Twenty-six years of armed conflict in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, when government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). During the final five months of the war, an estimated 40,000 to 169,796 Tamil civilians were killed or disappeared, largely due to government shelling. While these disappearances or deaths remain in the global consciousness, the Sri Lankan military s horrific war rapes and sexual mutilation of Tamil women and girls have become increasingly forgotten by the international community.