Rape camps: Women and war in Bosnia

Abstract

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ethnically organized territories and redefined the ethno-national categories and groups - Serbs, Croats and Bosnians (Muslims). Beside the battles between soldiers at the front lines, several atrocities used to happen in other fields: homes, villages, cities, detention places, concentration camps, and the rape camps. This article introduces the debate about the rapes that occurred during the war in Bosnia and the ways to understand them: as a war weapon, as an ethnic cleansing tool, as an attempt to extermination.