Dr Thomas Charman: ​"From Silence to Uncertainty: Investigating Conflict-Related Sexual Violence against Men in International Law, Policy, and Advocacy"

​Sexual violence against men in armed conflict is a largely under-studied and under-recognised form of abuse, and male victims are often marginalised, or sometimes entirely excluded, in international legal and policy responses to gender-based violence (Carpenter 2006; Dolan 2014; 2018; Sivakumaran 2007; Stemple 2009). My Work-in-Progress talk will explore the key themes and findings of my doctoral research and postdoctoral research at IASH, which has sought to examine and deconstruct how international human rights advocacy organisations, international criminal tribunals, and international policy initiatives discursively constitute (or in many cases obscure) sexual violence against men in armed conflict. Drawing on these findings, I will consider the consequences of these discourses for broader understandings of, and responses to, gender and sexual violence during conflict.