Women in the World- War and Rape

I usually make every effort to stay away from titles that have the words atlas and maps in them - I tend to have a horrible sense of direction and an inability to read maps well. However, “The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World” is a true exception. The book is captivating and as I flipped through the pages, I was enthralled with the colorful maps, graphs, and how visually friendly the book is. I was also impressed with the depth of subjects covered, from lesbian rights, murder, abortion, gender preference and breast cancer to fieldwork, migration, plastic surgery and women in the government and military. The book has fascinating statistics and unique topics that I don’t often think about. The atlas points out the continued discrepancy between men and women in countries throughout the world in every aspect of social, economic, and political life; it left a powerful impression on me. I particularly liked the two World Tables in Part 8 on Demography and Health and School, Work and Power on page 108. They were straightforward in understanding the countries who respect women and where they fare better in life.

An area that greatly disturbed me was the section regarding women and rape in war zones on page 101. Seager points out that in Iraq, women continue to be kidnapped, raped and tortured by gangs and religious extremists. Russia and India were highlighted as well. When I viewed women in the military on page 103, between 16%-23% of the women in Russia are active in armed services. Also, women in India are required to serve their countries and are currently in active duty in the armed forces. In these countries, women are fighting and serving their country but continue to be abused and raped. The atlas also states that, “many women serving in the US military in Iraq have been raped by their fellow soldiers. In 2006, 2,947 within-military sexual assaults were reported, and 2,688 in 2007.” These statistics are shocking!

Rape, sexual assault, and harassment are nothing new in the military, but today, more and more women serve in the military. The military is still a “man’s world” and woman are faced with resentment and blame from other soldiers if they report the abuse. Any soldier who reports sexual assaults in the military is seen as betraying the people she serves with, not the other way around. Women shouldn’t have to think about protecting themselves against the people they work with. They feel helpless and depressed because the very people who are supposed to look after them are the ones who are abusing them. They are not the enemy. They are let down from their own country. Many don’t know who to turn to and end up returning home emotionally unable to relate to their families and friends. They lose self-respect and feel they have lost control of their lives. Some are prone to self-destruction while others end up having panic attacks and can’t cope with everyday life. They often turn to drugs or alcohol for escape and others turn to suicide.