Sex and War: Beyond Rape.

When it comes to the topic of sex in the context of war much scholarly and practical concern has been shown for the terrible occurrences of rape. Evocative language describing rape as a "weapon of war" and the female body as a battlefield is now commonplace. Although some scholars note similarities with violence before, during and after conflict, very little is known about the relationship between sex and war—in other words between violent events such as rape or war and "normal" male-female relationships. Much of the work in the area of sex in the context of war is focused either on sexual violence, sexual exploitation, or HIV without putting the analysis into the broader context of sexuality and neglecting the complex interweavings of power, desire, violence and survival; or it is focused on women—particularly as victims and often minimizing or underappreciating female agency even if under seriously constrained circumstances. This post-doctoral project aims to address this gap through an in-depth ethnographic study of the relationship between sex and war in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. Building on research focusing on forced sex from over seven years of fieldwork, the study will illuminate the ways war variously works to continue, exaggerate and/or rupture "normal" social and gendered orderings of Acholi society. This has implications for understanding logics of violence and practical endeavors to prevent or respond to it.

Keywords:SEXUAL VIOLENCE, SEXUALITY, UGANDA, CONFLICTS

Disciplines:Anthropology, Language studies, Literary studies

Project type:Collaboration project