Duty, Honor, and Rape: A War's Hidden Tragedy

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…felt years after. Like any rifle or shell, rape in war assumes the level of being a weapon. It serves a specific military purpose. It wounds identity and pride. In a traditional society, rape is likely to be internalized by the victim, her family, and in the end, by the community in which she lives. In this manner, raping the women of a defeated people or nation becomes part of the effort to destroy them.