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

Duty, Honor, and Rape: A War’s Hidden Tragedy When war erupts, the rules we lived by before the battle no longer apply. The purposeful ending of lives and the devastation of property become widely accepted, either reluctantly or wholeheartedly. We must defeat the enemy, we say. We must kill. We must win. Therefore, whatever dark side there is to being human that allows us to accomplish those goals is permitted to see the light …

…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.