Wartime sexual violence: Recent research findings and their implications

Despite significant advances in policies to address conflict-related sexual violence, it continues to occur in conflicts around the world, sometimes on a massive scale. This report reviews recent research on conflict-related sexual violence, noting advances and emergent themes, as well as gaps and opportunities. Among the most important advances is the widespread recognition that because it varies across armed actors, sexual violence is not inevitable during war. Scholars document the complete pattern of violence on the part of an armed organization, noting the targets of each form of violence (including boys and men in some cases, as well as LGBTQIA+ people) and assessing the extent to which the pattern reflects the organization’s ideology. Contrary to common perception, research shows that some patterns of conflict-related sexual violence do not occur as a military strategy but rather as a policy to manage the sexual and reproductive lives of combatants, and still others are driven from below by social dynamics among combatants as a social practice rather than a policy or strategy. Research in the field is sophisticated in its measurement and analysis of conflict-related sexual violence, despite the many challenges it poses. Emergent themes include the emphasis on survivor-centred research and on conflict-related reproductive and obstetric violence. Gaps in recent research include the structural causes of conflict-related sexual violence and the study of perpetrators. The report concludes with the implications of recent research for policy, particularly for the prevention of conflict-related sexual violence, and considers the promise of prosecutions, sanctions and the resocialization of armed groups.