Violenza di genere e conflitti: considerazioni antropologiche

Based on the most recent literature, this article addresses the range of explanations usually given for episodes of gender-based violence in contexts of conflict and group rape. It scrutinizes the different points of view taken by biologists, feminists, psychoanalysts, political scientists and practitioners on gender violence and deconstructs some existing stereotypes about the violent nature of human males. The results of recent and less recent empirical anthropological research suggest the notion that many stereotypes concerning human nature and violence are still based on certain old evolutionary assumptions, often grounded on out-dated anthropological beliefs