Women, Algerians and enemies

Résumé du document

Victims told their stories to the Truth Commission while, in another hall, in other time, perpetrators explained their deeds. During the Algerian War (1954-1962), called “the war of independence”, French soldiers raped many Algerian women, but this remains unknown because of the difficulty of getting to the sources. A long time has passed by war and its history, of rapes are kept secret by both victims and perpetrators. Thus, rapes stay anonymous among war's violence. The sexual violence against Algerian women has many goals which allow us to understand war issues more specifically. Soldiers diaries, highlighted forty years later, the rapes during the Algerian war. In his book Services Spéciaux, Algérie 1955-1957, Paul Aussaresses, general of the French army, recalls what happened during the two years of Algerian war.

Extraits

[...] Women, Algerians and Enemies 1. Introduction Victims told their stories to the Truth Commission while, in another hall, in other time, perpetrators explained their deeds. During the Algerian War (1954-1962), called the war of independence French soldiers raped lots of Algerian women, but this subject is unknown because of the difficulty of getting to the sources. For a long time passed by war and its history, rapes are kept secret by both victims and perpetrators. Thus, rapes stay anonymous among war's violence. [...]

[...] (Bourdieu 2005 : 340) There were so many rapes committed during the war of Algeria by French soldiers it became commonplace. Rape almost became part of military operations. However, as well as the character of tortures does not have to bring that they are systematic, also all the arrested women were not raped. Most of the rape during this period was against women from Kabylie. Indeed, in this part of Algeria, Islam and the religion were dominant and very rigid as regards on women's purity. [...]

[...] ] made the others leave the room and then raped her. Some time later, a second soldier, this time with the others present, raped her [ . (Fanon 2005 : 444 ) Much of the violence against the women featured sexual techniques such as burns on breasts or electrodes placed on the genitalia. One of the most common torture against women was rape. Judith Herman (Herman 2005: 369) understands rape as a gendered form of torture. Rape was sexualized violence that sought to humiliate, terrorize and destroy a women based on her identity as a woman. [...]

[...] Indeed, rape is a gender crime, a crime against dignity and honor. Lost honor implies the loss of respect. It also reinforces the social view felt by women that a raped woman is dishonourable. In sum, rape is violence against a woman's body, autonomy, integrity, security and its goal is domination. Algerian women were targets not simply because they belong to the enemy but precisely because they kept the civilian population functioning and were essential to its continuity. Moreover, Algerian women were raped because French soldiers were looking for her husband. [...]

[...] ] they massacre women and children. [ . ] Eight years of silence, what degradation! [ . ] the blinding sun of torture is at its zenith, it lights up the whole country.” (Sartre 2005: 230) Actually, French behaviour in Algeria was really violent, denying the human condition and Algerian traditions. This brings me to wonder how human beings can participate in such atrocities against other human beings. Stanley Milgram (Milgram 2005: 146) has studied obedience as a psychological mechanism. [...]