Episode 5: The Weaponization of Sexual Violence

07/15/20 • 40 min

In Episode 5 of Beyond Fear: The Crimes Podcast, Alexa and Alissa interview Dr. Nicole Fox, an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Division at CSUS whose current research focuses on how post-genocide communities remember violence through the creation of national collective memories embodied in memorials and monuments. In “The Weaponization of Sexual Violence” we talk about rape as it is used during war and genocide.

At the 18:00 minute mark in this episode, Dr. Fox mentions an article that has the most accurate counts of the number of rapes that occurred during the Rwandan genocide. You can access that article by clicking here.

Dr. Fox’s forthcoming book Rising From the Ashes: Memory and Reconciliation in Rwanda After the Genocide is due out in the spring of 2021.

We recognize that every episode of this podcast can be difficult to digest, but episode 5 in particular is quite heavy. We caution that you listen with care.

For a transcript of this episode of Beyond Fear, click here.

For a direct download of this episode of Beyond Fear (MP3), click here.

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Dr. Fox’s forthcoming book Rising From the Ashes: Memory and Reconciliation in Rwanda After the Genocide is due out in the spring of 2021.

We recognize that every episode of this podcast can be difficult to digest, but episode 5 in particular is quite heavy. We caution that you listen with care.

For a transcript of this episode of Beyond Fear, click here.

For a direct download of this episode of Beyond Fear (MP3), click here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why

In Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why, Alexa and Alissa breakdown some of the various reasons why people commit acts of child sexual abuse and rape. It might come as a surprise, but there is not one reason why these kinds of offenses happen. In order to prevent future crimes from happening and to ensure that people who do sexually offend get the help they need, it is crucial that we understand the factors that lead to offending behavior in the first place.

In this episode, we bust some myths about sexual offending and provide some insight into the complex nature of sexual offending. We discuss paraphilias, cognitive distortions, grooming behavior, opportunities, adverse childhood experiences, and rape myths, among other factors.

This might be a difficult episode to listen to, as we talk about these factors in an open and non-judgemental way. We recognize how hard this can be and suggest listening with care. It is okay to listen in short chunks, listen with friend, or tune out completely.

For a transcript of The Many Reasons Why, please click here.

For a direct download of Episode 4: The Many Reasons Why, click here.

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Next Episode

Episode 6: How Hasn’t it Affected Me?

In “How Hasn’t It Affected Me?” Alexa and Alissa have a candid, unscripted, and vulnerable conversation with Monishia “Moe” Miller and Guy Hamilton-Smith. We each talk about the ways that sexual violence has impacted our lives.

As with all episodes of this podcast, we want to warn our listeners that this can be difficult to listen to. It is okay to listen with a friend, listen in short chunks, or walk away. To offer fair warning for this episode, in particular, we talk about both in the short and long-term impacts of sexual violence in our personal stories, including substance abuse, self-harm, eating disorders, workaholism and suicide attempts.

This was a special episode for us to record. We spoke with two individuals we both admire and respect. The four of us created a safe space to talk very intimately and vulnerably about the ways that sexual violence still impacts us.

Material like this can be hard to listen to. It may bring up triggers for you. There are resources available should you need. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (www.rainn.org) has an abundance of resources, including the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

Some of the material we referenced in this episode includes:

Van der Kolk, Bessel (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma.

Classen, C. C., Palesh, O. G., & Aggarwal, R. (2005). Sexual revictimization: A review of the empirical literature. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 6(2), 102-129.

Maker, A. H., Kemmelmeier, M., & Peterson, C. (2001). Child sexual abuse, peer sexual abuse, and sexual assault in adulthood: A multi-risk model of revictimization. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14(2), 351-368.

Nelson, E. C., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A., Cooper, M. L., Dinwiddie, S. H., Bucholz, K. K. et al. (2002). Association between self-reported childhood sexual abuse and adverse psychosocial outcomes: Results from a twin study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59(2), 139-45.

Arata, C. M. (2002). Child sexual abuse and sexual revictimization. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9(2), 135-164.

Fleming, J., Mullen, P. E., Sibthorpe, B., & Bammer, G. (1999). The long-term impact of childhood sexual abuse in Australian women. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23, 145-159.

Vandiver, D., Braithwaite, J., & Stafford, M. (2017). crimes and offenders: Research and realities. NY: Routledge

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/trauma-sexual-assault-and-eating-disorders

Moe is an adjunct lecturer of criminal justice at California State University, Fullerton, where she teaches courses in Juvenile Justice and Corrections. She received her Master of Science degree from California State University, Los Angeles in Criminal Justice Administration. Her research includes trauma and delinquency, youth services, and juvenile justice reform. She has worked as a youth advocate in the juvenile justice field for over twenty years.

Guy is a fellow at the Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, a 2019 JustLeadershipUSA fellow, and a writer with bylines in The Appeal, Slate, and other outlets. His work focuses primarily on the ways in which legal responses to sexual violence are ineffective and harmful, particularly focusing on post-sentence registration laws and indefinite civil imprisonment. You can read his writing on his website, https://guyhamiltonsmith.com and follow him via Twitter, @G_Padraic.

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