Allison McKibban

In July 2023, colleagues, friends, and students of Professor Joanna Bourke (PI of the SHaME Project) came together to mark Joanna's retirement from Birkbeck, University of London. SHaME's Allison McKibban shares about the evening, which included a panel discussion of her work, an interview, and a video tribute.

What is the history of activism against sexual violence? History Workshop Online's Marybeth Hamilton and SHaME's Dr Rhea Sookdeosingh, Dr George Severs, and Allison McKibban complicate the dominant histories, strategies, narratives, and stigmas associated with sexual violence.

When does the call for ‘speaking out’ against sexual violence begin to silence? Reflecting on the #MeToo moment, Allison McKibban argues mainstream Western movements against sexual violence are often insidiously laced with colonial violence. She calls on activists and researchers to embrace a self-reflective and decolonial listening to create a truly transformative movement against sexual violence.

Can medical institutions participate in colonial violence? SHaME's Allison McKibban argues the involuntary sterilization of tens of thousands of Native American women in the 1970s must be rehistoricised as part of the U.S. government’s broader campaign of genocide.

SHaME Public Engagement Coordinators Dr Rhea Sookdeosingh and Allison McKibban introduce (Un)Silenced, a series in collaboration with History Workshop Online, which explores how sexual violence relates to various societal institutions.

SHaME's Allison McKibban interviews SHaME's Dr Charlie Jeffries about her first monograph 'Teenage Dreams: Girlhood Sexualities in the US Culture Wars' ahead of the July 13th launch event.

SHaME's Allison McKibban presents her 'Big Idea' on academia, activism, and sexual violence at the 2021 Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence. Her talk is now available to stream on the Birkbeck Youtube channel with captions.

Allison McKibban's project explores how U.S. federal policy utilizes colonial discourses to (re)produce sexual violence against Native American women. Focusing on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), her project elucidates the ways in which indigenous women are represented to be ‘problems’ in the legislation, the underlying logics and genealogies, the silences and contestations, and their lived and discursive effects.

SHaME team member Allison McKibban gives a behind-the-scenes look at her own experience in one aspect of planning the Shameless! Festival. She explains how safeguarding training not only helped her prepare for the festival, but also transformed her ways of thinking around survivorship and the intricacies of creating safer spaces.

The SHaME and WOW teams excitedly announce more speakers and event details for the Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence on November 27th. In collaboration with artists, activists, and scholars, the event will address issues including the normalisation of sexual violence, rape myths, consent, everyday triggers, and survival.