News Archive

Rape and sexual torture of women in times of war and crisis is not a new phenomenon. However it was only recently, following reports of mass rapes perpetrated during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda, that the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war has been widely discussed.

In a free public lecture at UWA on Monday 7 May, Professor Ruth Seifert will examine why sexual violence continues to be such a pervasive and effective weapon of war.

It has largely been assumed that there is a continuum between civilian and wartime rapes, but research has shown that war rapes can be considered to be part of a cultural script that comprises a variety of messages.

Professor Seifert's lecture will examine this symbolism and discuss some theoretical approaches that may be useful in furthering understanding of this phenomenon.

Ruth Seifert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Applied Sciences, Germany. She is the author, co-editor and editor of numerous articles and books on gender and the military, gender and war, gender theory and postwar developments.

WHAT: Public Lecture - The Female Body as Political Body: Rape, War and the Nation

WHERE: Webb Lecture Theatre (G21), Ground Floor, Geography Building, UWA

WHEN:         6pm, Monday 7 May 2012

RSVP:          Not required.

Media references

Audrey Barton (UWA Institute of Advanced Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 4797