Why Soldiers Rape:Wartime Sexual Violence in Peru

Michele LeibyPhD Candidate

University of New Mexicowww.MicheleLeiby.com

Study Background

• Case selection• SV in Peru is systematic, not opportunistic– SV is gender-based violence– SV is one component of repressive counter-

insurgency strategy

• How is SV used to advance military & political goals

Data

• Based on >2,000 testimonies from the CVR• Demographic data on victims and

perpetrators of violence, and contextual details on when, where and how the violence was perpetrated

• 20,089 violations (victim-violation-perpetrator)

• 14,662 unique victims

Human Rights Violations

Sexual Violations

Location and Context

Victims and Survivors

~ SV Victim Profile• Male• Young adult – middle age• Elementary education, literate• Spoke Spanish and Quechua• Peasant• Peasant orgs, co-ops

• “traitor” and “terrorist”

SV Victim Profile• Female• Single• University education• Spoke only Spanish• Housewife• Labor unions, assistance orgs,

religious/cultural orgs• “terrorist”• More likely to be prev. victimized,

know someone who was, or witness prev. crime

Content Analysis

• How did the victim come to be targeted for SV• What was s/he doing at the time of the initial

capture• What, if any, events preceded the attack• What language did the perpetrators use

during the attack

Victor• Before the community was peaceful until the SL

arrived. They forced people to support them and said they would be killed if they refused. Victor was on black list for refusing the help. One night, SL entered Victor’s house, tied him up and took him away. They beat him and threatened to kill him, but later let him go. A few months later, the military and CAD captured Victor and took him to the plaza. They stripped him in front of everyone and gave his clothes away to other community members. They brutally tortured him. They then put a bag over his head and took him away and killed him. (CVR Testimony 500173)

Fortuna and Percy• SL arrived and Fortuna invited him in for breakfast. He ate fast and

said he was going to the mountains. Three minutes later he returned and said ‘Escape! They’re coming!’ The military surrounded the house and saw the SL leave out the back door. The soldiers entered the house and asked Fortuna where the terrorist went and where they were hiding their weapons. …They stripped her and beat her, broke her arm. The soldiers separated Fortuna and Percy. They threw her on the table in the living room. She was tortured by 4 or 5 members of the military force who put a hot iron inside her vagina and rectum while they asked her about her son, the ‘terruco.’ After they were done with her, they poured fuel all over her body and torched her…The soldiers turned their attention to Percy, they took turns torturing him. One of them was called ‘negro,’ a tall black man, who burned Percy’s body with a cigarette and cut off his penis….They were tortured from 7:30am to midday. The soldiers then set the house of fire and fled.

Ciprian• During this time there was constant threat of SL

actions. Many people were displaced from the community; those that didn’t obey their orders were killed. There were about 100-200 SL in the area; they totally dominated the area. The army had bases in Machente and San Francisco and patrolled the zone. Under the pretext of looking for SL, they detained and killed a lot of people. On July 7, 1984, the SL captured and killed a soldier who was out on patrol. Afterwards, the military entered the community and gathered everyone by force. They took 43 people who were thought to be in favor of the SL and took them to the community plaza, where they were stripped and beaten. Five women were raped. Later the bodies of 31 of those captured were found in a neighboring village.

Arturo and Irene• Arturo and his wife were detained December 1,

1991. They were captured in their home by DINCOTE, who accused them of being members of the MRTA. They were taken to the beach, where they were stripped and tortured. The police told Arturo that if he didn’t cooperate with them and tell them what they wanted to know, they would rape Irene. But Arturo didn’t know what to say, so the police raped Irene. They kept asking him questions about the names of his comrades and where they kept their weapons, while forcing him to watch the abuse of his wife. When Arturo tried to stop them, the police beat him until he was unconscious.

• We used bad language to humiliate and break our targets. We would call her ‘chola fea,’ ‘chola apestosa,’ ‘la chola no sirve’. (CVR Testimony 200145)

• They said horrible things to me. They said, ‘Hey, prostitute! How many men do you throw down with every day? How many men take you, prostitute?’ (CVR Testimony 700020)

• Oye machorra! (CVR Testimony 200314)

• The DINCOTE officers brought in two policewomen. They came up to me; I was hung by my wrists naked. The female officers approached and began to make fun of me. They pulled on my penis and laughed, saying ‘Look at this poor fool; it’s so tiny. How can you call yourself a man; you are not a man.’ I was humiliated. (CVR Testimony 720038)

Conclusions

• Wartime SV is complex and may serve multiple, simultaneous functions in different conflict zones and at different stages of the war

• Viability of content analysis for imputing motives