“Wars are being fought on the bodies of women and children”: unpacking gender and the human security framework

That wartime rape and sexual violence are considered a threat to global peace and security is not new: UN Security Resolution 1820 (2008) identifies rape and sexual violence during armed conflict as a war crime and a threat to the safety of civilians as well as international peace and security. In the context of biopoltics, bodies are not pre-political; they are formed through practices of international war and security (Wilcox, 2015). Humans, therefore, are not only vulnerable to violence through their natural bodies; they also are vulnerable based on how they are socially constructed/constituted. Historically, women (and children) have been singled out as particularly vulnerable/at risk of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), while civilian men have been excluded as subjects of ‘protection’ (Carpenter, 2005). This perpetuates the male-perpetrator and female-victim paradigm, which can be harmful to male victims. Despite some advances within the field, research on gender-based violence against boys and men, during war and/or armed conflict, remains in its infancy. Drawing on gender studies more broadly, and Clark’s (2017) work on the vulnerability of the penis, the implications of the construction of men and boys as protectors - rather than in need of protection - is explored