EN
[35] European Raw Materials Alliance (n.d.) ‘European Raw Materials Alliance’. [Online] Available from: https://erma.eu. Accessed 7th December 2020.
[36] Paron, Francesco (2018) ‘Europe’s Dependence on Critical Raw Materials: Implications for the Competitiveness and Independence of Strategic Industries’. IAI Commentaries 18 , 45.
[37] White and Case (2020) ‘EU unveils action plan to secure access to critical raw materials’. [Online] Available from: https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/eu-unveils-action-plan-secure-access-critical-raw-materials. Accessed 7th December 2020.
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
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 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]
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.
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.
[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.
