Civilians under the Crossfire: A Comparative Case Study of Patterns of Lethal and Sexual Violence during the War in Bosnia 1992-1995

Abstract

The study of lethal violence and the study of sexual violence in war have mainly been two distinctive research fields within the literature on civilian victimization. Researchers and academics have tended to isolate these two types of violence, and chosen to focus either on the study of lethal violence or the study of war related sexual violence. Consequently, we have little knowledge about how these two types of violence relate to each other during war. One of the main focuses and questions within the scholarly debate is whether lethal and sexual violence correlate and thus whether lethal violence can be used as a proxy for sexual violence or not. This thesis sheds light on how lethal and sexual violence relate, by applying the theoretical framework of Kalyvas (2006) “The Logic of Violence in Civil War” to explore how patterns of both lethal and sexual violence vary with levels of control. The analysis is conducted using the war in Bosnia & Herzegovina 1992-1995 as a case study, focusing on the within-variation of (sexual and lethal) violence and control. This thesis argues that sexual violence and lethal violence are two fundamentally different acts of violence, and are therefore likely to differ even within the same war. The analysis shows that patterns of lethal and sexual violence do indeed differ, and that control relates differently to lethal violence than to sexual violence. A lower degree of control coincides with lower levels of lethal violence, but not with lower levels of sexual violence. Sexual violence is widespread in areas of both high (exclusive) control and lower (fragmented) control. This thesis thus demonstrates that control is a relevant aspect to take into account when explaining patterns of lethal violence during the war in Bosnia. However, control does not emerge as an important factor in explaining variation in levels of sexual violence. Future research should focus on other aspects in explaining variation in levels of sexual violence, but also focus on different forms of sexual violence. This thesis serves as a first test of how both lethal and sexual violence vary with control, and is a contribution to the scholarly debate on lethal and sexual violence. By studying both lethal and sexual violence through one common lens, this thesis attempts to broaden the understanding of how sexual violence differs from lethal violence.