Weaponisation of Sexual Violence in Conflict

This book contributes to the growing body of literature on the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war against women. Sexual violence in this context is finally receiving the attention it deserves, given the immense suffering of its victims and the widespread societal harm it causes.Focussing on how states legitimise and implement various forms of sexual violence, such as sexual slavery, harassment, and rape, as tools to torture, suppress, and silence women, it takes an international perspective to explore how women’s bodies become battlegrounds and how the state itself often acts as the perpetrator of violence. Beginning with an examination of the historical and legal contexts surrounding rape and sexual violence in international criminal law (ICL), it uses a feminist analysis of sexual violence as a weapon of war to explore the legal and political landscapes of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mexico, and Bangladesh.Showing how militarised regimes utilise various forms of sexual violence as instruments of political control and oppression, it will be of interest to all scholars and students of gender-based violence, peace and conflict studies, victimology and international law.

Atlas Torbati is a Senior Lecturer on the MA Understanding Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse (UDVSA) at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has extensive experience researching gender‑based violence within diaspora communities, with a particular focus on how migration, displacement, and cultural belonging shape experiences of harm, help‑seeking, and recovery. Her work also examines the intersections between diaspora, mental health, and lived experiences of both women and men who have been subjected to gender‑based violence.