Advances in Applied Sociology
2012. Vol.2, No.1, 47-52
Published Online March 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/aasoci) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/aasoci.2012.21006
Rape and HIV as Methods of Waging War: Epidemiological
Criminology’s Response
Ishita Chowdhury, Mark M. Lanier
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA
Received December 10th, 2011; revised J an ua ry 8th, 2012; accepted January 26th, 2012
Rape is normally committed, examined and conceptualized as an act committed by an individual and is
explained as an act of power and control over the victims. Rape is less often examined from the context of
group behavior and as a function of group dynamics. In wartime, rape has historically been associated
with “spoils of war” and rape has only recently been used a tactical weapon of war. One tactical objective
of rape is to demoralize populations and a more sinister objective is to promote slow genocide when sys-
tematic rape is coupled with high rates of HIV infection such as is found in much of continental Africa.
We provide an integrative theoretical response, Epidemiological Criminology, and specific policy sugges-
tions to combat this crime.
Keywords: HIV; AIDS; Rape; War; Epidemiological Criminology; Genocide
Introduction
Dating from the very first wars and civil disturbances, “rape
and pillage” of the losing force has been one of the “spoils of
war” taken by the victors. In ancient times in addition to rape
and pillage, slavery was commonly employed against losing
families, tribes, city-states or countries. More recently Russian
infantrymen raped hundreds of thousands of German women at
the conclusion of World War II, particularly in Berlin. Most
recently, in contemporary Africa, soldiers are using rape for
specific tactical reasons that transcend traditional violations
used by conquering armies.
Both in the context of war and outside of war, rape is a crime
that often goes unreported by the victim (Kilpatrick, 2000). In
the United States it is estimated that over 60% of rapes/sexual
assaults are not reported to the police (RAINN reports). When
rape is reported numbers are often disturbingly high. For in-
stance, in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) there are over
50,000 reported rapes every year and nearly three quarters of
the offenders are known to the victim (Quantitative Research
Findings, 2005). The remaining quarter of reported rapes, or
roughly 13,000 rapes, are committed by strangers in RSA. In-
cluded among these stranger rapes is the “serial rapist” (deWet,
Labuschagne and Chiroro, 2009). The serial rapist has recently
been the topic of profiling and the “typical” serial rapist was
found to be a laborer, of lower education (Grade 1 - Grade 6)
and under 32 years of age. This is the same demographic profile
of soldiers in Africa and elsewhere. Soldiers have been identi-
fied as rapists on several different instances on the African
continent, and elsewhere. One consequence of rape is infection
with sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV.
HIV/AIDS differentially and disproportionally impacts wo men
(Zaitzow, 2001). When coupled with both the physical and
psychological trauma associated with rape and war, the added
toll of HIV/AIDS infection is significant. It is not hyperbole to
state that this could be the “perfect storm” of harm to women.
Unfortunately it is all too real and exists. Human trafficking
(Lutya & Lanier, 2009) is the only other crime that is similarly
widespread harmful on multiple fronts.
Despite the chronological and empirical documentation of
the act there has never been a theoretical explanation, much less
suggestive strategies to combat this ailment founded on applied
sociological theory (Merton, 1968) and based on soc ial science
empirical analysis. Epidemiological Criminology presents one
such bridging theory. This paper explores that theoretical po-
tential in the context of preventing rape as a tactical weapon of
war.
Literature Review
Rape and War: HIV Used as a Weapon of War
Rape has been used previously as a weapon of war in several
African countries, most notably in Rwanda during the 1994
genocide according to Chelala (2005). In war torn Rwanda,
rape as a weapon of war has decreased in frequency and it is
also reported to have subsided in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
However, systematic rape continues on a wide scale in the De-
mocratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Sudan (Chelala,
2005). Rape as a war tactic is particularly harmful because wo-
men are subjected to humiliation, physically harmed and men-
tally traumatized. In addition, often as a result, women are also
being infected with the deathly diseases such as HIV/AIDS by
military personnel and informal militias in war zones (Chelala,
2005).
In Rwanda, HIV infected Hutu militia men were instructed to
rape all women in the society with the objective of killing the
Tutsi population slowly over time (Sharlach, 2000). Interna-
tional law has responded to the issue of rape in war; however,
state governments have responded less enthusiastically in cases
of violence against women in times of war. HIV is being util-
ized by armed forces in Africa as a psychological and biologi-
cal weapon of war through the “deliberate targeting of civilians
through the widespread and systematic use of rape” (Elbe,

I. CHOWDHURY ET AL.
2002). Even though the intent of the HIV infected soldiers
committing acts of rape may be difficult to determine, the real-
ity remains that HIV’s existence itself makes this practice all
the more problematic on human rights, social and medicinal
grounds (Lanier, 2006). The use of rape as a war tactic has
increased and as a result the probability of contracting HIV
through rape has increased (Elbe, 2002). The spread of HIV
through rape coupled with the violent nature of the act against
non-warring people (women) creates a salient issue in dire need
of a resolution, especially in Africa (Elbe, 2002).
The Use of HIV and Rape as a War Tactic in Rwanda
During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, women were sub-
jected to rape, mainly by the Hutu militia groups known as
Interahamwe, by soldiers of the Rwandan armed forces (FAR)
and by other civilians (CLG). The Hutu government continued
to support these acts of sexual violence with the end goal of
eliminating the entire Tutsi race from the Rwandan population
(African Union Report, 2008). The “Africa News” interviewed
anonymous witness “QBQ”; a woman, who informed the In-
ternational Criminal Tribunal that the former minister of Family
and Women Affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko had ordered the
Hutu militia, specifically those men infected with HIV, to “rape
all Tutsi women and kill the rest” (Lexis Nexis, 2004). A
UNICEF leader stated that Hutu men contaminated with the
HIV virus took part in mass rapes of women and girls with the
objective being “to inflict slow and lingering, but certain death
of the Tutsi population” (Lexis Nexis, 1995). This war tactic
took a significant toll on the adult and child population of
Rwanda. In 2000 the UNAIDS estimated that 270,000 children
in Rwanda had lost their mother or both parents to HIV/AIDS
(HRW, 2003). As a result these children were orphaned and
given very little assistance and bleak prospects of a future. In
addition traditional societal networks had been severely dete-
riorated by poverty as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and
the consequences of the genocide and war which left these
children in an even more detrimental position (Rakita, 2004).
The children were excluded for being “contaminated by HIV
even though they had contracted the disease from birth” (HRW,
2003).
UN Action against Rape in War: Rwanda
Criminal acts such as the ones mentioned above continued to
take place in Rwanda simultaneously with very little punitive
action taken, and this lack of punishment eventually led to na-
tional reproach of the issue. In an effort to eliminate impunity
of genocidally motivated criminal soldiers the United Nations
(UN) Security Council established the International Tribunal in
Rwanda (UN Resolution 955). This special court was given the
power to prosecute any individuals who commit acts of geno-
cide (UN Resolution 955). The Resolution contains a section on
crimes against humanity, allowing the court to “prosecute per-
sons responsible for crimes committed as a part of a widespread
or systematic attack against any civilian population on national,
political, ethnic, racial or religious grounds” (Annex, Article 2:
Genocide). Rape is included within that definition.
On September 2, 1998, based on the facts of the Jean Paul
Akayesu case, the Trial Chamber declared that rape, would be
defined as a “physical invasion of sexual nature committed on a
person under circumstances which are coercive and sexual vio-
lence are both acts of genocide, so long as they are used with an
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a specific targeted group”
(Lexis Nexis, 1998). The prosecution of Jean Paul Akayesu
also advocated stronger enforcement of the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Rwanda.
The Convention that was initially adopted by the UN on De-
cember 9, 1948 during the period of the Holocaust, was later
applied to the cases of genocide in Rwanda. Article 2 in the
Convention on the Prevention, contains five punishable acts of
genocide that stretch further than the “killing” of a groups and
encompassed other acts. The list of punishable acts also in-
cludes “bodily harm and prevention of birth of a certain group”
(CPPCG, Article 2). This inclusion presents a new angle on the
use of rape as a war tactic. Since rape cannot be classified as an
act that causes “bodily harm and sometimes prevention of
birth,” the convention allows the punishment of individuals
guilty of committing such acts (CPPCG, Article 2).
HIV and Rape Used as a War Tactic in Uganda
Similar to the case of Rwanda, many Ugandan women are at
risk or becoming infected with HIV, and will eventually lose
their lives to AIDS because of failure to protect these women
from sexual violence (HRW, 2004). In Uganda, soldiers from
the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) use rape and mutilation of
women in their attempts to replace a secular government in the
country (Chelala, 2004). The LRA also commit the crimes of
child abduction, forced “marriage” (female) and institutional-
ized rape (Harris, 2007). Men are “given” women and girls as a
form of property to reward them for “good behavior,” “(e.g.
following orders to kill prisoners of war and captured villag-
ers)” (Rave Project, 2003). The men are granted complete sex-
ual control over their “wives” and “domestic helpers,” and they
force their women to submit to rape and other forms of violence
(Poe, 2009). The increased level of AIDS infection rates among
policeman, prison staff and soldiers are caused by an increase
in interaction between members of the armed forces and civil-
ians and high levels of commercial sex (DPA, 2008).
Uganda’s concentration camps are substantially responsible
for fostering the rapid spread of HIV from military members to
the civilian population. According to The World Health Or-
ganization (WHO) almost 1.4 million people in northern Uganda
have been forced out of their homes, and were placed in
over-congested camps with poor sanitation and hygiene condi-
tions (FPA, 2005). Women and children are subjected to the
military taking advantage of them sexually and spreading the
HIV virus through unprotected sexual contact (Wallis, 2008).
Wallis (2008) also stated that HIV/AIDS rates in northern
Uganda are “nearly twice as high as the rest of the country be-
cause of an 18-year war with the oppressive Lord’s Resistance
Army rebel group”.
The conditions that exist in Uganda are starkly similar to
those that existed in Rwanda. The reason that the Ugandan
government continues to commit such cruel acts without being
subjected to punishment, is because of the absence of a higher
court such as the International Tribune in Rwanda. If actions to
reduce catalysts such as these are not taken, then the situation
will inevitably worsen over time. Instances of HIV infection
will result in even higher mortality rates.
Theoretically Based Policy Initiatives
It is evident that the use of rape by (often HIV infected) sol-
48

I. CHOWDHURY ET AL.
diers and militia members, creates considerable physical and
emotional harm. We do not suggest that HIV rates are higher in
these countries because soldiers infected with HIV are using
rape. There are multiple causes of the high rates of HIV infec-
tion found in this part of the world. The issue of rape as a
weapon of war is linked to the field of Criminology/Criminal
Justice, and understood as a type of crime. Meanwhile, the
majority of HIV/AIDS prevention education focuses on the
medical realm of practicing safe sex through proper contracep-
tion use, or abstinence (Lanier, 2010). Targeting these issues
separately, and searching for solutions within separate realms,
could indeed potentially reduce both issues; however, there
may also be benefits that arise from linking these two issues
together, merging the two disciplines, and attempting to under-
stand them as a unit.
For instance, Country A may have high levels of HIV present
within its population, and as an attempt to reduce the preva-
lence of HIV the government might target Safe-Sex education
stemming completely from the medical/health realm. This pol-
icy solution; however, may fail to alleviate the “root” problem
effectively; if other underlying issues are present. Perhaps the
government is pressuring HIV infected military men of that
society, or other HIV infected males to rape the women of that
population with an end goal of eradicating the entire population
through HIV such as the case in Rwanda. If this is the case,
then HIV/AIDS and the “crime” of rape as a weapon of war
have merged together to create a whole new disastrous situation,
that must be combated; however, not in the same way that they
would otherwise be combated individually. Epidemiological
Criminology, or EpiCrim, is a development that attempts to
combine the Social Science disciplines of Criminology and
Health Sciences. Lanier stated that “if crime is presumed to be
an indicator of the health of the societal whole (disease), then
both Criminal Justice and Criminology, as academic disciplines
most likely to address crime issue and Public Health as the
academic discipline most likely to examine health issues” (2010:
p. 80). EpiCrim claims that the subjects of Criminal Justice and
Public Health have been “more divergent than inclusive,” and
therefore attempts to combine the two disciplines and studies
anything that affects the health of a society; be it crime, flu,
epidemics, global warming, human trafficking, substance abuse,
terrorism or HIV/AIDS (Lanier, 2010: p. 72 & 93). EpiCrim is
essentially the “study of crime as a disease,” and consists of
“any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition of the mind or
society” (Webster’s, 2009). EpiCrim addresses the issue of two
disciplines studying the same issue through different lenses,
and therefore fail to target the “root cause” of the crime (Akers
& Lanier, 2009: p. 4). EpiCrim essentially combines the termi-
nology in the different disciplines in order to gain more cohe-
sive understanding and reach a more effective solutions (Lanier,
2010).
Problem Stateme nt
The act of rape, from a criminological standpoint has been
well documented and studied. For instance, profiles exist for
serial rapists and we know that most rapes occur amo ng younge r
people who know each other (Lanier & Henry, 2010). Rape is
normally committed, examined and conceptualized as an act
committed by an individual and is explained as an act of power
and control over the victims. Rape is less often examined from
the context of group behavior and as a function of group dy-
namics. Is the underlying pathology that leads to rape the same
when committed on a large scale? Treatment and punishment of
lone, individual rapists has also been empirically examined
from a psychological perspective yet when rape occurs on a
larger scale, by groups, sociological explanations are mandated.
In this paper we provide the first social psychological explana-
tion and suggest policy and treatment modalities founded on a
theoretical model we term Epidemiological Criminology. What
has been missing from the research literature is the understand-
ing and profile of rape committed as a tactical weapon in war to
spread harmful disease, instead of just as a “spoils of war”
(thought the effects on victims are identical). While it is beyond
the scope of this paper to provide that analysis we can suggest a
theoretical premise that might guide both research and policy
efforts as we outline below. One difficulty with researching
rape during a time of crisis, such as war, is that the crime tran-
scends both disciplinary boundaries, physical and emotional
ones. Few theories are capable of addressing both health and
criminological concerns. However, one suggests a bridging
capability and thus suggests some practical applications. Epi-
demiological Criminology may help provide that theoretical
guide (Lanier, 2009).
Epidemiological Criminology
Epidemiological Criminology (EpiCrim) represents an evolv-
ing multidisciplinary perspective, which seeks to bring together
scholars from criminology, sociology, political science and the
health professions for the purpose of formulating an integrative
understanding of crime and criminality (among other social ills)
as they relate to, and often create, health disparities. As the
name implies, Epidemiological Criminology employs a variety
of medical model metaphors by which to formulate its theo-
retical perspective. However, according to David Polizzi (per-
sonal cor-respondence) such a formulation is potentially threat-
ened by the use of literal medical model conceptualizations that
help to restrict the theoretical possibilities of this approach. For
example, by formulating crime as a disease (such as rape) of the
social body, it fails to recognize that crime or criminal behavior
is symptomatic of an internal dysfunction and not proof of an
external contagion (Polizzi & Lanier, in press).
In 2009 Akers and Lanier first presented an argument for
criminal justice, sociology and criminology having roots in
public health and epidemiology. Epidemiological Criminology,
or “EpiCrim”, was presented as a means of “coming full circle”
and reuniting these disciplines and provides the theoretical
basis for this study. Durkheim first used crime as a barometer
of the health of a society so this nothing novel (Durkheim,
1987-1951) though it has been neglected. The following section
gives a synopsis of their argument. There is an increasing over-
lap and blurring of distinctions between public health and
criminology (Lanier, Lucken, & Akers, 2009). Both social sci-
ence and public health academics and professionals work with
marginalized populations; people at high risk to multiple dan-
gers including drug use, health problems, exploitation, and
incarceration. AIDS/HIV, for example, provides the first illus-
tration of the interconnection between the two fields since
AIDS/HIV was the health threat which first dramatically con-
fronted social service agencies (Lanier, 2006) especially prisons
and jails (Braithwaite, Hammett, & Mayberry, 1996). Victims
of systemic rape during war, likewise, fit well under each cate-
gory and so thus comprise a population of special interest to a
public health and social science analytical framework. Al-

I. CHOWDHURY ET AL.
though numerous illustrations can be used to illustrate this mer-
ging, there is a scarcity of explicit theoretical and methodo-
logical linkage. To address this deficiency, EpiCrim, as a new
framework, links methods, and statistical models of public
health, which are complemented by their criminological and
sociological counterparts (Akers & Lanier, 2009).
According to Polizzi and Lanier, any attempt to formulate the
existence of crime as a type of “social” disease must first clar-
ify the way in which this “disease model” is applicable as a
legitimate point of reference by which to study the phenomenon
of crime. Epidemiological Criminology, in its attempt to meld
epidemiological and criminological theory into an explanatory
framework by which to understand the presence of crime as a
public health concern, must also be able to conceptualize the
relationship between the individual act of crime (or in this case
the group act of systematic rape) and the social context from
which this activity occurs. The phenomenon of crime, including
tactical rape, can be viewed in the same way.
Taken from this perspective crime becomes the symptomatic
presence of disease that manifests itself at different localities
within the social body (Polizzi, 2010a, 2010b). The symptom of
crime therefore, is conceptualized as that which announces the
presence of disease within the social body, but is not seen as the
cause of the condition that is currently responsible for its illness.
Crime, like any other symptom, signals the existence of an
underlying condition or emerging pathology that no longer
continues to progress unnoticed. The sudden emergence of a
specific set of symptoms is not analogous to the disease itself;
but, representative of its effects relative to the functional and
structural integrity of the social body. It may perhaps be helpful
to explore the definition of disease (Polizzi & Lanier, in press).
Some types of social harm, illness and crime are more illus-
trative of this than others. For example, Bezuidenhout and
Lanier (2010) made an argument showing how the increasing
pervasiveness of home invasions in South Africa is negatively
impacting the body politic, social norms and individual pa-
thologies. The long-term consequences will only serve to
weaken the state, impact tourism, investment and ultimately
decrease revenues (not to mention quality of life and health).
According to Polizzi, “in its most general sense, social
presencing or the social presence of the body refers to the way
in which the body becomes viewed, constructed and defined
from a variety of social interactions and contexts. At it most
mundane, the body of the individual or embodied subject re-
tains what Merleau Ponty has called an intervolvement with
world that becomes a fluid and open possibility of social
meaning. However, in the absence of such openness, the possi-
bility for embodied subjectivity is denied and the body is re-
duced to that of a pathological artifact of oppressive processes
of control. The criminal body or the criminal shadow is an
example of such a process” (2010a: p. 1). The “body” can also
refer to the social domain, and as such crime, rape, disease and
remedies can be conceptualized (and yes perhaps reified) as
being either host entities or symptoms (Polizzi, 2010a, 2010b;
Leder, 1990). Reification is a real consideration since molecular
biological pathogens are clearly not the same as social forces
and processes. Nonetheless the analogy is useful as the South
African home invasion example exemplifies, and as rape as a
tactical weapon illustrates.
If history is any judge, we can conclude that while the possi-
bilities of exposure to HIV is heightened as a result of conflict,
the opportunities of exposure can be significantly reduced with
undertaking of proper methods such as those taken in Rwanda.
In order to reduce the spread of HIV and combat the act of rape
as a weapon of war in Northern Uganda, the UN Security
Council and nation sates should adopt stronger and more puni-
tive resolutions dealing with the crisis. Lanier (2010) discusses
the issue of marijuana, which is presented by the US govern-
ment as a “gateway drug” and condemned due to its possibility
of creating “health consequences.” Lanier (2010) points out;
however, that alcohol and tobacco, which are both proven to
contribute to massive “disease” are both sold legally without
hesitation. Lanier argues that EpiCrim advocates a “health-based
Criminal Justice system that would argue that perhaps law
should be designed to reduce rather than contribute to social
harm, decay and disease” (Lanier, 2010: p. 87). Therefore, Epi-
Crim would suggest that if the Ugandan governments were to
take punitive measures towards those who are utilizing the
tactic of “rape as war” it would perhaps reduce overall social
harm. On the contrary if the Ugandan government continues to
ignore these criminal acts they may be inadvertently contribut-
ing to the massive spread of the HIV/AIDS disease. This situa-
tion again highlights the importance of the EpiCrim ability to
understand the field of Criminology and the field of Health as a
unit and lead to more practical solutions to problems that may
seem otherwise insurmountable.
The UN Security Council should also attempt to increase the
level of punishment for war crimes in hopes of eliminating the
impunity problem that exists in Ugandan society. It is unfortu-
nately common for those responsible for acts of sexual violence
and rape committed in war to go unpunished for the crimes they
commit (VSDVAA, 2005). Lanier (2010) argued, “destructive
government policy and inaction can result in an increased inci-
dence of HIV/AIDS in both the United States and South Af-
rica”. The Rwandan case should serve as an example to help
tackle the impunity problem in Uganda in relation to the “Rape
and War” issue. One of the shortcomings of the Rwandan case
was the lack of punitive measures initially taken against the war
criminals, therefore, impunity was the biggest reason, that the
government; mainly the militia men were able to continue these
crimes for such extended periods”. Although the International
Courts have expended effort towards combating the rape and
war problem through prosecution, the national courts in these
countries continue to struggle to achieve similar success.
In order to prosecute such cases successfully, local investiga-
tions must be prompt, thorough, sensitive, and effective and
based on sound theoretical principles such as EpiCrim (LR,
2005). Uganda has recently taken some small steps to set up a
war crimes tribunal much like the International Tribunal in
Rwanda. Uganda has also appointed judges to preside over a
special war crimes tribunal to try leaders of the rebels Lord
Resistance Army (LRA); however they have had little success
in criminal prosecution (CICC, 2008). Part of the problem is
that “many of these countries have failed to create local laws,
and/or lack effective court systems to prosecute perpetrators”
(LR, 2005). The UN Security Council should most effectively
utilize and enforce the Criminal Tribunal created for Uganda in
order to hold the war criminals accountable for acts such as
rape as a weapon of war. This would allow the new tribunal the
ability to prosecute high-ranking military and government offi-
cials for extensive human rights violations such as those com-
mitted in Rwanda. The UN must also create proper mechanisms
for the training of police and military officers of Uganda, so
that cases of sexual violence will be handled more efficiently
50

I. CHOWDHURY ET AL.
(African News, 2008). The UN should also send military troops
to Uganda, and require the members to undergo appropriate
training and take courses on the effects of HIV.
Next taking preventative measures through education of
military members and targeted women, in order to thwart the
spread of HIV infection in Northern Uganda is needed. Previ-
ous education methods have consisted of Safe Sex education
through the medical realm; however, EpiCrim suggest that
there are other angles to the problem at hand. First, the mental
and emotional state of the criminals and victims should be
taken into account when formulating a proper education plan.
For example, one of the major reasons that women in Northern
Uganda are more likely to be infected with HIV during war
times is because, according to the literature, soldiers are more
likely to undertake violent actions such as rape in stressful
times of war (Lanier, 2010). This aberrant behavior coupled
with the fact that many of the LRA returnees are HIV positive
with the phrase results in widespread transmission of HIV.
Soldiers use force to rape the women in the concentration
camps, without the proper use of protection and continue to add
to the death count (Olara, 2004). Lanier (2010: p. 78) suggests
that if we “construct this group of individuals as dangerous but
damaged, our strategies of intervention can become overly
focused on the assessment of risk and less on the humanity of
the individual.” The “humanity” of the individual is precisely
what needs to be targeted in the education policy in order for it
to be effective enough to prevent future attacks. Preventative
education should strive to alter the destructive goals of the
military members and help them realize the audacity of their
actions and demand a shift in behavior.
This leads to the last policy recommendation to prevent the
spread HIV/AIDS and the use of rape; government should at-
tempt to immediately dismantle all concentration camps and
improve the quality of health services, and allow those infected
women and children already infected a chance to regain their
life (Olara, 2004). A VSDVAA (2005) report titled “Rape as a
Tool of War: A Fact Sheet” claims that “women and girls con-
stitute more than half of refugees in the world today, and refu-
gee women are particularly vulnerable to crimes of rape and
sexual violence” since women are often victims of rape and
sexual violence in the hands of border guards, security forces
smugglers and locals (VSDVAA, 2005). Women and girls that
are unaccompanied are often viewed as sexual property for
everyone in refugee camps and may be subjected to forced
prostitution as well as “coercion into sex in exchange for food,
documents or refugee status” (VSDVAA, 2005). Preventative
education should empower the women in the population and
provide them with the knowledge they need to fight back.
Much of the funding for the prevention and education of
HIV/AIDS can be derived from the already established USAID,
and also specifically from the PEPFAR (Presidents Emergency
Plan for AIDS) Relief.budget. PEPFAR has been significantly
successful in aiding Rwanda, giving them approximately $39.2
million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, 56.9 million in FY 2005,
$72.1 million in FY 2006, and approximately $103 million in
FY 2007 to support comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention,
treatment and care programs. PEPFAR provided more than
$123.4 million in FY 2008 (PEPFAR, 2008). The UN Security
Council can make important suggestions to the US PEPFAR
committee to increase the funds for Uganda, in order to con-
tinue the avid prevention of the spreading of HIV/AIDS. The
UN Security Council should attempt to collaborate with the
United States in formulating practical ways that money can be
used towards the education of the Ugandan population.
Conclusion
The use of rape as a weapon of war should not be tolerated or
allowed to exist. Theoretical explanations such as that advo-
cated by Epidemiological Criminology need to be applied in
both preventative and treatment modalities (Barak, 1994, 1998).
Rape is not simply a component of war, nor is it incidental
(VSDVAA, 2005). The fact that it is widely used in times of
conflict shows the “unique power” it holds over women and the
power it gives to the rapists (WNN, 2010). Governments must
take responsibility to ensure the safety and equality of woman
in order to make sure that rape is no longer used as a weapon of
aggression (VSDVAA, 2005).
Along with the theoretically based training of government
authorities and changing national laws, scholars and others who
hold public sway, should also attempt to foster a fundamental
change in people’s attitudes towards the sexual abuse of women
(LR, 2005). The Ugandan government along with the interna-
tional community has an obligation to protect women and chil-
dren of Northern Uganda, and similar victims of war in other
places. After witnessing the success with the Rwanda case, the
UN Security Council should take similar measures to combat
the HIV and rape that is currently used as a weapon of war in
Uganda before HIV takes an even greater toll on the population.
Policy makers, counselors and educators should make use of
social sciences theory to perpetuate this necessary change (Ba-
rak, 1994, 1998; Robinson, 2004).
Policymakers might also consider a change to their approach
in combating the problem of “rape as a weapon of war” and the
simultaneous spread of HIV, by adhering to social science pre-
cepts such as those suggested by EpiCrim. Attempting to un-
derstand, explain and curtail the behavior of war criminals util-
izing rape should help policymakers achieve a more successful
and effective solution.
REFERENCES
African News. (2008). Uganda se t s u p c rimes tribunals for rebels.
http://www.polity.org.za/article/uganda-sets-up-war-crimes-tribunal-
for-rebels-2008-05-28
African Union. (2008). Rwanda: The preventable genocide—Interna-
tional Panel of Eminent Personalities.
http://www.visiontv.ca/old/RememberRwanda/Report.pdf
Aho, J., & Aho, K. (2009). Body matters: A phenomenology of sick-
ness, disease, and illness. Lanham, MD: Le x in gt o n Bo oks.
Akers, T., & Lanier, M. M. (2009) Epidemiological criminology: Com-
ing full circle. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 397-402.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2008.139808
Barak, G. (1994). Varieties of criminology. Westport, CT: Praegar.
Barak, G. (1998). Integrating crim i nologies. Boston, MA: Ally n & Bacon.
Bezuidenhout, C., & Lanier, M. M. (2010). The impact of violent crime
on the RSA psyche, criminal justice system and society: Intervention
based on epidemiological criminology. Acta Criminologica, under re-
view.
Chelala, C. (2004). Rape during conflict becoming genocidal in coun-
tries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence. U RL.
http://speakout.org.za/about/types/type_rape_during_conflict.htm
Chelala, C. (2005). Rape as a weapon of war: It persists in Africa where
HIV takes a heavy toll. URL.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/26/
Coalition for the International Crim inal Court (CICC). (2008). URL.
http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=newsdetail&news=2684
Durkheim, E. (1897/1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. New York:

I. CHOWDHURY ET AL.
52
The Free Press.
Deustche Presse-Argentaur (DPA). (2008). Higher AIDS infection rate
among Ugandan soldiers.
Elbe, S. (2002). HIV/AIDS and the changing landscape of war in Af-
rica. International Security, 27, 159-177.
doi:10.1162/016228802760987851
Friends for Peace in Africa (FPA). (2005). WHO tells Uganda to dis-
mantle camps as deaths rise. URL.
http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/idps/32-internal-refugees-dis
placement/45-who-tells-uganda-to-dismantle-camps-as-deaths-rise.ht
ml
Harris, S. (2007). God’s hostage. URL.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/sam_harris/2
007/01/women_are_property_1.html
Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and time. New York, NY: SUNY Press.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). (2003). Lasting w ou nd s. URL.
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2003/04/02/lasting-wounds
Human Rights Watch (HRW). (2004). Women’s rights: Fact sheet:
Domestic violence and HIV in Uganda. URL.
http://www.preventgbvafrica.org/sites/default/files/resources/dv.hivi
nugfactsheet.hrw.pdf
Kramer, A. Akmatov, M., & Kretzschmar, M. (2010). Principles and
aims of epidemiology. In A. Kramer, M. Kretzsch mar, & K. Kricke-
berg (Eds.), Modern infectious disease epidemiology (pp. 85-99).
New York, NY: Springer.
Kovacic, K. (2007-2008). Creating a monster: MS-13 and how United
States immigration policy produced “the world’s most dangerous
gang.” Gonzaga Journal of International Law, 11. URL.
http://www.gonzagajil.org/content/view/183/26/
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL:
The University of Chicago Press.
Lanier, M. M. (2006). The impact of HIV/AIDS on criminology and
criminal justice. The International Library of Criminal Justice, Cri-
minology and Penology. F arnham, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.
Lanier, M. M. (2009). Epidemiological criminology: A critical cross-
cultural analysis of the advent of HIV/AIDS. Acta Criminologica, 22,
60-73.
Lanier, M. M. (2010). Epidemiological criminology (EpiCrim): Defini-
tion and application. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical
Criminology, 2, 63 -103.
Lanier, M. M., & Henry, S. (2010). Essential criminology (3rd ed.).
New York, NY: Westview/Perseus Press.
Lanier, M. M., Lucken, K., & Akers, T. (2010). Further need for epi-
demiological criminology. In R. Muraskin (Ed.), Key correctional
issues (2nd ed.; pp. 163-174). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Publishing.
Leder, D. (1990). The absent body. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago
Press.
Lessons from Rwanda (LR). (2005). The United Nations and the preven-
tion of genocide. URL. http://www.un.org/preventgenocide/rwanda/
Lessons from Rwanda (LR). (2 00 5). Sexual violence: A tool of war.
http://www.un.org/preventgenocide/rwanda/backgrounder.shtml
Lexis Nexis. (2004). Witnesses say that Nyiramasuhuko ordered militia
to “rape all Tutsi women and kill the rest”. 3 February 2004.
Lexis Nexis. (1995). Rape increasingly a weapon of war, UNICEF
leader says. 15 Septem ber 1995
Lexis Nexis. (1998). Rwanda: Historic judgement finds Akayesu guilty
of genocide. Africa News, 2 September 1998.
Lutya, T. M., & Lanier, M. M. (2009). EpiCrim criminological responses
to human trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation in
South Africa. The Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm,
22-24 June 2009.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Southamp-
ton: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Merton, R. K. (1968). Social theory and social structure. New York,
NY: Free Press.
Olara, S. (2004). Rape: The hidden weapon against women in war torn
Northern Uganda. URL.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200411090860.html
PEPFAR Website. (2008) . Country profile: R w an da . URL.
http://www.pepfar.gov/about/opplan08/102013.htm
Poe, R. (2009). To believe or not to believe: The social and neurology-
cal consequences of belief systems. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corpo-
ration.
Polizzi, D. (2010a). Phenomenological theory. In C. Bryant (Ed.),
Routledge handbook of deviant behavior (pp. 129-134). New York,
NY, London, UK: Routledge.
Polizzi, D. (2010b). The social construction of crime and disease: Epi-
demiological criminology from a phenomenological perspective. The
American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco,
17-20 November 2010.
Polizzi, D., & Lanier, M. M. (2011) Crime as disease: Towards an epi-
demiological criminology of the social body. Social Theory and
Health, under review.
Rakita, S. (2004). Children of Rwanda: Legacy of genocide, the future
of Rwanda. URL.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/21167
Rave Project. (2003). In Uganda.
http://www.theraveproject.com/mapdata/uganda.html
Robinson, M. B. (2004). Why crime? An integrated systems theory of
antisocial behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Schabas, W. A. (1948). Convention on the prevention and punishment
of the crime of ge n o c i d e . URL.
http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm
Sharlach, L. (2010). Rape as genocide: Bangladesh, the former Yugo-
slavia, and Rwanda. New Political Science, 22, 89-102.
doi:10.1080/713687893
The United Nations. Statute of the tribunal—Annex Article 2 .
http://www.un.org/ictr/statute.html
The United Nations. (1994). UN resolution 955.
http://www.un.org/ictr/english/Resolutions/955e.htm
Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance (VSDVAA).
(2005). Rape as a tool of war: A fact sheet (amnesty international).
URL. http://www.vadv.org/Resources/airapeinwar.html
Wallis, D. (2008). Peace women: HIV rates soar in ear-torn Northern
Uganda. URL. http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Uganda/Sept04/
Webster’s. (2009). Disease. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).
URL. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disease
Womens News Network. (2010). New report outlines untold stories of
women and war. URL.
http://womennewsnetwork.net/2010/10/20/gender-data-unfpa/
World Health Organization. (2004). The sanitation challenge: Turning
Commitment into reality. URL.
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/sanchallengeco
mp.pdf
Zaitzow, B. (2001). Whose problem is it anyway? Women prisoners
and AIDS/HIV. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Com-
parative Criminology, 4 5 , 673-690. doi:10.1177/0306624X01456004