(Un)Silenced: Institutional Sexual Violence
How has sexual violence been produced through different institutional cultures of harm? And what strategies have survivors used to counter silence, shame, and stigma? In this series, the SHaME team explores various forms of institutional sexual violence through written articles and podcasts originally edited and published by History Workshop Online in 2022.
Each week, we will add one of the original contributions from the SHaME team to the series which will be collated on this page.
(Un)Silenced: Institutional Sexual Violence — The Introduction by Dr Rhea Sookdeosingh and Allison McKibban
This is the introduction for the (Un)Silenced: Institutional Sexual Violence feature, which explores how sexual violence relates to various societal institutions. The series provides a historical understanding of the ways in which sexual violence is produced through different institutional cultures of harm.
Between Vulnerability and Sexual Agency by Dr Stephanie Wright
How does society approach the sexual desires of those with disabilities? Stephanie Wright explores the history of a lack of acknowledgement of vulnerable people’s sexual autonomy, which can result in an increased possibility of harm.
Involuntary Sterilization by Allison McKibban
Can medical institutions participate in colonial violence? 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.
Hearing Male Survivors by Dr George Severs
Dr George Severs argues that the history of male victims of rape and sexual violence should make us all alert to the ways in which gender norms silence male experiences of abuse, and prompt us to hear hear male survivors who are so often both silent and silenced.
Child Sexual Abuse in the Family by Dr Ruth Beecher
Is the family a place of safety or a trap? SHaME Director Dr Ruth Beecher explores the institution of the family and the (lack of) recognition of child sexual abuse within it.