Major Conclusions
In the study entitled "Mass Rape: The War Against Women in Bosnia-Herzegovina", Alexandra Stiglmayer et al. conclude:
In Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, rape has been an instrument of ‘ethnic cleansing’. The UN Commission of experts that investigated the rapes in former Yugoslavia has concluded. ‘Rape cannot be seen as incidental to the main purpose of the aggression but as serving a strategic purpose in itself,’ reports the European Community mission concerned especially with the situation of Muslim women.The report of the humanitarian organization Amnesty International states: ‘Instances that have included sexual infringements against women are apparently part of an inclusive pattern of war conduct characterized by massive intimidation and infringements against Bosniaks and Croats.’ The American human rights organization Helsinki Watch believes that rape is being used as a ‘weapon of war’ in Bosnia-Herzegovina: ‘ Whether a woman is raped by soldiers in her home or is held in a house with other women and raped over and over again, she is raped with a political purpose – to intimidate, humiliate, and degrade her and others affected by her suffering. The effect of rape is often to ensure that women and their families will flee and never return.’ Against this background, it is obvious that rapes in Bosnia-Herzegovina are taking place ‘on a large scale’ (UN and EC), that they are acquiring a systematic character, and that ‘in by far the most instances Muslim (Bosniak) women are the victims of the Serbian forces ‘ (Amnesty International). Estimates of the number of rape victims range from 20,000 (EC) to 50,000 (Bosnian Ministry of the Interior).”
Read more about this topic: Rape In The Bosnian War
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