Wartime Rape Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Wartime Rape - Research Paper Example ence of the victims themselves, if what has been reported is any indication, then the escalation in the number of wartime rapes during 20th century wars alone has increased to appalling proportions. As suggested by data on the wars in France and Germany during the second World War, the number of wartime rapes has increased by up to four times (Morris, 2000) and even a few thousand times over during the wars in Berlin (Brownmiller, 1975). With the number of wartime rape victims reaching to staggering numbers and victims continuing to hold their silence about the atrocities committed to them and most importantly, the derisory serving of justice to perpetrators of these crimes of war, more and more people’s attentions have been captured by the rape of civilians – mostly women and children. Perhaps, what makes the study of wartime rape more remarkable is the number of theories and theses that writers have come up with trying to explain the sexual carnage perpetrated during wars and its physical, emotional and economic consequences (Arcel and Kastrup, 2004). Many authors have offered their own rationalization of the act of wartime rape, but one of the most extensive explanations on the functions of rape was proposed by Seifert (1994) where these were broken down into five possible reasons of wartime sexual violence. Each of them has their own merits points of consideration. Raping the women of the enemy is a natural consequence of war. It is nothing but a part of the unwritten rules of the games of war – to the victor belong the spoils (Askin, 1997). Seifert proposes that war is a seemingly systematic activity with well established set of rules. In times of peaceful existence, sexual violence against women is a criminal offense. When wars broke out, certain conventions such as this no longer applied. Instead, a different set of rules came into play: overpower the enemy, take over their territory and destroy their possessions – including the women they

Why has the Britain's membership of the EU been so problematical Essay

Why has the Britain's membership of the EU been so problematical - Essay Example Membership of European Union (EU) with Britain has been a controversial concern. Eurosceptics (people who do not support the sovereignty of the European Union), believe that it would have been better if Britain was put aside outside the economic and political context. Permissions are being sought to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union (Daddow, 2004; Crowson, 2006). Thus, the term can very well be related with the subject i.e. why has the Britain’s membership of the EU been so problematical? Considering this facet, the essay will represent all the major issues that determine the membership of Britain with the EU to be problematical and with full of adversities. A critical evaluation will be made regarding the issues with the aid of analysis of the opinions derived from the different critics. Problems Associated with Britain’s Membership with the EU It has been recognised that the European Commission made a decision to prompt legal action against Britain a s it was found to be restricting the benefits to certain foreign nationals. This factor played a very crucial role in determining Britain’s involvement in European Union to be not up to the mark. Considering the issue of Britain’s membership of the EU, this political debate has been able to raise many eyebrows. This factor can be provided with the maximum amount of weightage owing to the fact that Britain was unable to serve the basic purposes of forming a proper alliance with the EU. Consequently, it can be said that issues relating sovereignty of the EU was in a questionable state having Britain as one of its members (Daddow, 2004; Crowson, 2006). There are other reports suggesting a lack of proper alignment in relation to the performance of membership functions from the part of Britain with the EU. Every country possesses certain basic ideas about their role that they need to play in the world, which forms its identity and helps in the establishment of its relations hip with other countries. The historical era of the British Empire has been able to considerably influence the way in which the British political influence sees its position in Europe. However, all of these factors did not seem to provide an upper hand to Britain in alignment with the EU. It has been recognised that being a powerful body, Britain was finding it very much difficult to adjust its political interest. Moreover, it was also proving to be quite distressful while narrowing its political attention only in Europe. Britain has always been considered as a latecomer in the overall community of EU. Moreover, Britain had to face serious amount of difficulties accommodating it to those rules and policies that were already established from before in the EU region. It faced difficulties because a few of the rules and regulations represented direct conflicts with that of the fundamental principles which bind the entire British Constitution. Thus, it created an uneven situation for Br itain resulting in paving conflicting situations. Bitterness with France along with strong association with America did not seem to be posing a pleasant political scenario for Britain rather it accounted for the emergence of additional issues to Britain. On a different context, it was not only Britain that had to adjust with EU, but EU had also major issues with Britain. It has also been ascertained that Britain joining the EU community specifically for economic purposes seem to pose a great deal of