University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Political Science ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 3-26-2012 State-Perpetrated Wartime Sexual Violence in Latin America Michele Leiby Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/pols_etds Recommended Citation Leiby, Michele. "State-Perpetrated Wartime Sexual Violence in Latin America." (2012). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/pols_etds/ 4 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Michele Leiby Candidate Political Science Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Christopher K. Butler , Chairperson William D. Stanley , Chairperson Kathryn Hochstetler Elisabeth Wood STATE-PERPETRATED WARTIME SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN LATIN AMERICA by MICHELE LEIBY B.A., Political Science and Spanish, Moravian College, 2002 M.A., Political Science, University of New Mexico, 2004 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Political Science The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2011 © 2011, Michele Leiby iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the victims and survivors of political violence in Peru and El Salvador. With courage, you told your stories. I consider it a great privilege and responsibility to represent those stories here. I hope that my work serves to honor your lives and memories. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes a village. I would like to take a moment to recognize those without whom this project would have been impossible. First and foremost, a very special thanks is due to the members of my committee – Christopher Butler and William Stanley of the University of New Mexico, Kathryn Hochstetler of the University of Waterloo and Elisabeth Wood of Yale University – each of whom has offered years of support and guidance. This dissertation has benefited greatly from their critical insights and wisdom. To Chris, Bill, Kathy and Libby: I consider it an honor to have had the opportunity to work with each of you and to observe the rigor and integrity with which you each approach your own research. Moving forward, I strive to emulate the example you have put forward. Beyond the committee, I have had the fortune to work with a group of world- class scholars: Patrick Ball, Dara Cohen, Scott Gates, Francisco Gutierrez, Amelia Hoover Green, Meghan Lynch and Ragnhild Nordås. Our brainstorming sessions have taught me so much and have made me a better academic. I am grateful to those individuals and institutions that believed and invested in this project: Elisabeth Wood of Yale University, the Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Feminist Research Institute, the Graduate and Professional Students Association and the Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of New Mexico. Without your financial support, this dissertation and the almost two years of international travel it required, would not have been possible. Thank you. I owe a great debt to the human rights leaders, policymakers and scholars in El Salvador, Peru and the United States who lent their time, their experiences and v their voice to this project. A special note of thanks is due to Ruth Borja and Karina Fernandez of the Centro de Información para la Memoria Colectiva y de los Derechos Humanos in Lima, Peru; and to Bruce Montgomery, David Hays and Yolanda Maloney of the University of Colorado, Archives Department. I am equally indebted to the brilliant team of research assistants with whom I worked – César Neruña, Doris Leon Gabriel, Ronald Fernandez Contreras, Erika Liseth Murcia, Gabriel Salazar Borja, José Rafael Bucheli Penafiel, Nanda Hazel-Ruiz Jones and Monica Asencio. Every day, they demonstrated a level of dedication and work ethic worthy of exclamation. I am thankful to my inter-continental “family” of dear friends who have offered their love and support to Andrew and me over the past nine years. To Chris, Karin, Elora, Connor, Beth and Chuck Butler: I am touched by your generosity and kindness. In my absence, you gave Andrew a home away from home, fully equipped with a healthy helping of leafy greens. We will both miss family dinner night. To Marie Manrique: your friendship has enriched my life in so many ways. Finally, to Andrew Mingione, who is my partner in life. Together, we have traveled tens of thousands of miles and created countless memories. There is no one else with whom I would have wanted to share this experience. I look forward to the next chapter. vi STATE-PERPETRATED WARTIME SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN LATIN AMERICA by Michele Leiby B.A. Political Science and Spanish, Moravian College, 2002 M.A. Political Science, University of New Mexico, 2004 PhD. Political Science, University of New Mexico, 2011 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the patterns and motives of state-perpetrated wartime sexual violence in Peru and El Salvador. Using a new database on sexual and other forms of political violence, it documents the prevalence and the patterns of perpetration of violence. It seeks to determine whose interests motivate the commission of sexual violence in times of war and why state armed forces commit more sexual violence in some regions and at particular moments during civil war than in others. The dissertation provides a theory of sexual violence perpetrated by state militaries during counterinsurgency conflicts. It argues that sexual violence is a deliberate act of violence perpetrated to advance the politico-military goals of the state. The results of a sub-national statistical analysis show that state-perpetrated sexual violence is most at times and in locations where rebel activity presents a threat to state power but where the rebels have not yet reached dominance. State- perpetrated sexual violence is infrequent in areas where the state retains control as well as in areas where there is a preponderance of rebel power such that the state vii cannot engage in counterinsurgency operations without risking a significant loss of life. Additional explanatory power is drawn from an analysis of the micro- patterns of state sexual violence and other forms of political violence in Peru and El Salvador. Victims of sexual violence are more likely to be educated women from urban centers who are socially or politically active in their communities. In addition, sexual violence is more likely to be perpetrated in private spaces and in state-run detention centers when commanding officers are present than other forms of political violence. Within the state armed forces, the army and police are more likely to engage in these forms of violence than other sectors of the security apparatus. Paramilitary groups and death squads are less likely to engage in sexual violence than they are to perpetrate other forms of violence, particularly lethal violence. The preponderance of evidence presented in the dissertation demonstrates that sexual violence is often an instrumental weapon of war wielded to defeat armed and unarmed opponents to the state. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures................................................................................................... xii List of Acronyms................................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Candidate Theories of Wartime Sexual Violence .......................................................... 3 Case Selection and Justification ..........................................................................................11 Data .................................................................................................................................................13 Organization of the Dissertation ........................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Towards a Theory of Wartime Sexual Violence in Counterinsurgency Wars.................................................................................................... 18 Whose Interests? Principals, Agents and Wartime Sexual Violence...................19 Opportunity Model...................................................................................................................21 Evidence Regarding Opportunity Model of Wartime Sexual Violence ..............24 State Strategy Model................................................................................................................32 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................43 Chapter 3: Data on Wartime Sexual ............................................................................... 45 Data Availability and Victim Underreporting...............................................................45 What is Sexual Violence: Legal Statutes and Social Norms.....................................49 Creating Analytical Concepts ...............................................................................................59 Who Counts: Estimating the Number of Sexual Violence Victims .......................66 Data Used in this Study ..........................................................................................................70