The Political Consequences of Wartime Sexual Violence: New Evidence from a List Experiment in Sri Lanka

Wartime sexual violence is widespread and has devastating consequences for individuals and communities. Yet, empirical evidence is often limited and rests on qualitative accounts, anecdotal evidence or selective sources. The main challenge to the study of war-related sexual violence and its consequences is underreporting due to feelings of shame, guilt or fear of stigmatization. We overcome this limitation presenting the results of a list experiment embedded in a representative survey in Sri Lanka, which is recovering from an ethnic civil war between Singhalese and Tamils. This unobtrusive method reveals a prevalence of sexual violence ten times higher than elicited by direct questioning. Importantly, we are able to connect these indirect measures to several key political outcomes: voting behavior and political participation, civic engagement and social trust as well as inter-ethnic relations and prejudice. To better understand the political consequences of wartime sexual violence we are particularly interested in testing recent notions of post-traumatic growth theory that relates traumatic experiences to higher levels of political involvement.