ABSTRACT
One of the new aspects of warfare that peacekeepers need to grapple with is the systematic use of sexual violence for political purposes. The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide in Rwanda are cases in point. This contribution provides an outline of the use of sexual violence in times of war, based on a survey of sources carried out in 1998. It attempts to explain how sexual violence in war can be conceptualized and how it has been described in various conflict areas in articles written in the 1990s. Also, the contribution presents findings on the effect of wartime sexual violence and then discusses the challenges this particular form of violence creates for peace operations.
