Common Fate, Different Experience: Gender-Specific Aspects of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1917

Violence against women was a central feature of the Armenian Genocide. Even before the mass killings, sexual humiliation was used to intimidate the Armenian community. After the murder of the Armenian leadership and men of military age, Ottoman authorities and Ittihadist supporters deported surviving Armenians from Anatolia into the Syrian desert. During this ethnic cleansing, rape, kidnapping, sex slavery, and forced re-marriage became de facto instruments of genocide. Eyewitness accounts and diplomatic reports shed light on the place of gender during genocidal persecution. Although scholarship has only recently begun to explore the issue, the Armenian Genocide offers opportunities for comparative gender studies.