30 March 2022 | 19:00 | Sciences Po Paris | 27, rue Saint Guillaume -  | 75337 Paris | France

Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict

Moderation by Anne-Laure Briatte, Associate Professor in German history and civilization at Sorbonne University (Sirice).
Introduction by Elissa Mailänder, Associate Professor at Sciences Po’s Center for History and a member of Sciences Po’s Gender Studies Programme (PRESAGE).

For more information visit Sciences Po Paris.

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Monday | 4 November 2019 | 18:00 | Keynes Library | 43 Gordon Square | Birkbeck | University of London | England

In Plain Sight: Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict
Book Launch

Today sexual violence is the subject of media coverage in a wide variety of scenarios. Still, the picture that emerges is characterized by ambiguity and omissions. There seems to be a particular reservation to deal with the question what actually happens when sexual violence is perpetrated. Who does what to whom? And how is it understood and reacted upon?

“In Plain Sight: Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict” is an attempt to get deeper insights into these questions. The book is the result of cooperation between researchers from various disciplines, with different regional and cultural backgrounds, who work in the “International Research Group ‘Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict’” since 2008. Dealing with war, power, violence, sexuality, gender and representation, it investigates fields in which sexual violence takes place and coins everyday life as well as military practices.

The evening will commence with introductions by Joanna Bourke (Birkbeck); the editors of ‘In Plain Sight’, Gaby Zipfel, Regina Mühlhäuser, and Kirsten Campbell; followed by talks by Dubravka Žarkov and Urvashi Butalia.

A drinks reception will follow with the opportunity to speak with the editors and contributors, as well as fellow invited guests.

For more information and the program visit the Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters research project (SHaME)

Admission free

Organized and kindly supported by the Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters research project (SHaME) ; the Gender of Justice Project; Feminist Review; Zubaan Books and the International Research Group »Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict«

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Thursday | 31 October 2019 | 19:00 | Kulturetage Altona | Große Bergstraße 160 | 22767 Hamburg | Germany

In PlainSight: Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict
Book Presentation and Discussion

Auf Englisch / In English

Bereits Mitte der 1970er-Jahre, auf dem Höhepunkt der Frauenbewegung, warfen feministische Aktivistinnen und Forscherinnen Fragen auf, die bis heute nichts an Aktualität verloren haben: Wie können wir sexuelle Gewalt als gesellschaftliches und individuelles Phänomen verstehen? Warum tritt sexuelle Gewalt in kriegerischen Konflikten regelhaft auf? Wer übt wann und auf welche Weise sexuelle Gewalt aus? Und wie können wir die Verletzungen erfassen, die die Opfer erfahren?

Obwohl sexuelle Gewalt in den letzten Jahren in öffentlichen Debatten an Bedeutung gewonnen hat und zu einem Thema internationaler Politik und wissenschaftlicher Forschung geworden ist, sind die Bemühungen, diese Form von Gewalt zu verstehen und Strategien zu ihrer Verhinderung zu entwickeln, nach wie vor unzureichend. Der gerade erschienene Sammelband der International Research Group ‚Sexual Violence in ArmedConflict’  (SVAC) möchte zu einem tiefergehenden und differenziertem Verständnis sexueller Gewalt in bewaffneten Konflikten beitragen. Er verfolgt einen interdisziplinären Ansatz und stützt sich auf vier zentrale Untersuchungsfelder: Krieg|Macht, Gewalt|Sexualität, Geschlecht|Selbstermächtigung und Sichtbarkeit|Unsichtbarkeit.

Die Buchvorstellung ist der Auftakt zu einem nicht-öffentlichen Treffen der Forschungsgruppe, und viele der Autorinnen und Autoren und weitere Gäste aus Indien, Pakistan, Japan, USA, Australien, Südafrika, der Demokratischen Republik Kongo, Portugal, Frankreich, Bosnien und Herzegowina, Serbien, der Ukraine, den Niederlanden und England werden anwesend sein. Mit einigen Inputs möchten wir dazu einladen, ins Gespräch zu kommen:

Sexual Violence and Intersectional Analysis – A Critical Intervention

Dubravka Žarkov (International Institute forSocial Studies, Den Haag, und Belgrad)

Sexual Violence and Impunity in South Asia

Urvashi Butalia (Zubaan-Verlag, Neu Delhi)

With an Introduction by the Editors, Gaby Zipfel, Regina Mühlhäuser (both Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur) and Kirsten Campbell (Goldsmith College, University of London).

Im Anschluss besteht die Möglichkeit, die Diskussion bei einem Getränk fortzusetzen.

Eintritt frei.

In Kooperation mit dem Buchladen Osterstraße und Zubaan Books.
Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur.

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6 March to 26 June 2018 | Every Tuesday | 15:00 | University of Vienna | Hörsaal A | UniCampus Hof 2 | Spitalgasse 2 | 1090 Vienna | Austria

Sexuelle Gewalt - von der ›Moderne‹ zur Gegenwart

Sexual Violence from the ›Modern Era‹ to the Present

Vorlesungsreihe | Lecture Series

The Lectures are held in German or English

6 March 2018
Christa Hämmerle (Institut für Geschichte, Universität Wien), Sabine Grenz (Institut für Bildungswissenschaft/Institut für Germanistik/Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie, Universität Wien)
Programm und einführende Bemerkungen

13 March 2018
Gaby Zipfel (Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur)
Sexuelle Gewalt – zur Genese ihrer Erforschung seit den 1970er-Jahren

20 March 2018
Christa Hämmerle (Institut für Geschichte, Universität Wien)
Von Sexualisierung zu sexueller Gewalt? Das Beispiel des Ersten Weltkriegs

10 April 2018
Sabine Grenz (Institut für Bildungswissenschaft/Institut für Germanistik/Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie, Universität Wien)
Sexualisierte Gewalt im Zweiten Weltkrieg und die deutsche Erinnerungskultur

17 April 2018
Maki Kimura (Department of Political Science, University College London)
The Politics of Memorialisation: Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery during the Second World War

24 April 2018
Ute Frevert (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungswissenschaften / Forschungsbereich Geschichte der Gefühle, Berlin)
Sexuelle Gewalt als Angriff auf die Ehre – wessen Ehre?

8 May 2018
Katharina Beclin (Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie, Universität Wien)
Von »Sittlichkeitsdelikten« zu einem umfassenden strafrechtlichen Schutz der sexuellen Integrität – Rückblick, aktuelle Rechtslage und Ausblick

15 May 2018
Regina Mühlhäuser (Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur)
Sexuelle Gewalt als Kriegsstrategie. Zur Entwicklung eines Konzepts seit den 1970er-Jahren bis heute

29 May 2018
Kirsten Campbell (Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Gender Justice and Prosecuting Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in the former Yugoslavia

5 June 2018
Aaron Belkin (Political Science, San Francisco State University / Palm Center)
Transgender Military Service and Sexual Violence in the U.S. Armed Forces

12 June 2018
Atreyee Sen (Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen)
Victimologies, Vulnerabilities, Vindications: the Politics of Sexual Violence in Contemporary India

19 June 2018
Maria Rösslhumer (Verein Autonome Österreichische Frauenhäuser, Wien)
Konkrete Unterstützung für gewaltbetroffene/traumatisierte Frauen und Mädchen

26 June 2018
Birgit Sauer (Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Universität Wien)
#MeToo. Sexualisierte Gewalt in der öffentlich-politischen Debatte

PROGRAMM FOLDER

Admission free

Concept and Moderation by Christa Hämmerle & Birgit Sauer (both University of Vienna)

Organized by L'Homme. Europäische Zeitschrift für Feministische Geschichtswissenschaft; Forschungsverbund »Geschlecht und Handlungsmacht« at the University of Vienna; and the International Research Group »Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict«

This Lecture series is kindly supported by the Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte Wien / Abteilung Frauen – Familie; Forschungsverbund »Geschlecht und Handlungsmacht«; Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät; Professur für Gender Studies; Forschungsschwerpunkt »Diktaturen – Gewalt – Genozide« der Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät; and the Referat Genderforschung (all University of Vienna).

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Friday • 5 October 2017 • 17:00 • Faculty of Economics • Keynes Room • University of Coimbra • Portugal

Where is the knowledge of rape within Congolese Society after the Eastern Congo Crisis?

Public Lecture with Nwarasungu Chiwengo

During colonization, Congolese women were sexually abused and raped by the colonial administration and soldiers. The rape of women was so intense that in the early 1960s, the republic of Congo was called, by people in Malawi, “Congo Bolo Matadi” (Congo Penis Matadi). The penis, thus, was perceived as the symbol of power. Rapes of women continued in post-independence Congo. The recent conflicts in eastern Congo foregrounded rape in Congo (DR).

Dubbed the capital of rape, rape became an international issue and was discussed by Congolese NGOs and often mentioned on national media. However, the discourse on rape was imported and not initiated within the Congo. Rape in Congo (DR) is defined and discussed abroad and, generally, by Congolese males. Women through NGOs enact, speak about rape but do not articulate its nature and significance. When rape is spoken by women the discourse is circumscribed. Moreover, because rape empowers rebel groups to be heeded, women become even more vulnerable.

To be successful in eradicating rape and enabling women to speak, films aiming at the Congolese female, should be made. Women should become academic subjects and military leaders should be trained to respect women and become accountable. Women and their subjectivity need to be integrated into the general curriculum, so they can own their space, question their given African female identity by examining its construction during the colonial and postcolonial Congolese eras. Women, moreover, need to gain ownership of their bodies and voices by questioning theological male definitions of  Congolese female identity.

Nwarasungu Chiwengo is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of English Studies, University of Creighton, USA. She teaches courses at Creighton in World Literature and African Literature, and is the faculty moderator of the ‘African Students Association’ and the faculty coordinator of Creighton’s Black Studies Program.

Admission free

This public lecture is kindly supported by the Center for Social Studies and the Faculty of Econimics at the University of Coimbra as well as the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Research and Culture.

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Tuesday • 6 June 2017 • 14:00
Goldsmiths College, University of London • Whitehead Building, Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre

Challenging silences and the resistance to addressing a normative gap in international human rights law

Public Lecture with Rashida Manjoo

Since its establishment in 1994, the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women (UNSRVAW) has studied the forms, prevalence, causes and consequences of violence against women; it has analyzed legal and institutional developments in the protection of women against violence as well as the remaining challenges; and has provided key recommendations to Governments and to the international community to overcome such challenges. Although, progress has been achieved in advancing women and girl’s human rights at the national, regional and international level, there are gaps and challenges that have not been adequately addressed, including in respect of violence against women. One of the challenges identified by Rashida Manjoo (who held the position of the UNSRVAW from 2009 to 2015) has been the normative gap under international human rights law i.e. the lack of a specific legally binding instrument to hold both State and non-state actors accountable for this pervasive violation, as a human rights violation in and of itself. The lecture will address the gap, as well as the resistance to acknowledging and addressing the gap.

Rashida Manjoo is currently a Professor in the Department of Public Law at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is the co-convener of the Human Rights Program in the Law faculty where she teaches, supervises and advises students. She is also the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.

Admission free

This public lecture is kindly supported by the International Research Group “Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict”, the Centre for Feminist Research, the Feminist Review, the Unit for Global Justice, and the Gender of Justice Project at Goldsmith College, University of London.

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Thursday • 2 July • 18:00
Yu Garden • Feldbrunnenstraße 67 • 20148 Hamburg

»Against Our Will. Men, Women, Rape« 1975–2015.
A Book and its Impact

A Conversation with Susan Brownmiller

Yuki Tanaka (Hiroshima Peace Institute)
Gaby Zipfel (Hamburg Institute for Social Research)
Moderation: Regina Mühlhäuser (Hamburg Institute for Social Research)

In 1975, at the peak of the Women’s and Student Movement and against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, Susan Brownmiller’s path-breaking analysis about rape in war and peace appeared. »Against Our Will«, one of »100 most important books of the Twentieth Century« (New York Public Library), opened the door to questions that are still pressing today. Her study has inspired feminist activism and research. Today, sexual violence has gained public awareness and became a much debated subject in national and international politics.

Theaters of armed conflict in the 21st century reveal that this form of wartime violence is still ubiquitous. Despite recent public awareness, efforts to understand and strategies to prevent this form of violence remain inadequate. The presence of Susan Brownmiller in Hamburg opens up the opportunity to rediscover how this important debate emerged while also reflecting on the current state of the art.

[leaflet]

Admission free

This public event is kindly supported by the Gender of Justice Research Project at Goldsmiths University / European Research Council (ERC-313626), the Hamburg Institute for Social Research, and the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Research and Culture.

It opens the internal SVAC conference »Against Our Will« Forty Years After: Exploring the Field of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict.

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3 April 2014 • 18:00
Birkbeck Cinema • 43 Gordon Square • London

Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts:
Film, Testimony, and the Vietnam War

Joanna Bourke in conversation with Kendrick Oliver about testimony on rape during the war in Vietnam, with reflections on sexual violence in current conflicts.

With an introduction by Kirsten Campbell.

Joanna Bourke is Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of (among other books) Rape: A History from the 1860s to the Present (London: Virago, 2007).

Kendrick Oliver is Professor of American History at the University of Southampton. He is the author of (among other books) The My Lai Massacre in American History and Memory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006).

Kirsten Campbell, SVAC, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Principal Investigator of the ERC funded project »The Gender of Justice«.

[more]

The event will be followed by a drinks reception. It is sponsored by the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities and opens the internal SVAC Workshop »Cultures of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict«.

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13 June 2013 • 18:00
Hamburg Institute for Social Research • Mittelweg 36 • 20148 Hamburg

Sexual Violence in the Concentration Camps:
What Popular Stories Reveal

Lecture by Pascale R. Bos, University of Texas at Austin

Introduction & Moderation: Regina Mühlhäuser and Gaby Zipfel, Hamburg Institute for Social Research

The subject of sexual violence has long been ignored in official historiography of the War of Annihilation and the Holocaust. Already during WWII, however, stories about rape and sexual enslavement of Jewish women by Nazi men began to circulate in newsprint, liturgy, and literature within the Jewish communities of North America and the Yishuv (pre-state Israel). After the war, they could be heard in Europe as well.

The lecture explores such narratives, when and where they first emerged, and how they compare to the historical record. These stories are shown to have played an important role in making sense of the Holocaust in the Jewish communities in which they circulated. Their particular social-political contexts matter as they affected reception and dissemination, and led to particular narratives becoming dominant while others remained unspeakable. Indeed, many of the stories had a profound symbolic impact as well as an actual silencing effect on Holocaust survivors in these communities. They were taken to be historically accurate, and hindered the exploration of actual experiences of sexual violence for decades.

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This public event is organized by the International Research Group "Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict", the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and the Department of Germanic Studies, University of Texas at Austin. It opens the internal SVAC Workshop »Constellations and Dynamics of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, Part II: A Close Reading of Sources«.

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5 July 2012 • 17:00
CERI • 56 rue Jacob • 75006 Paris

Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
A Roundtable Discussion

Introduction: Elissa Mailänder, Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po
Chair & Moderation: Claire Andrieu, Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po

• Examination of a War Crime: Hagiang (French Indochina) march 1945
  Fabrice Virgili, Directeur de recherche, UMR IRICE-CNRS
• Framing Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: What We (May) Fail to See
  Pascale Bos, Associate Professor, The University of Texas, Austin
• Between Analysis and Politics
  Gabi Mischkowski, Program Advisor on Gender Justice, medica mondiale
• The Idea of an international, interdisciplinary Research Network
  Regina Mühlhäuser, Researcher, Hamburg Institute for Social Research

[more]

This public event is organized by the Centre d'Histoire de Sciences Po, the UMR »Identités, relations internationales et civilisations de l'Europe«, the Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violences and the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. It opens the internal SVAC Workshop »Constellations and Dynamics of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict«.