In the war on Ukraine, rape has been used as a weapon

In the war on Ukraine, rape¹ has been used as a weapon

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to British lawmaker Arminka Heli? about how rape and sexual violence are being used as weapons in Russia's war on Ukraine.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE³: A warning that this next story centers on sexual violence and war crimes.

In Ukraine, the spotlight⁴ is on executions of civilians⁵ and targeting of residential⁶ neighborhoods. But one type of war crime seems to always get less attention and virtually no accountability - rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon. It's pervasive⁷. It's been a staple⁸ of war and ethnic⁹ cleansing¹⁰ for centuries on both sides of the conflict.

ARMINKA HELIC: The bottom line is they always say to me, you know, am I not worth anything? Is my life not worth anything? Is that why I can't get justice?

FADEL: That's Arminka Helic. She has been campaigning to create a permanent, independent and international body to investigate and prosecute¹¹ rape and sexual violence as war crimes. There are horrific reports of rape in Ukraine, including that Russian troops kept 25 women in a basement outside Kyiv and repeatedly sexually assaulted them. We spoke¹² with Helic last week.

HELIC: It is not something that is just happening in Ukraine now; It's something that happened in Bosnia, in DRC, in Iraq, in Syria, in Myanmar, in Central African Republic. You name it, there is hardly a conflict where we haven't seen violence being used, particularly against women and girls, in some cases against men and boys as well.

FADEL: And yet it's the least prosecuted¹³.

HELIC: It is the least prosecuted. And the number of successful international prosecutions¹⁵ for sexual violence in conflict remains¹⁶ in the low single digits¹⁷. Now, we are kind of at a crossroads here. If we had a body that is funded, in existence, that has forensic¹⁸ trauma¹⁹ and medical experts already available to be deployed²⁰ or to be approached by the investigators²¹ in Ukraine, we would have by now had an opportunity to collect this evidence, either from the internally displaced people or from the people who have crossed the border. And there are so many women that I have met over the years who, actually, in the first couple of days were on the verge²² of reporting this crime, but as the conflict goes on and worse, as their families get affected²³, as they lose their husbands or their children get injured, women weigh it, like what is more important? Is it more important that I go and report someone who has assaulted me or that I go and have my child taken to a hospital so they get a new prosthetic leg? But in so many cases, women who have tried to forget it, they never move on.

FADEL: Yeah.

HELIC: It's so difficult because this trauma stays and lingers.

FADEL: You were a refugee from Bosnia, where Serbian forces maintained rape camps with tens of thousands of people, systemically...

HELIC: That's correct.

FADEL: ...Raped²⁴. And that led to the U.N.'s first prosecution¹⁴ of rape as a war crime. Is this what led you to take up this cause, this history?

HELIC: So I want to tell you, when I was listening to the reports of the 25 women who were kept imprisoned²⁵, it kind of brought back to me reports of what was happening in eastern Bosnia, where the same things were happening. Their women were kept until they got impregnated. And also, they were violated so much that the same message was given to them, that they would be violated so much that they will never want to have children with anyone else. And - because this is a deliberate tactic²⁶...

FADEL: Right.

HELIC: ...A way in which you dehumanize, demoralize, terrify and destroy your opponents or an entire ethnic group. You know, when soldiers rape women, they are deliberately²⁷ inflicting²⁸ trauma on civilians, creating scars that last across generations. We should stop talking about consequences of the crime, but we should start creating deterrents²⁹ so that we never, or in very few cases, have these discussions because if we don't find a way of prosecuting³⁰ this crime, if we don't find a way of flipping³¹ it from impunity³² to accountability...

FADEL: Yeah.

HELIC: ...In years to come, we will have another interview and another summit and another meeting and another communique, another U.N. Security Council resolution, and we will be just talking about something that can actually be addressed. There is no accountability.

FADEL: We discussed the women we've met, sexually violated in war only to return to their communities with shame. Many stay silent.

HELIC: We have managed to get a vaccine³³ for COVID-19 in six months, and that is amazing. The fact that in today's world, where we have technology, we have reporting, we have social media, we have every single tool that can help us, where we couldn't have that help 20 years or 30 years ago and that we cannot do much about it shows me that there is a lack of political will. It's not that it is impossible. Everything is possible. It hasn't been given the importance that it deserves. I think it's a difficult issue to discuss. Quite a few countries don't want to have anything to do with it. On the other hand, there is certain level of population that has been so damaged and traumatized that they are left behind, and I think the success of every peace should be measured by the number of prosecutions, not only for war crimes that we have seen over the last kind of 30, 40 years for the International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia or Rwanda, but also what kind of justice has been achieved and given to the victims of sexual violence because they kind of always remain the last in a row when it comes to delivering justice.

FADEL: Before this war started in Ukraine, at a February news conference Vladimir Putin made a rape joke. He quoted lyrics³⁴ from a Soviet-era punk song that referenced rape and necrophilia. And I just wonder if you - when you're watching what's unfolding that if you think this rape and sexual violence are being ordered from the top to Russian troops and how unusual that is, if it's unusual at all?

HELIC: Well, it wouldn't be unusual. It's so effective because it's not expensive. It is easy to order and easy to do, and the effect that it has, it is immeasurable because you will never see a woman who is a victim of rape going around with a medal. But you will see someone who has been at the battlefield going around with a medal.

FADEL: Yeah.

HELIC: It is kind of like a crime that is a silent crime that creates circumstances on the ground where the populations, ethnic groups disappear overnight, either because they have heard about that happening in their neighborhood, or it has happened to them, and the whole family leaves.

FADEL: Yeah. Arminka Helic, thank you so much for joining us.

HELIC: Thank you. Thank you for picking up this topic.

1 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

7 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

8 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

10 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

11 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

14 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

15 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

19 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

20 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

21 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

23 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

24 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

25 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

26 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

27 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

28 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。

29 deterrents   

制止物( deterrent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Whereas attractants, repellents, and many incitants are olfactory substances, stimulants, and deterrents are usually gustatory. 引诱剂，排斥剂还是其他的兴奋剂都是嗅觉物质，但刺激剂和阻抑剂常常是味觉物质。
• A lack of empathy for and knowledge of foreign business practices are deterrents to one's success. 投入不够以及对对外商业惯例知识的不足会对一个人成功造成很大的威胁。

30 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

31 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

32 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

33 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

34 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。