Description
The prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in conflict and military settings has been widely recognised. The effects of how different military organisations address this issue have been the object of far-reaching scholarly as well as political debate. The engagement of NATO with these topics, however, remains largely unexplored, despite NATO’s resurging role in the international security landscape. This paper aims to fill this gap by asking how NATO understands and addresses the problem and relevance of different forms of SGBV and what this approach means for how NATO perceives the role of its own troops in this context. Building on a feminist theoretical approach and a discourse analysis of relevant policy and doctrinal documents, the paper argues that by creating three categories of different forms of SGBV, NATO fosters an individualised rather than structural response and portrays forms of SGBV punishable under international criminal law as external to NATO. While this approach is congruent with NATO’s self-image of a righteous actor and value-based alliance, it renders SGBV committed by NATO troops outside the scope of international law. Ultimately, this paper advances the scholarly debate on SGBV and has practical implications for addressing it more effectively in military contexts.
