Motivations for sexual violence in armed conflicts: voices from combatants in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This paper sets out to explore sexual violence in armed conflict from the perspective of the combatants themselves. We interviewed combatants in South Kivu in eastern DRC about their experiences with sexual violence, what they think causes it, and how it might be mitigated. Although respondents in this study strongly believe that sexual violence is a serious crime and an immoral act which should be avoided in their ranks, they sometimes perpetrate it systematically, suggesting a disconnect between their good soldiering ideals and own actions.