Why do commanders tolerate sexual violence by their subordinates? Commander tolerance allows military sexual violence (MSV) to persist in times of peace, war, and post-conflict peacekeeping. However, most of the previous studies on MSV have focused on perpetrators’ criminal motives while neglecting the role of commander tolerance. In this article, I offer a tripartite general theory of commander tolerance that systematically weaves together the diverse conditions under which commanders tolerate MSV at the micro, meso, and macro levels of social scientific inquiry. Toward this end, I build on the conventional principal–agent model of MSV but crucially depart from its core constructs to create a dynamic multi-commander theoretical framework. The theory represents the most rigorous explanation of commander tolerance to date and offers practical implications for military justice systems in terms of MSV. Placing commander tolerance at the center of studies on military violence opens an array of new avenues for research.

中文翻译：

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为什么军官纵容性暴力？指挥官宽容的一般理论

为什么指挥官会容忍下属的​​性暴力？指挥官宽容允许军事性暴力 (MSV) 在和平时期、战争时期和冲突后维持和平时期持续存在。然而，以往对MSV的研究大多集中在犯罪者的犯罪动机上，而忽视了指挥官宽容的作用。在这篇文章中，我提出了一个关于指挥官容忍的三方通用理论，它系统地将指挥官在社会科学探究的微观、中观和宏观层面容忍 MSV 的不同条件结合在一起。为此，我在 MSV 的传统委托代理模型的基础上构建，但关键是偏离了其核心结构，以创建一个动态的多指挥官理论框架。该理论代表了迄今为止对指挥官容忍度最严格的解释，并在 MSV 方面为军事司法系统提供了实际意义。将指挥官宽容置于军事暴力研究的中心，开辟了一系列新的研究途径。