Table Of ContentSexual Violence Against Men in
Global Politics
Sexual violence against men is an under- theorised and under- noticed topic,
though it is becoming increasingly apparent that this form of violence is wide-
spread. Yet despite emerging evidence documenting its incidence, especially in
conflict and post- conflict zones, efforts to understand its causes and develop
strategies to reduce it are hampered by a dearth of theoretical engagement. One
of the reasons that might explain its empirical invisibility and theoretical vacuity
is its complicated relationship with sexual violence against women. The latter is
evident empirically, theoretically, and politically, but the relationship between
these violences conjures a range of complex and controversial questions about
the ways they might be different, and why and how these differences matter.
It is the case that sexual violence (when noticed at all) has historically been
understood to happen largely, if not only, to women, allegedly because of their
gender and their ensuing place in gender orders. This begs important questions
regarding the impact of increasing knowledge about sexual violence against men,
including the impact on resources, on understandings about, and experiences of
masculinity, and whether the idea and practice of gender hierarchy is outdated.
This book engages this diverse set of questions and offers fresh analysis on the
incidences of sexual violence against men using both new and existing data.
Additionally, the authors pay close attention to some of the controversial debates
in the context of sexual violence against men, revisiting and asking new questions
about the vexed issue of masculinities and related theories of gender hierarchy.
The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sex, gender,
masculinities, corporeality, violence, and global politics, as well as to practition-
ers and activists.
Marysia Zalewski is Professor at Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom.
Paula Drumond is Assistant Professor, Institute of International Relations at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-R io), Brazil.
Elisabeth Prügl is Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and
Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.
Maria Stern is Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Writing the Self and Transforming Knowledge in International Relations
Towards a Politics of Liminality
Erzsébet Strausz
Sexual Violence Against Men in Global Politics
Edited by Marysia Zalewski, Paula Drumond, Elisabeth Prügl, and Maria Stern
Sexual Violence Against Men
in Global Politics
Edited by Marysia Zalewski,
Paula Drumond, Elisabeth Prügl, and
Maria Stern
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Marysia Zalewski, Paula Drumond,
Elisabeth Prügl, and Maria Stern; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Marysia Zalewski, Paula Drumond, Elisabeth Prügl, and
Maria Stern to be identified as the authors of the editorial matter, and of
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British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Names: Zalewski, Marysia, editor.
Title: Sexual violence against men in global politics / edited by Marysia
Zalewski [and three others].
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Series: Interventions | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017060473| ISBN 9781138209909 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315456492 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Male rape–Political aspects. | Sex crimes–Political
aspects. | Rape as a weapon of war. | War crimes.
Classification: LCC HV6558 .S4975 2018 | DDC 364.15/320811–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017060473
ISBN: 978-1-138-20990-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-45649-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
List of illustrations viii
Notes on contributors ix
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction: sexual violence against men in global politics 1
MARySIA ZALEWSkI, PAULA DRUMoND, ELISABETH PRüGL,
AND MARIA STERN
‘Tribulations’ 20
NZIZA HARoUNA D. NZISABIRA
PART I
Provocations 23
1 Provocations in debates about sexual violence against men 25
MARYSIA ZALEWSKI
2 Battle- induced urotrauma, sexual violence, and Amer ican
servicemen 43
CHRIS HENDERSHOT
3 Masculinity, men, and sexual violence in the US military 57
ELIZABETH MESok
4 Languages of castration – male genital mutilation in conflict
and its embedded messages 71
HENRI MYRTTINEN
vi Contents
5 Medical approaches to sexual violence in war, in guidelines,
and in practice 89
CAROLINE COTTET
6 The political economy of sexual violence against men and
boys in armed conflict 102
SARA MEGER
Reflections 117
Reflections on sexual violence against men and boys in
global politics 119
PAUL HIGATE AND NIVI MANCHANDA
Homo interruptus 122
PAUL kIRBy
Can our intellectual curiosity on gender cause harm? 126
MADELEINE REES
Gender, sex, and sexual violence against men 129
LAURA J. SHEPHERD
Not for the faint of heart: reflections on rape, gender, and
conflict 132
LARA STEMPLE
PART II
Framing 135
7 Uncovering men’s narratives of conflict- related sexual
violence 137
MICHELE LEIBy
8 Sex, violence, and heteronormativity: revisiting
performances of sexual violence against men in former
Yugoslavia 152
PAULA DRUMOND
Contents vii
9 ‘Only a fool …’ why men don’t disclose conflict- related
sexual violence in an age of global media 167
CHRIS DOLAN
10 Masculine subjectivities in United Nations discourse on
gender violence (1970–2015): absent actors, deviant
perpetrators, allies, and victims 184
GIZEH BECERRA
11 Sexual violence or torture?: The framing of sexual violence
against men in armed conflict in Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch reports 198
THOMAS CHARMAN
12 Conflict- related male sexual violence and the international
criminal jurisprudence 211
PATRICIA VISEUR SELLERS AND LEO C. NWOYE
Reflections 237
Familiar stories, the policing of knowledge, and other
challenges ahead 239
MARIA ERIkSSoN BAAZ
Reflections on the slippery politics of framing 243
HARRIET GRAY
Male victims: a blind spot in law 246
CHARU LATA HOGG
Sexual violence against men and boys in the Congo 249
ILOT MUTHAKA
SGBV against men and boys as a site of theoretical and
political contestation 251
JILL STEANS
‘People You May Know’ 254
KEVIN KANTOR
Index 256
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Marché d’esclaves 36
7.1 Author photograph, CVR n.d. 140
Tables
7.1 Comparing figures on CRSV 139
7.2 Probability that PTRC interviewers mark ‘sexual violence’ in
testimony, by victim sex, sexual violation type, and
interviewer sex 143
7.3 Probability that PTRC interviewers mark ‘sexual violence’ in
testimony, by victim sex and sexual violation type 146
7.4 Most frequent types of CRSV against men and women 147
Contributors
Gizeh Becerra is currently pursuing a PhD degree at the Gender Studies Insti-
tute of the University of Geneva. Her doctoral research examines the concep-
tualisation of violence against women (VAW) in the United Nations system
from the 1970s to the present day. Her thesis analyses the issue’s emergence
as an international public problem and the effects of institutionalisation on
problem framing. Her research focuses on the interactions of women’s social
movements, experts, and UN officials, and how these exchanges shaped
VAW norms over time, influencing our current understanding of the problem.
Ms Becerra has also worked with international organisations and NGos
developing research and awareness-r aising campaigns to combat VAW.
Thomas Charman is a PhD student in the School of Social and Political
Science at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on analysing
how sexual violence against men in armed conflict is framed by non-
governmental organisations and international legal tribunals, and the concep-
tual and practical implications that stem from the use of particular frames.
Caroline Cottet is the co- founder and coordinator of the Refugee Women’s
Centre, a non- profit organisation that supports women, families, and unac-
companied minors in the refugee camps of Northern France. Alongside her
activism, she partakes in academic research by writing and editing. Namely,
she is an editor for the Encounters section of Critical Military Studies and
an Editor- at-Large, specialising in gender and sexuality theory, for
E- International Relations.
Chris Dolan is the Director of Refugee Law Project, Makerere University
kampala, and a Visiting Professor at the Transitional Justice Institute and
INCORE, Ulster University. He works extensively with refugee and IDP sur-
vivors of sexual violence in conflict settings, as well as conducting research
and global advocacy on the need for inclusive approaches to gender-b ased
violence, particularly for male and LGBTI survivors of such violence. Recent
articles include ‘Inclusive Gender: Why Tackling Gender Hierarchies Cannot
be at the Expense of Human Rights and the Humanitarian Imperative’, Inter-
national Review of the Red Cross and ‘Victims Who Are Men’ in The Oxford
Handbook of Gender and Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2017).
