Introduction

Whether rape and sexualized violence is inherently perceived as torture is the subject of debate. For feminists such as Copelon (2004) and MacKinnon (2006), rape is in and of itself torture, while for others, such as Green and Ward (2004) and Rodley (2015 cited in Davis, 2017 and Rodley, 2002), defining rape as torture lies in state participation or culpability. For practitioners interviewed across my research projects who counselled survivors of rape in any capacity, sexualized violence has been variously defined: some as torture because of the levels of pain and humiliation inflicted on survivors, as well as any resultant traumata; some adamant that state involvement is a crucial aspect. This is the case in relation to publicly political realms, such as prisons, but also domestic and interpersonal spheres, and outside of typical conflict or persecutory violence, especially violence by partners or other family members (see also Herman, 1992; Peel, 2004). To a degree, this chapter addresses the implications of endemic levels of sexualized violence in conflict which is seldom discussed as ‘torture’ but as tactical rape (Peel, 2004; Fitzpatrick, 2016). Relevant UN Security Council Resolutions are critically explored, and more recent steps taken to define and understand such violence as torture is evaluated (for example, the recent special editions of the Torture journal which focus on sexualized, genderbased and gendered torture [2018]). However, the primary objective of this chapter is to determine what separates these categories of violence, and if or how these are contingent with case study examples of violence when we focus on forms and impacts, rather than motivations and context.

Why set this chapter as a standalone form of torture and torturous violence?

One of the key objectives in writing this book has been to challenge the ways in which discussions around sexualized violence are too often shied away from, or even directly resisted, in relation to torture narratives, conventions and even rehabilitation. This is something that happens at various levels. Many of the texts outlined in Chapter 1 go into significant depth on many forms of brutal tortures, but either skim over sexualized abuses, or discuss them as one of various but equal components of torture. Even in undertaking research for this book, I experienced a multitude of questions: why was I always talking about sexualized abuse when other abuses are ‘just as bad’?