ABSTRACT
During the preceding forty years the rapes had become neither a topic for research nor a political issue, despite their scale, their aftereffects, and the sociopolitical significance of sexual violence against women. With camps in the middle of Europe constructed expressly for the purpose of rape or sexual torture, the violence against women has reached a new level. Those who inquire about the reasons for rape run up against a confusion of myths and ideologies. The most popular and effective myth is that rape has to do with an uncontrollable male drive that, insofar as it is not restrained by culture, has to run its course in a manner that is unfortunate, to be sure, but also unavoidable. In the context of war, rape can be considered the final symbolic expression of the humiliation of the male opponent. As experience teaches, the myth of man as protector that is mobilized in wars is really nothing more than a myth.
