Exposed Bodies: A Conceptual Approach to Sexual Violence during the Armenian Genocide

This chapter explores the nature of sexual violence in the context of genocide. By doing so, the author demonstrates how rape and other sex crimes are not separate and isolated forms of violence within the genocidal machinery but rather an integrated part of the whole genocidal spectrum of violence. The author argues that sexual violence is more than a violent expression of dominance; it is more than simple opportunity. Sexual violence has symbolic meaning in a genocidal continuum. The main questions this chapter will address are: how can sexual violence be situated in the genocidal intent and process, and furthermore, how can sexual violence as a physical expression of the perpetrators; social imaginaire be understood and analyzed? [Author]