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Studies on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) emphasize the need for the integration of a victim-centered lens into Feminist International Relations (IR) frameworks on sexual violence victimization in conflict or war. However, our understanding of the perpetrator-centered lens is limited. Drawing from ethnographic accounts of Nigerian security agents, male victims of CRSV, and aid workers, we analyze moral injury as a framework for discussing CRSV. In Nigeria, counterterrorism operations can lead to morally detrimental circumstances due to the government’s poor management of counterterrorism operations, resulting in the loss of lives and subsequent feelings of betrayal, anger, and guilt by security agents. Some security agents often display these emotions through violent acts to others, such as CRSV against men and boys suspected of terrorism, thereby exacerbating moral injury. The guilt-based moral injury arises when security agents witness CRSV against men and boys by colleagues and fail to seek justice for victims, as this contradicts social and institutional norms. Our article broadens the concept of moral injury by elucidating its significance to CRSV. In doing so, it advances the concept’s disciplinary focus on psychology to IR or international security—counterterrorism and CRSV—for conceptual sophistication and interdisciplinary exchange of thoughts. This article offers valuable insights into trauma-informed international humanitarian interventions for security agents and victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a growing interest in conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against men, conceptual understanding and empirical knowledge are still inadequate. The notion of spiritual security is introduced in this article as an explanatory variable in CRSV, using survivors' discursive views of sexual violence victimizations in Nigeria's north-eastern region. The CRSV of males, it is argued, may also be understood as a ritual or spiritual activity carried out for bodily protection, financial prosperity, or socio-political ascendency. The survivors' impressions of CRSV's spiritual undertones are not unrelated to the heteronormative and collectively homophobic culture in their society, in which violent same-sex relations are considered so perverse and meaningful only if they are conceived as 'evil or devilish practices'. Spiritual beliefs and practices, on the other hand, determine much of the social reality of many people in various parts of the world, and they are regarded as potent on security issues ranging from physical protection to wealth creation and socio-political advancement. This study adds to the continuing discussion on the reasons behind CRSV against men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]