Sexual violence intensifies Middle East extremism

Subject

Sexual violence in Middle East conflicts.

Significance

The campaign of rape and sexual enslavement carried out by Islamic State group (ISG) in Iraq and Syria has horrified the international community. Yet ISG is not the only group in the Middle East to adopt rape as a weapon of war. The various civil wars and insurgencies engulfing the Arab world have yielded an epidemic of sexual violence. Both rebel and state factions have used rape and sexual torture against their perceived opponents. Victims include children and men as well as women. Politically-motivated violence intermingles with criminal activities like human trafficking and forced prostitution. This complicates efforts to halt sexual violence.

Impacts

• Sexual violence intensifies the animosity between government and opposition.
• It also deepens the ethno-sectarian cleavages, making national reconciliation more difficult.
• Military intervention risks accelerating population displacement and increasing vulnerabilities to sexual violence.