Politicization of Sexual Violence: From Abolitionism to Peacekeeping

Feminists of the 19th-century analyzed rape and other sexual violence in the context of abolitionism and the sanctity of the body, explains Harrington (Victoria U. of Wellington, New Zealand), but between the world wars, the issue dropped out of political debate, and was invisible to the peace movement during the Vietnam War. During the 1990s, however, it rose to prominence not as a feminist issue, but as a human rights issue connected to conflict resolution on a world scale. She traces that change and looks for explanations for why it all happened as it did. Among her topics are documenting sexual violence as a problem of individual freedom, unspeakable outrages and expertise on women's problems, Western Cold War models of human rights and public mental health, the medicalization of peacekeeping and government of sexual and gender-based violence, policing the peacekeepers and empowering women, and knowledge and techniques for governing sexual exploitation and abuse. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Lecturer, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.