This article is a comparative analysis of sexual violence perpetrated by state armed forces during the Guatemalan and Peruvian civil wars. Focusing on the type of violation and the context in which it occurs provides new insights into the motives behind its use in war. It introduces a new data set on sexual violence compiled from truth commission documents and nongovernmental human rights organizations' reports. The data reveal that members of the state armed forces perpetrated the majority of sexual violations, that rape and gang rape are the most frequent but not the only abuses committed, and that women are the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual violence. Aggregate patterns suggest that state authorities must have known of mass sexual abuse and failed to act in accordance with international law. Moreover, some evidence suggests sexual violence is used as a weapon of war. However, mono-causal models cannot sufficiently account for the variation and complexity in its use. Even within the same conflict, sexual violence can serve multiple functions in different contexts and at different points in time.The role of women and gender in analyses of the causes, costs, and consequences of civil war is not broadly recognized or systematically examined in the studies of armed conflict and political violence. This study addresses this gap by providing a comparative analysis of sexual violence during the Guatemalan and Peruvian civil wars. The article is guided by two research questions: (1) what are the primary patterns of sexual violence in each of the case study areas; and (2) why do state armed forces commit sexual violence? In exploring these questions, I hope to reorient the study of civil conflict away from its emphasis on generalized violence by analytically and empirically differentiating various forms of human rights abuse. This article represents one of the first attempts to empirically test many of the literature's competing hypotheses regarding wartime sexual violence by focusing particularly on the context in which the crimes are committed. Patterns of abuse in Guatemala and Peru demonstrate the complicity of the state in the perpetration of sexual violence, but also show that their motives or rationale for committing it are varied and subject to change over time and across regions depending on the particular social and political context they face. As policymakers and academics strive to understand the causes of wartime sexual

H uman Right Organizations (HROs) attempt to shape individuals' values and mobilize them to act. Yet little systematic research has been done to evaluate the efficacy of these efforts. We identified the three most common messaging techniques: (1) informational frames; (2) personal frames; and (3) motivational frames. We tested their efficacy using an experimental research design in which participants were randomly assigned to the control group (shown no campaign materials) or one of the treatment groups shown a campaign against sleep deprivation featuring one of these framing strategies. We then surveyed participants regarding their attitudes and their willingness to act. Results demonstrate that all three framing strategies are more effective at mobilizing consensus than action. Personal narratives are the most consistently successful, increasing individuals' sense of knowledge on the issue and their emotional reaction to the issue, leading them to reject the practice and participate in a campaign to demand its cessation.

No abstract

This article explores the methodological obstacles to research on wartime sexual violence and the extent to which they can be overcome with archival research. It discusses issues of concept formation, counting victims of human rights abuse, and coding violations. It compares figures from the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report, an analysis of the Commission's published materials, and an analysis of the primary documents and finds that (1) the number of reported cases of sexual violence is significantly higher than the 538 cited by the Commission, (2) men were more often the targets of sexual violence than previously thought, and (3) sexual humiliation and sexual torture were common practices during the war.

No abstract