Sexual violence against men and boys is commonplace in many conflict-affected settings and may be frequent in relation to forced displacement as well. Adolescent boys, forming the majority of unaccompanied minors globally, are a particularly vulnerable group. Yet sensitised health services for adult and adolescent male sexual violence survivors are scarce, and barriers to accessing care remain high. We describe current challenges and gaps in the provision of health care for male survivors in settings affected by conflict and forced displacement, and provide suggestions on how to improve service provision and uptake.
The EU identifies and presents itself as an organisation founded on 'fundamental values' and as a defender and guardian of fundamental rights. The development of this 'fundamental rights myth' 1 (Smismans, 2010) has taken place against a broader background of the globalization of human rights discourse (Smismans, 2010; Stychin, 2004). The discourse of fundamental values has also increasingly become the driving narrative of the EU's foreign policy, including the Enlargement and Neighbourhood policies. Article 3(5) clarifies that 'In its relations with the wider world, the [European] Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to […] the protection of human rights.' Article 49 makes respect for the so-called founding values-'respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights' (Art. 2 TEU)-a precondition for EU membership. In recent years, LGBT rights have become part and parcel of this fundamental rights myth (Ayoub and Paternotte 2014a, p.3): being 'gay-friendly' has now become a symbol for
Researchers increasingly acknowledge that men and boys are frequent victims of sexual violence in conflict alongside women and girls, who remain the group that is disproportionately affected. This increasing awareness has contributed to significant efforts to include men and boys in conceptualisations of conflict-related sexual violence in policy as well as in international criminal law. This article analyses the changes that have occurred in these two fields in recent years. We argue that while a major shift towards including male victims in international policy on wartime sexual violence took place in 2013-2014, this development has yet to be consolidated in salient policy guidelines and handbooks. While men and boys' potential victimisation is frequently recognised, most policy documents do not treat the topic of male victimisation in depth. International criminal law on the other hand has pioneered gender-neutral and inclusive definitions. However, the interpretation and application of the gender-inclusive approach is often left to the discretion of judges and the prosecution who at times fail to take the experience of males fully into account, signalling the continuing influence of gender stereotypes and deeply held cultural myths. A renewed effort to fully integrate male victims into conceptualisations of conflict-related sexual violence in both policy and law is therefore advised.
In dominant global conceptions of conflict-related sexual violence, the experiences of male survivors, if attended to at all, have thus far almost exclusively been analysed in terms of vulnerabilities. Drawing on empirical evidence from two different cases (Uganda and Croatia), in this article we argue that essentializing and static generalizations of ‘emasculation’ fail to do justice to the complexity of male survivors’ experiences. We show that, in the two cases we examine, male survivors exercise agency and find different ways of engaging with their harmful experiences. Survivors’ agency is shaped and conditioned by different opportunity structures, and thus largely dependent on local gender relations and constructions of masculinity. To build our argument, we take inspiration from feminist international relations scholarship highlighting the active roles of women and girls as agents within the context of armed conflict, extending such analysis to the experiences of male survivors of sexual violence. By systematically analysing the forms and conditions of the agency of male survivors of sexual violence, we offer a more holistic examination of the dynamics of wartime sexual violence, contributing conceptually and empirically to research both on local/civilian agency in wartime and on conflict-related sexual violence.
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