Neglected Bodies in International Law: Sexual Violence Against Boys
| Author | Helena Van Roosbroeck |
Neglected Bodies in International Law:
Sexual Violence Against Boys
Helena Van Roosbroeck*
I. INTRODUCTION
This Article investigates how international law interacts with sexual viole nce
against boys through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions
on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Children and Armed Conflict. While
recent years have seen increased attention towards sexual violence against men
in the context of armed conflict, there are still considerable research gaps with
regards to sexual violence against boys.1 In recent armed conflicts in Afghanistan,
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sri Lanka and Sudan there
has been word of widespread sexual violence against boys. 2 This Article
examines to what extent these events have remained absent from the research
agenda of academics, international institutions and Resolutions issued by the
UNSC. It further explores in what ways readings of armed conflict and
international law that employ a gender perspective should award special
attention to boys as a category in their own right, separate from men and in
addition to the often employed categories of children and girls. Furthermore,
the Article contends that o nly through specific attention to boys will their
experiences of sexual violence during armed conflict and in post-conflict
societies be heard.
The first Section of the Article constitutes a discourse analysis of the UNSC
Resolutions on WPS and on Children and Armed Conflict. This discourse
analysis is merged with a literature review of recent critical feminist writings
on the UNSC’s discursive interpretations of gender. These discursive
interpretations of gender are usually seen to have an impact on international
* Helena Van Roosbroeck obtained a BA in Sinology and an MA in European Studies at the
University of Leuven, Belgium. She is currently a candidate for an MA in International Law at
SOAS, University of London.
1 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – Policy Devel opment and
Studies Branch, ‘Use of Sexual Violence in Conflict: Identifying Research Priorities to Inform
More Effective Interventions’ (Meeting Report, 26 June 2008)
portal_resourc es_resource.p hp?id=1258> accessed 27 February 2013, 5.
2 ibid 6.
92 Neglected Bodies in International Law: Sexual Violence Against Boys
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norms s urrounding national, transnat ional and international gover nmental and
non-governmental organizations’ practice with regards to sexual violence in
armed co nflict. The second Sectio n explores whether o r not bo ys remain
invisible as survivors of sexual violence in recent armed conflicts. This
Section also assesses the possible consequences of overlooking boy survivors of
sexual violence, using research on sexual violence in the DRC as a case study.
In the last three Sections the Article explores a conceptual understanding of
boyhood that is crucial to constituting boys as a valid category within
understandings of gender. Particularly, in the third Section, second wave
feminists’ interpretation of ‘doing gender’ and gender as performative are
employed in relation to childhood studies through the work of Barry Thorne.
The fourth Section will explore the emerging field of girlhood studies and try to
assess whether the paradigms employed in this field can aid a novel
conceptualization of boys’ experiences. The last Section will employ an
understanding of gender as ‘embodiment’ and ‘lived body experience’ as
conceptualized by Iris Marion Young to engage in an understanding of
boyhood as a separate category, without losing sight of how divergent
institutional structures can impact the lived body experience of subjects.
This Article limits a reading of international law to the UNSC Resolutions
and there is little exploration of the different armed conflicts and studies on
armed conflicts, apart from the DRC and Afghanistan, in which systematic
sexual abuse of boys has been noted. Further research could potentially aim at
constituting a database of boy survivors of sexual violence in armed conflicts
globally. Furthermore, there has been little exploration and in-depth
engagement in the Article with questions of military masculinities. Such
theoretical insight is nonetheless important for understanding the gendered
dynamics that lie at the basis of many instances of sexual violence. As such,
this Article aims primarily to constitute an overview of the current situation of
studies on boyhood in relation to armed conflict. Moreover, it primarily
attempts to constitute an understanding of boys beyond binary understandings
of gender.
II. FROM ABSENT BODIES TO AWKWARD PRESENCE
When in 2000 the first gender-sensitive Resolution with regards to armed
conflict was issued by the UNSC, many feminists rejoiced. In its operative
paragraphs, Resolution 1325 on WPS called on all parties to armed conflicts to
adopt measures in order to protect women and girls from sexual violence and
other types of gender-based violence.3 The Resolution also urged member-
3 UNSC Res 1325 (31 October 2000) UN Doc S/RES/1325.
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