Clough Marinaro, IsabellaHarris, PamelaMandal, Isha2024-09-232024-09-232019Mandal, Isha. "Rape used as a weapon of war in conflict zones Case Study: Kashmir". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2019.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14490/289Thesis (B.A. in in Political Science and International Business)--John Cabot University, Fall, 2019.The use of sexual abuse and rape in wars and armed conflicts are as old as war itself. But the stigmatized and private nature of sexual assault means that these atrocities are often undocumented, left out of the historical accounts and concealed in news stories that primarily focus on casualties and means of warfare. In this discussion of arms and ammunitions, means and objectives and, soldiers and rebel groups, the violence against women in armed conflicts are often completely overlooked and underemphasized. Consequently, this thesis aims at highlighting the prevalence of sexual violence in armed conflict and, more specifically, attempts to establish the use of sexual violence as a means of warfare. It relies on the theory of Thomas and Ralph on the tradition of impunity that effectively establishes the “intent and motive of rape as an agency to subjugate and inflict shame upon their victims, and by extension to their families and communities." (Thomas and Ralph, 1994, pp. 82) In doing so, it explores the 'honor' framework that surrounds the victims of sexual violence that effectively categorizes rape as a sexual act instead of a violent one. An act that fails to categorize violence against women as torture and rather as collateral damage in armed conflicts. With the conflict in Kashmir as the case study, this thesis recognizes and analyzes the complex socio-cultural and political dynamics of the region concerning the use of sexual violence as a war tactic. Hence, to effectively examine the causes, effects, and consequences of such a tactic, the thesis is focused solely on the Indian administrated territories of Kashmir. In limiting the research, the thesis explores the shortcoming and loopholes in the existing national and international provisions on sexual violence. Finally, it emphasizes the need for command responsibility in the prosecution of the perpetrators alongside the trial of violation of human rights in civilian fast track courts as opposed to the military courts.iv, 48 pagesenAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/RapeWar crimesCrimes against womenWomen in warThesis