Women’s Bodies: A Battleground of Sexuality and Violence
Women in Eastern Europe were subjected to many horrors during the 20th century, both in times of peace and times of war. They had to endure war and the killing of civilians through bombs and general warfare, but there were also violences against women that were specific to women, including military brothels, rape camps, and sex trafficking. Besides these women had many problems to deal with in the household, domestic abuse was on the rise, and because of the war many household slipped into economic despair. Poverty was a huge battle women were forced to endure which in many cases lead to prostitution, sex for food, and thus a higher risk for illness and death. On top of these women also had to deal with the political war that was governing their bodies through reproduction, contraception, and abortion. Women’s bodies were a part of the battle ground as well as a battleground themselves. By looking at the stories of women in these situations that Gail Kligman and Selma Leydesdorff tell in their books, the women in this part of the world during the 20th century were a part of an untold narrative. War is most often defined as male, the men declare war, the men command the military, the men are in combat, and the men come back from battle. However the other half of the struggle and battle are the women and girls who are subject to the horrors and aftermath of war. As civilians women are overlooked and become numbers rather than having their stories told, even though they are casualties of war. The term genocidal rape was defined in the 1980s to describe the atrocities men inflicted on women during times of war. For example the Serbian men would rape Muslim women in the former Yugoslavia, so that they would become contaminated thus destroying their reputations. This can be traced back through history through records stating that senior officers have allowed these occurrences to happen labeling them as “rest and recreation” for the soldiers. These were supposed to control and restrict the “sexual aggression” of the men and manage the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Since these actions have been continuously left out of the military data, these exploitations of women are not counted among the casualties of war. Women are again on the margins, yet used as another battleground to fight a political war. Women after being a victim of rape during war are then shunned by her husband, if they are still alive following the world, and by their families and communities. These women then fall into poverty where prostitution is an issue that can lead to health issues. Women living in poverty are then also subject to the contaminations of war and the debris left in the aftermath of war. There are food shortages and contaminated water that women who are injured by war or in poverty are not able to recover or seek treatment. Another casualty that is not documented are women and women who are victims of rape, who die in childbirth, either because they are neglected in hospitals or do not look for …show more content…
This book gave the women a voice to explain what it was like to live before, during, and after the genocide. The story of a women named Muska shows what it was like to be taken away on the trucks because of the removal of the Bosniak people. She describes how children were taken from their mothers, and how the women made themselves look as undesirable as possible in order to avoid attracting attention of the soldiers, through ash on their skin and ugly dirty old clothes. There was so much uncertainty as to what happened to relatives, since so many people were relocated to refugee camps. A main theme that is told throughout all of the women’s stories is that of isolation. The women not only felt isolated during their time at the camps or during the genocide, but afterwards as well. Because many of them are still in camps and it is a relatively recent event, there is no sense of community yet about what happened. Since they are in the camps as well they are on the outskirts of society and in a sort of inbetween
Women in Eastern Europe were subjected to many horrors during the 20th century, both in times of peace and times of war. They had to endure war and the killing of civilians through bombs and general warfare, but there were also violences against women that were specific to women, including military brothels, rape camps, and sex trafficking. Besides these women had many problems to deal with in the household, domestic abuse was on the rise, and because of the war many household slipped into economic despair. Poverty was a huge battle women were forced to endure which in many cases lead to prostitution, sex for food, and thus a higher risk for illness and death. On top of these women also had to deal with the political war that was governing their bodies through reproduction, contraception, and abortion. Women’s bodies were a part of the battle ground as well as a battleground themselves. By looking at the stories of women in these situations that Gail Kligman and Selma Leydesdorff tell in their books, the women in this part of the world during the 20th century were a part of an untold narrative. War is most often defined as male, the men declare war, the men command the military, the men are in combat, and the men come back from battle. However the other half of the struggle and battle are the women and girls who are subject to the horrors and aftermath of war. As civilians women are overlooked and become numbers rather than having their stories told, even though they are casualties of war. The term genocidal rape was defined in the 1980s to describe the atrocities men inflicted on women during times of war. For example the Serbian men would rape Muslim women in the former Yugoslavia, so that they would become contaminated thus destroying their reputations. This can be traced back through history through records stating that senior officers have allowed these occurrences to happen labeling them as “rest and recreation” for the soldiers. These were supposed to control and restrict the “sexual aggression” of the men and manage the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Since these actions have been continuously left out of the military data, these exploitations of women are not counted among the casualties of war. Women are again on the margins, yet used as another battleground to fight a political war. Women after being a victim of rape during war are then shunned by her husband, if they are still alive following the world, and by their families and communities. These women then fall into poverty where prostitution is an issue that can lead to health issues. Women living in poverty are then also subject to the contaminations of war and the debris left in the aftermath of war. There are food shortages and contaminated water that women who are injured by war or in poverty are not able to recover or seek treatment. Another casualty that is not documented are women and women who are victims of rape, who die in childbirth, either because they are neglected in hospitals or do not look for …show more content…
This book gave the women a voice to explain what it was like to live before, during, and after the genocide. The story of a women named Muska shows what it was like to be taken away on the trucks because of the removal of the Bosniak people. She describes how children were taken from their mothers, and how the women made themselves look as undesirable as possible in order to avoid attracting attention of the soldiers, through ash on their skin and ugly dirty old clothes. There was so much uncertainty as to what happened to relatives, since so many people were relocated to refugee camps. A main theme that is told throughout all of the women’s stories is that of isolation. The women not only felt isolated during their time at the camps or during the genocide, but afterwards as well. Because many of them are still in camps and it is a relatively recent event, there is no sense of community yet about what happened. Since they are in the camps as well they are on the outskirts of society and in a sort of inbetween