Burundi's rebel groups and the stigmatisation of wartime sexual violence

Despite assumptions about the ubiquity of wartime sexual violence, some armed actors work hard to generate negative views of rape and other abuses. This article qualitatively explores rebel group stigmatisation (and stigma) of wartime sexual violence and prohibitive normative practices. Regularly discussed with reference to the shaming of victims or survivors, stigmatisation is nonetheless utilised here as a concept for understanding how sexual coercion is "made" deviant and consequential for potential perpetrators. Two rebel groups from Burundi's civil war (1994-2008), CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and FNL (Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation), are compared. The FNL stigmatised rape and sexual assault, and the nature and quality of its practices shaped negative social norms surrounding rape. The article's main contribution is to demonstrate the need to deepen and widen the evidence base on the prevention of wartime sexual violence.