Citation

Hastings JA. Violence Against Women 2002; 8(10): 1153-1181.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/107780102320562673

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Although rape by soldiers occurred frequently during the recent civil war in Guatemala,rape survivors' own accounts have been excluded from public testimonials of state violence.It is commonly assumed that cultural ideologies that blame and stigmatize rapevictims are responsible for the underreporting of rape in war. Based on ethnographicresearch in a transnational Guatemalan community, this article challenges the claim thatlocal culture silences survivors of state-sponsored rape. Rather, it demonstrates the waysnational and international forces collude in the depoliticization of rape and the silencingof rape survivors.