Invisible Bodies on the Borders of War: The Hidden Role of National Security in Rape Culture

Abstract

The social construction of immigration as question of national security has led to the criminalization of immigration. Criminalization has encouraged the idea that greater security is needed, spiraling into the characterization of the US/Mexico border as a war zone. This is seen through the greatly increased military presence along the border as well as the militarization of the Border Patrol. This war is being waged against women's bodies, both through assaults committed by US officials and by systematically preventing immigrants from accessing resources for survivors of sexual violence. The structural and institutional causes of this sexual assault epidemic cannot be explained by current feminist frameworks for understanding sexual assault. In order to prevent future assaults, we must restructure our immigration policies and separate immigration from the Department of Homeland Security and the privatized prison-industrial complex.