Introduction
War crimes have been a tragic yet indispensable part of any military conflict. When being fueled by hatred and given free reign to exert one’s power and violence over victims, aggressive and sociopathic people will harm others. Remarkably, a closer look at the war crimes committed in different cultural and historical contexts will demonstrate that both men and women are prone to the specified phenomenon of criminal sociopathy. Since the extent of indoctrination into violent ideology is not predicated upon one’s sex, the propensity to violence and, in the worst-case scenario, genocide can be observed in women just as clearly as in men, as the cases of female perpetrators during the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide prove.
Female Perpetrators during the Holocaust
The Holocaust remains one of the most atrocious and inexcusable crimes against humanity ever committed in the history of the humankind. The genocide of around 6 million Jewish people during the WWII by the Third Reich represented a part of the Nazi policy and, to an extent, a product of the Nazi eugenics philosophy (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). The Holocaust took multiple forms, including mass shootings, extermination by placing people in gas chambers, and murders by tortures and slavery in concentration camps (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). Though the majority of those exerting violence and torture over Jewish people were male, several female executioners were undeniably notorious for their merciless and violent actions.
Specifically, the existing accounts of the Holocaust point to several major instances of crimes against Jewish people being perpetrated by women. For example, the study by Cabezas-Iacono (2020) illustrates that the extent of violence that female Nazi soldiers displayed toward prisoners was comparable to that one of male Nazis: “Levi’s reaction to the indifference and cruelty of women demonstrates how gender informs our inherent biases and how women are held to a standard based on the presumption that because of their biological capacity to become a mother that they must inherently possess maternal abilities and the onus to love and care” (Cabezas-Iacono, 2020, p. 40). Remarkably, the described behaviors were seemingly opposed to the Nazi narration of “Kinder, Kuche, Kirche,” or “children, kitchen, church,” which the Nazi ideology promoted (Cabezas-Iacono, 2020, p. 23). However, the further analysis illustrates that the specified phenomenon did not imply direct defiance of women’s roles within German society. Specifically, displaying violence toward prisoners demonstrated that women were capable of the intensity of aggressive emotions similar to that one of men. However, being directed at the enemies of the regime, the specified behavior did not involve deviating from the established standards within German society of the time (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). Therefore, the observed behaviors are illustrative of women having human emotions and faults that are comparable to those of men.
The specified observations prove that the ostensible connections made between biology and morality are thoroughly rooted in sexism and the associated prejudices. Specifically, the assumption that women are by their nature somehow more virtuous than men is not only wrong but also unethical. Specifically, as the crimes committed by women during Holocaust illustrate, women can be indoctrinated into harmful ideas to the same extent as men, and develop a similar propensity toward sociopathy, violence, and hatred toward marginalized groups.
Female Perpetrators during the Rwandan Genocide
Another notorious example of female violence against vulnerable minorities, the Rwandan Genocide should eb considered historical evidence of women being prone to violence to0 the same extent as men. Specifically, the existing records show that Hutu women participating in the extermination of the Tutsi were truly ferocious and merciless toward their state-declared enemies (Maier, 2013). Remarkably, the observed phenomenon occurred in a community where women were culturally expected to be docile and obedient (Adler et al., 2007). Thus, the instance of the Tutsi genocide proves that the established standards of femininity and the gender roles foisted onto women within most communities have been socially constructed and have nothing to do with women’s actual potential.
Specifically, the example under analysis shows that the murders of Tutsi people by the Hutu army was carried out not only by male soldiers but also by female perpetrators. Specifically, though genocide is usually deemed to be a crime committed by men, the situation in Rwanda, particularly, the genocide of the Hutu people by the Tutsi tribe, has shown that women are also capable of committing violent crimes (Maier, 2013). Namely, the existing accounts of the specified occurrence illustrate that the situation observed in Rwanda at the time must be deemed as an instance of genocide.
Moreover, research points to the undeniable fact that a significant portion of the Tutsi population committing the crime in question constituted of women. Specifically, the study by Adler (2007) explains that “Women’s participation ranged from working as main architects of the violence to acting as individual killers in small communities. Most commonly, women denounced victims and looted victims’ homes as well as their bodies” (p. 212). The described evidence leads to the assumption that Hutu women played a major role in the genocide of the Tutsi tribe. Arguably, the evidence in question also outlines that women were limited in their physical opportunity to exert violence due to the difference in theological characteristics such as muscle mass (Adler et al., 2007). However, from a psychological standpoint, the actions committed by women also represented war crimes often involving direct violence perpetrated against innocent victims, which further proves that women defied the gender roles foisted upon them by society and, instead, followed a new doctrine.
Analysis
Therefore, the described situation allows assuming that women are equally capable of violence and antisocial tendencies as men are. In other words, women may demonstrate the same violent behaviors, though possibly with greater variability and lesser frequency of recurrence as males (Maier, 2013). Despite the fact that the specified assertion seemingly represents women in a negative light, it also allows humanizing them and demonstrating that women are human to the same extent as men are. Though the observed phenomenon might seem to be the proof to the contrary, it, in fact, does demonstrate that women should be seen as human beings just as men.
Indeed, the atrocities observed at the time of the WWII and the Rwandan Genocide illustrate that women can be just as easily indoctrinated into ideologies that promote active violence and aggression against others. Moreover, genocidal behaviors can be observed among women just as they are seen in men (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). For instance, the propensity toward violence against innocent victims and the insipid, sadistic need to see others suffer, which Nazis demonstrated during WWII, was equally prominent in men and women, as the study above shows. The described outcomes of the analysis in question prove that the emotions underlying the decision to exert violence on others are the same both in males and females. The specified discovery further proves that women are just as human as men, having just as flawed a nature and being prone to errors in judgment that may lead to truly horrendous atrocities.
While proving that women may also display inhumane and truly atrocious character traits, the specified phenomenon of female violence perpetrated against vulnerable groups could also be seen as a way to dispel the idea of female inferiority. Specifically, the outlined attitudes and behaviors observed in female perpetrators prove that women are not biologically inferior to men. Specifically, the observed crimes prove that women’s biology does not limit their propensity toward violence and aggression. In other words, female biology does not define women’s choices and behaviors, including the intention to display aggression and develop violent tendencies.
At the same time, one should mention that the specified observation does not imply that female biology can be defied when performing specific physical acts of aggression and violence. While emotionally and socially, women can demonstrate the same extent of violence and aggression, physically, the extent of strength and the associated opportunities for violence is significantly lesser in human females than males (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). The observed biological fact stem from the effects of puberty and the associated changes in muscle mass, bone density, fat distribution, and the associate changes that determine the extent of physical leverage that women can receive compared to men (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). Therefore, in terms of the musculoskeletal capacities, women are less likely to offend.
However, in terms of the extent of being brainwashed into the development of hatred toward specific groups, as well as willingness to exert violence and aggression toward members of the group in question, women are just as prone to abusing their power as men (Cabezas-Iacono, 2013). The specified examples, as sad and deplorable as they may be, are indicative of the similarities between men and women on a socioemotional level, proving that women are not lesser or weaker men, but that they are just as human, even though physically less strong. Specifically, the examples of the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide demonstrate that women can also lack empathy and be indoctrinated into militaristic cults that promote active violence against and hatred of minority groups.
Conclusion
With the extent of indoctrination into the harmful ideology that promotes violence and hatred not being dependent on sex, women are just as prone to violent crimes as men given the availability of the means of committing them, as the tragedies of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide demonstrate. The crimes documented as committed by women on the specified time slot are illustrative of the fact that the propensity toward sociopathy and the associated behaviors is equally probable in women and in men. The observed trend proves the significance of socialization in the development of ethical and moral principles affecting one’s decision-making and defining one’s choices. Specifically, the specified instances of female violence toward innocent victims demonstrate that the extent of humanity and empathy depends on sociocultural factors rather than sex characteristics. Therefore, the importance of promoting relevant moral and ethical standards to men and women alike.
Bibliography
Adler, Reva N., Cyanne E. Loyle, and Judith Globerman. 2007. “A Calamity in the Neighborhood: Women’s Participation in the Rwandan Genocide.” Genocide Studies and Prevention 2(3): 209-233.
Cabezas-Iacono, Valerie. 2020. “The Women that No One Wanted to See: The Duality of the Women within the Holocaust.” pp.1-78.
Maier, Donna J. (2013). “Women Leaders in the Rwandan Genocide: When Women Choose to Kill.” UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity 8(1): pp. 1-20.