Rape and Murder in the Vietnam War

Four veterans testify about rape & murder during the Vietnam War

Tags:  gender, nationalism, violence, war/military, masculinity, rape, war rape, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2007
Length: 3:01
Access: YouTube

Summary: This clip features testimony from the Vietnam Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier Hearing. The clip was taken from "Vietnam: American Holocaust." (See the whole 81 minute feature at LinuxBeach.org). The testimony offered in this clip from soldiers of the Vietnam War is useful for promoting discussion about men perpetrating sexual violence against women during times of war. I frame the clip, not as a psychological phenomenon, but as a sociological one, where women are raped because they signify the nation. Testimonies in the clip recount instances of American soldiers raping Vietnamese women, and in this way the clip counters the nationalist myth that American soldiers have not raped women during times of war. A related clip on The Sociological Cinema (here) comes out of the ongoing conflict in Libya and features footage of a Libyan woman, who was forcibly removed from a Tripoli hotel after she attempted to report her rape by soldiers.

Submitted By: Lester Andrist

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