Abstract
In this essay, I reflect on the book Same River Twice: Putin’s War on Women by Ukrainian writer Sofi Oksanen, using it as a backdrop to discuss mass rape. I use Oksanen’s discussion of the war on women in Ukraine to examine the prevalence of gender-based and especially sexual violence during both armed conflict and peacetime. As a scholar of transitional justice, I am concerned about the collective blaming of women for mass atrocities committed mainly by men, both soldiers and civilians. I write this essay as an anti-militarist feminist, taking neither a pro-Russian nor an anti-Ukrainian stance. I also approach this topic as a woman scholar with firsthand experience of war and its lingering trauma, which I have studied extensively for many years.
Recommended Citation
Simic, Olivera
(2026)
"Mass Rapes in War and Peace: Reflections on Sofi Oksanen’s Same River Twice: Putin’s War on Women,"
Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 28:
Iss.
1, Article 16.
Available at:
https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol28/iss1/16