An Independence at the Cost of Genocide and it's Aftermath

In every war, women are subjected to sexual violence including rape that is generally overlooked by the engaged groups, governments and international communities. Existing literature has showed how rapes during conflict were considered in the past, and how today, while the same strategy continues, United Nations have started identifying women sufferings, making crystal clear how rape is used as a tool of genocide. This paper analyses the concept of ‘genocidal rape’ as war crime. In this paper I argue that rape during war or armed conflict serves as an act of genocide, a pre-planned method to destroy a group in whole or in part. The objective is to discuss whether or not the rapes that took place during liberation movement of Bangladesh in 1971 may be identified as acts of genocide under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The purpose of this research is to examine 1971 mass rape from the perspectives of Bengali women who were raped in Bangladesh during its’ liberation movement.