The securitization of rape: women, war and sexual violence. By Sabine Hirschauer

Abstract

The securitization of rape: women, war and sexual violence. By Sabine Hirschauer. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2014. £65.00. ISBN 978 1 13741 081 8. Available as e-book. In her new book, The securitization of rape, Sabine Hirschauer tackles the important subject of war-time rape, something that came to public attention during the wars in Bosnia and Rwanda but which seems to have become even more commonplace in subsequent conflicts in Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. The impact of conflict on women has become a prominent part of the literature in International Relations (IR), especially among those who study feminist IR and security studies. And while the issue of rape as a weapon of war has certainly been addressed by a number of authors, there is no study that I am aware of that focuses solely on this topic. Drawing on a strong theoretical framework to address the notion of ‘the securitization of rape’, and using Bosnia and Rwanda as case-studies, this volume fills a gap in the literature of the field.