Evidence is proliferating to show that sexual violence against men (SVAM) in conflict is widespread. Although there is much debate about sexual violence against women, SVAM is under-researched.
Indeed, efforts to understand its causes and develop strategies to reduce it are hampered because it is manifestly under-theorised: the assumption often is that SVAM is the same as SVAW and the issue is simply one of recognition. But the relationship between these two forms of violence raises a number of complex and controversial questions, including how they might be different and why and how such differences might matter.
In order to advance knowledge, the Centre has conducted research and debates including:
- a workshop on ‘Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Conflict’ in February 2015;
- a dissertation, by Paula Drumond, exploring performances of such violence in Bosnia, Peru, and the DRC: Embodied Battlefields: Uncovering Sexual violence against Men in War Theaters; and
- the publication of Sexual Violence Against Men in Global Politics, co-edited by Marysia Zalewski (University of Cardiff), Paula Drumond (Pontifical University, Rio), Elisabeth Prügl (Gender Centre at The Graduate Institute, Geneva) and Maria Stern (University of Gothenburg).