History’s longest war has been on women

Since the dawn of human history, civilization has been at war, but history’s longest war has been on women.

This war of gender began even before the written word. But with the dawn of Christianity and its like-minded counterparts, this war continued with the mindset that it was approved by God himself.

When we look at the Bible, which some subset of Christianity believes is the word of God as told to its authors, evidence suggests that these extremist groups, which have all been male-dominated, are using the Bible to control humanity.

If, as some believe, the Bible is the word of God, then accordingly women are seductresses who must be controlled by men because they are so easily seduced by Satan—who is revered in all religious theories by different names as the devil who has involved the human race in a never-ending struggle between good and evil.

This fantasy began with the story of Eve, the devil’s alleged gatekeeper, who is seduced by the snake to bite the apple, which was the stated cause of man’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. But the worst of all religious dogma is found in the books of the Bible proclaiming women to serve the needs of man.

In the loving words of God, Genesis 3:16 reads, “To the woman I said, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

In 1 Kings 11:3, collecting wives is endorsed while women themselves are degraded: “He [Solomon] had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.”

Among other atrocities suggested in Numbers 31:17-18, virgins are declared spoils of war: “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

It’s suggested that women should not be heard in 1 Corinthians 14:34: “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.” And the same book goes on to describe why, as “the glory of man,” women should cover their heads.

From these religious tenets, allegedly written by the hand of God, would any one not doubt that a woman and girl would become the spoils of war, subjugated to a male-dominated society where they are viewed in terms of a lesser value to society and the subject of gratification?

Would anyone doubt then why rape and sex trafficking with young girls is so prevalent globally?

In the U.S. alone, one out of every six American women has been the victim of rape in her lifetime, and 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape. Seven percent of girls in grades 5-8 and 12 percent of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.

Women still cover their heads in church, bowing to the control of their male counterparts and an arcane belief that they remain second class citizens. This extends beyond Christianity to the religion of Islam, which take this tenet even further.

War enhances religious dogma. Men use the pretext of biblical opportunism to force women into servitude through forced prostitution and trafficking especially vulnerable are young girls.

Wherever there is war, women are the first to be sacrificed at the altar of man.

The UN peacekeepers are involved in prostitution and sex trafficking in every jurisdiction they have been engaged to protect. They are a flash point in the illegal sex trade of children.

Members of the UN peacekeeping force have been accused of procuring sex slaves for Bosnian brothels. These UN emissaries procured and managed children for the brothels and were themselves involved in sexual slavery and human trafficking. Allegations have gone even further and have reached UN involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the sexual abuse of young girls continued.

Sexual abuse of children in the form of forced prostitution appears to be an integral part of areas torn by war; it has also been noted by NATO that troops deployed in Bosnia and Kosovo have been involved.

UN troops appear to favor forced prostitution in almost all environments where they have deployed.

On Aug 12, CBC News reported that General Babacar Gaye was fired after the latest scandal in which once again the issue relating to the UN peacekeepers was rape and murder.

Are rape and prostitution components of war?

ISIS systematically rapes Yezidi women and girls in northern Iraq. You know this is bad when even the UN acknowledges ISIS is killing, torturing and raping children.

During World War II, rape was commonplace in all forces engaged, both the allies and the axis, engendering a philosophy that war and rape have some common thread that creates this environment.

Even U.S. forces have been involved in sexual abuse of our own women in the military. According to a 2011 Newsweek report, women are more likely to be assaulted by a fellow soldier than killed in combat.

War has existed since the dawn of civilization. Disputes between governments have tended to reinforce the male domination of our world. There is no historical reference to any period in which the military have not used the women of the country for involuntary sex during war.

As Jennifer Latstetter has indicated, America is one of the biggest perpetrators of military prostitution. The U.S. has used prostitutes for military rest and recreation areas, in all war zones since Korea. Rest and recreation sites are government-funded brothels for our GIs. Apparently psychiatrists believe somehow this creates a sense of brotherhood among the soldiers.

But what about the women and young girls being victimized? Isn’t it time America, if we are truly a world leader, take a stance against this form of barbarism?

Human rights dictate that this victimization of women must be made a crime of war and dealt with in the same manner as Nuremberg, meaning that those in charge should face the consequences of their inaction. Until the military’s patriarchal leadership finds some alternate belief system, our own military will not be able to fully accept women—not only in combat but at all.

Next, serious issue must be taken with a book that advocates relegating women to a second-class status. Such a book can not validate its own existence by merely claiming it is the word of God.