Book review: The political psychology of war rape: studies from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Inger Skjelsbæk has written an important, informative and well-written book about sexual violence against women in a context of war and conflict. By approaching this hideous crime from a political-psychological point of view, the author combines the two perspectives: the political, understanding violence as an intentional political action, dependent on shifting power structures and political objectives; and the psychological, exploring what rape in war means on a personal level for those exposed to such terrible crimes. The importance of a holistic view of war rape and the extreme trauma that this represents in a context of peace and conflict management is also underscored. Building peace in the aftermath of conflict is both a political and a therapeutic or psychosocial action.
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Nora Sveaass is a clinical psychologist who has worked with refugees and victims of torture for many years and has written extensively on issues related to trauma, psychology, political psychology and human rights. She holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Oslo and is Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology. She conducts a research project “Dealing with the past: victims’ experience of justice in Argentina and Peru”, and is a member of the UN Committee against Torture and chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Norwegian Psychology Association.
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