The "Secret War Crime" That Isn't a Secret. Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Armed Conflict & War Zones - Rape is a War Crime.

Happy New Year! We’re excited to be launching Season 5 of Light ‘Em Up!

With brutal wars raging in Gaza and Ukraine — and allegations of “conflict zone sexual violence” being lodged by all parties involved in these conflicts, we turn our intensive journalistic spotlight on and focus the “heat of the truth” on the Secret War Crime — that isn’t secret at all: One of the most shameful consequences of conflict and war, “Gender Based Violence”, also referred to as GBV.

The practice of raping the women of a conquered group in war has remained a feature of warfare from the earliest records to the present.

GBV refers to any harm or suffering inflicted on a person because of their gender. It is used as a weapon of war designed to create fear, terrorize and humiliate populations, and undermine and destroy the social fabric and cohesion of communities.

Just like domestic violence, GBV can take many forms such as physical, sexual or psychological abuse and can affect anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. GBV happens to men and boys as well as women and girls.

This type of victimization is known to impact tremendously on the psyche of survivors and carries with it grave risk factors for emotional, mental, physical, and psycho-social wellbeing.

GBV can also increase the risk of:

• HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases
• unwanted pregnancies
• unsafe abortions
• maternal mortality and many other devastating outcomes.

The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court recognizes that “rape and other forms of sexual violence by combatants in the conduct of armed conflict are war crimes and can constitute genocide when it is committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a targeted group”.

A boisterous Op-ed in the New York Times declared that the “Gender Based Violence of October 7th Must Not Be Ignored” and it is incumbent upon all of us to use our voices to ensure that it isn’t ignored, not only in Israel, but globally.

Rape is a serious violation of human rights and a war crime.

As our mission is to always be “true to the truth” we’ve tunneled deep and investigated two specific conflict war zone cases of GBV for this episode.

The first is the grotesquely brutal, terror-filled story of Mary, who was forced to witness the vicious killing of her husband and two sons -- ages 5 and 7 -- by the rebel soldiers in South Sudan. She thought nothing could be worse than seeing that. Then, the soldiers yanked her 10-year-old daughter Nyalaat from her arms and turned their perverted, deviant, sexual behaviors on the little girl.

When the soldiers were done, all she could see was blood.  Nyalaat died shortly thereafter.  Mary immediately wanted to die as well after witnessing this cruel sight.  The soldiers attacked Mary, taking turns with her.  She said it happened to all of those in the camp:  little girls, women, grandmothers, they didn’t care.

The intimate nature of sexual assault (especially during war and conflict) often means that horrors such as this often go undocumented, sanitized out of history books and glossed over in news accounts that focus solely on casualties and refugee numbers.

Rape is a weapon even more powerful than a bomb or a bullet. Rape victims may appear to the community like someone who is cursed.  After rape, no one will talk to you; no man will see you as being a human being.  It has been likened to a living death.

Tune in as we bring you this fact-based, educational account of the brutality and reality of gender-based violence that occurs in global conflict and war zones.

Follow our sponsors Newsly & Feedspot