On March 31st, Senior Researcher Ragnhild Nordås published an op-ed in NRK on sexual violence in the war in Ukraine.
In her new article, Ragnhild Nordås discusses why we should expect a wave of sexual violence in the war in Ukraine and what we need to do to mitigate this problem.
Nordås notes that the Russian Armed Forces exhibit many of the characteristics that researchers have warned against, with its members comprising the types of soldiers likely to engage in sexual violence. These elements include forced recruitment - particularly of vulnerable children or young adults -, and a lack of understanding of the political aim of their country's war (which research has demonstrated affects soldiers' ability to show restraint in the use of sexual violence).
With Norway having contributed to putting sexual-based violence in war on the international agenda, Norway can contribute to ensuring that this issue is taken seriously by integrating plans to prevent sexual violence into the development of interventions, sanctions and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
Read the article here (Available in Norwegian only).
Ragnhild Nordås is Senior Researcher at PRIO and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan.
