Hidden Wars Gendered Political Violence in Asia's Civil Conflicts

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has always been a part of warfare. In Asia, testimonies of egregious rape and sexual violence extend back to the Rape of Nanjing, to the experience of the Korean comfort women in World War II, and to forced marriages and sexual slavery during the Cambodian genocide. The past two decades have yielded crucial new insights about SGBV, but scholars and researchers still struggle to explain why and when this violence occurs. A major problem is that incidences of SGBV are vastly underreported; reliable data is especially scarce in Asia, where demographic and health surveys are infrequent and national reporting systems are underdeveloped relative to other parts of the globe. Asia also has some of the most protracted conflicts in the world but the complexity of subnational conflicts in Asia often masks the gendered dimensions of violence.

In Hidden Wars, Sara E. Davies and Jacqui True examine the relationship between reports of SGBV and structural gender inequality in three conflict-affected societies in Asia--Burma, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Based on extensive field research and an original dataset on conflict-related SGBV, Davies and True show how reporting is significantly constrained by a variety of factors, including normalized gendered violence as well as political dynamics affecting local civil society, humanitarian, and international organizations. They address the real-world limitations of data collection and argue that these constraints reinforce a culture of silence and impunity that perpetuates SGBV and permits governments to abrogate their responsibility for this violence. Hidden Wars breaks new methodological ground in showing that what we know about SGBV can be understood fully only if the politicized context of reporting SGBV and data collection is taken into consideration.

Sara E. Davies is Professor of International Relations at Griffith University, Australia and Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW).

Jacqui True is Professor of International Relations at Monash University and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW).

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
List of Tables and Graphs

Introduction

Chapter 1: Re-Framing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict

Chapter 2: Re-Thinking Methodologies for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict

Chapter 3: Interrogating Rumours: Beyond the "Rape as a Weapon of War" Narrative in Burma

Chapter 4: Probing Silences: Gender-Based Violence in Conflict and Peace in the Philippines

Chapter 5 Deconstructing Victory: Narratives of Absence of Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Sri Lanka

Chapter 6: Comparing Regional Patterns and Trends in Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Across Asia

Conclusion: Exposing Hidden Wars and Interrogating Silences to End Impunity

Notes
References
Index