Systematic rape deployed honor-shame norms to destroy women as mothers
Evidence
The second fact was that in traditional, Mediterranean societies women who have been raped are often unable to find a husband and have a family. Patriarchal traditions of shame and honor make it difficult-and in some cases, impossible-for women who have been raped to be accepted as wives and mothers. The organized rapes were meant to destroy the potential of the women as mothers. The statements attributed to many rapists-that the victim would bear “Serb seed”-are the flip side of this ideology: forced impregnation of Serb nationhood, a bizarre mixture of religion and biology that can only be understood against the underlying religious mythology. — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 103
Categorization
- ADDENDUM: Directly parallels the ‘On Sacrifice’ essay’s interest in how patriarchal ideologies weaponize women’s bodies — here as genocidal strategy rather than ritual.