Every year, hundreds of thousands of women become victims of sexualviolence in conflict zones around the world; in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo alone, approximately 1,100 rapes are reportedeach month.This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the causes,consequences and responses to sexual violence in contemporary armedconflict. It explores the function and effect of wartime sexualviolence and examines the conditions that make women and girls mostvulnerable to these acts both before, during and after conflict. Tounderstand the motivations of the men (and occasionally women) whoperpetrate this violence, the book analyzes the role played bysystemic and situational factors such as patriarchy and militarizedmasculinity. Difficult questions of accountability are tackled; inparticular, the case of child soldiers, who often suffer a doublevictimization when forced to commit sexual atrocities. The bookconcludes by looking at strategies of prevention and protection aswell as new programs being set up on the ground to support therehabilitation of survivors and their communities. Sexual violencein war has long been a taboo subject but, as this book shows, newand courageous steps are at last being taken D at both localand international level - to end what has been called the"greatest silence in history".