A feature of war, not an aberration
Re “Russia’s ‘most hidden crime’ in Ukraine,” Aug. 21
We’re supposed to think there’s such a thing as a “civil” incursion into another country, especially when it’s Russia attacking another former Soviet Union neighbor?
Rape is synonymous with war and always has been.
Consider the reality: Hordes of men run rampant across the landscape, destroying everything in their path. Russian President Vladimir Putin knew this would be one of the results, especially as men put in these positions consider women as meaningless objects, to be used, abused and discarded as nothing more than trash.
When the dust finally settles, and these violent sexual criminals are facing justice in the world court, I truly hope the sentence fits the crime.
Reading some of the stories of women who’ve managed to survive the assaults to mind and body makes me realize there is no civility and never will be until these crimes are erased from the books — and we all know that’ll never happen, because this is another example of full-circle history. Kathryn Louyse
Glendale
It was very difficult reading your article about Russian forces raping Ukrainian civilians. There are many crimes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but not many as brutal and personal as rape.
The war will end someday, but the agony of being overtaken and sexually assaulted will never end for the victims who survived or their loved ones. They will carry the scars, both mental and physical, for the rest of their lives.
Mindy Taylor-Ross
Venice
It appears the Russian army will never change.
Read “A Woman in Berlin” by anonymous. It is the true story of eight weeks in the conquered city of Berlin in 1945. Women in Berlin at that time did not ask each other, “Have you been raped?” They asked, “How many times?”
After her death, the anonymous author was revealed as Marta Hillers, a journalist and editor during and after World War II.
Robert P. Branch Upland