Sex and the Single Warrior.(soldiers and rape)(Brief Article)

Publication: USA Today (Magazine)

Publication Date: 01-JUL-01

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2001 Society for the Advancement of Education

"RAPE, PILLAGE, AND BURN" has been a warrior ethic since time immemorial. It was used to describe the behavior of the Mongol hordes in their centuries-long sweep through southern and western Asia. It described the war actions of Romans and Europeans into the Middle Ages. We have heard of it in the conduct of colonial armies and revolutionary forces everywhere. The Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo reminded us that this primitive behavior--usually rape--is still evident and functioning in the actions of men in groups into the 21st century. Rape remains an operative part of military strategy as well.

Rape behavior subtly dominates the subtext of headlines and stories in several critical international disputes today. Two of these are in the decades-old dispute between Japan, on the one hand, and China, South Korea, and North Korea on the other, and in the effort to establish an International Court of Justice that will try war crimes, many of which...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.