No abstract

This article explores a particular pattern of wartime violence, the relative absence of sexual violence on the part of many armed groups. This neglected fact has important policy implications: If some groups do not engage in sexual violence, then rape is not inevitable in war as is sometimes claimed, and there are stronger grounds for holding responsible those groups that do engage in sexual violence. After developing a theoretical framework for understanding the observed variation in wartime sexual violence, the article analyzes the puzzling absence of sexual violence on the part of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka.

Los procesos sociales de la guerra civil: la transformación de redes sociales en tiempos de guerra Elisabeth Jean Wood análisis político nº 68, Bogotá, enero-abril, 2010: págs. 101-124 * Este artículo es una revisión del articulo "The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks", traducida y re-publicada, con autorizacion, del Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 11, ©2008 by Annual Reviews www.annualreviews.org. Se agradece a María Paula Saffon la lectura y comentarios sobre la traducción.

Sexual violence during war varies in extent and takes distinct forms. In some conflicts, sexual violence is widespread, yet in other conflicts—including some cases of ethnic conflict—it is quite limited. In some conflicts, sexual violence takes the form of sexual slavery; in others, torture in detention. I document this variation, particularly its absence in some conflicts and on the part of some groups. In the conclusion, I explore the relationship between strategic choices on the part of armed group leadership, the norms of combatants, dynamics within small units, and the effectiveness of military discipline.