Gendercide

Gendercide is a neologism that refers to the systematic killing of members of a specific sex, either males or females. [Coined by Mary Anne Warren in her 1985 book "Gendercide: The Implications of Sex Selection" [http://www.gendercide.org/what_is_gendercide.html] ] The term is intended to be sex-neutral, but in mainstream feminism it is mostly used to refer to female victims (feminicide or femicide).Fact|date=October 2008

Femicide

Femicide is the systematic killing of women for various reasons, usually cultural. Femicide is seen as a gender crime. The word is attested from the 1820s. [2006 Random House Unabridged Dictionary]

There have been reports of femicide in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico [ [http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/international/Gender-Violence-in-Mexico.html Femicide and Gender Violence in Mexico] , retrieved on May 28th 2007.] . The murders in Juarez, also known as las muertas de Juárez ("The dead women of Juárez"), and Guatemala were reportedly not investigated by the local authorities. Most of the women were raped before being murdered and some were mutilated, tortured and dismembered. In Guatemala City about 20% of the over 500 women murdered in 2004 and 2005 were killed in pairs, due to an (lesbian) "intimate relationship," according to Claudia Acevedo of Lesbiradas.Fact|date=March 2007

The most widespread form of femicide is in the form of sex-selective infanticide in cultures with strong preferences for male offspring, notably in the mainland of the People's Republic of China, India, and South Korea. These practices may result in demographic imbalance with an excess of males.Fact|date=July 2008

Viricide

Viricide is the systematic killing of men for various reasons, usually cultural. Viricide is seen as a gender crime. Viricide may happen during war to reduce an enemy's potential pool of soldiers.

Perhaps one of the earliest examples of viricide in recorded history occurred some time during the 600s B.C. when Ionian (somewhat misdescribed as Greek) pirates massacred the men of Miletos (commonly known as Miletus), forced the Milesian women into marriage with them, and settled the city of Miletos in the Milesian men's stead. It has been written that forever afterward the Milesian women would neither eat with their husbands nor address them by name. [The Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonick Pg. 238]

In 627 AD, the men and boys of the Qurayza were beheaded by Muhammad [ [http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/02/muhammad_and_massacre_of_the_q.html] ] after the tribe surrendered. They condition of the surrender were they would be tried and passed judgement by Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, a cheif of their allied tribe of Aws. After asking what the punishment for treason was in Jewish law, death for all the males.

The worst known case of viricide can be found in World War II with the Nazi killing of Soviet POWs. Over a period of about 8 months as part of Operation Barbarossa, between June 1941 and February 1942, the Nazis captured approximately 3.5 million Soviet POWs (almost entirely male) and subjected them to starvation, exposure, disease, and summary execution. Nearly 2.4 million of these prisoners died. These deaths were a premeditated part of the Holocaust (see Goering's Green Folder).

Pakistan targeted male intellectuals for extermination in the erstwhile province of East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) during the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities [Rounaq Jahan, "Genocide in Bangladesh," in Samuel Totten et al., eds., Century of Genocide, p298. R.J. Rummel writes: "By November [1971] , the rebel guerrillas ... had wrested from the army control over 25 percent of East Pakistan, a success that led the Pakistan army to seek out those especially likely to join the resistance -- young boys. Sweeps were conducted of young men who were never seen again. Bodies of youths would be found in fields, floating down rivers, or near army camps. As can be imagined, this terrorized all young men and their families within reach of the army. Most between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five began to flee from one village to another and toward India. Many of those reluctant to leave their homes were forced to flee by mothers and sisters concerned for their safety." Rummel, Death By Government (New Brunswick, USA: Transaction Publishers, 1994), p329. ] Male Gendercide was also carried out by Pol pot in Cambodia, thanks to which a large percentage of Cambodia's present population are women.cite journal |last=Jones |first= Adam |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |month=June |title = Gendercide and Genocide |journal= Journal of Genocide Research |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages= 185 - 211 |id= |url= |accessdate= 2008-11-09 |quote= ] During the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots men were targeted overwhelmingly on account of them being breadwinners of the family.More recents examples include the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurdish men and boys [ [http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/events_anfal.html The Crimes of Saddam Hussein] ] [ [http://hrw.org/reports/1992/iraqkor/KOREME2.htm Koreme Before The Anfal Campaign ] ] [ [http://www.gendercide.org/case_anfal.html Gendercide Watch: The Anfal Campaign (Iraqi Kurdistan), 1988 ] ] in Iraq and the Srebrenica massacre of Bosniak men and boys on 12 July 1995. [ [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/07/ba90ec7e-1d42-43de-88f3-3724c21c2756.html Srebrenica Timeline] ] [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4737583 Serbians Still Divided Over Srebrenica Massacre] ]

Draft dodgers

Men who refused conscription in the military have been the target of forced labor, mutilation, and in the nations of Angola, Ethiopia and Iraq [ [http://www.gendercide.org/case_conscription.html Case Study: Military conscription/ Impressment] ] .

References

ee also

*Ritual murder

External links

* [http://www.guernicamag.com/features/299/the_price_of_life_1/ Femicide in Guatemala--Guernica Magazine (guernicamag.com)]
*Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, " [http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/2002eng/chap.vi.juarez.htm Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez] " (2002) — Report by OAS human rights agency.
*Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Graduate Research " [http://www.elnorteproductions.com/ Juarez Mothers Fight Femicide Documentary] " (March 2005)
* [http://www.economist.com/World/africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5220396 The Economist - No place for your daughters] (Nov 24th 2005)
* [http://www.lourdesportillo.com/senoritaextraviada/index.html Lourdes Portillo Video] , Señorita Extraviada ISDN 0807861731 2001