Gender-based Violence

What is lost, beyond their modesty, when non-sexual images of women and queer people are captured, circulated, or manipulated without their consent? 

How can survivors of conflict-related sexualized violence be supported in the midst of war and beyond? Three leading experts: Lina Kushch, Ukraine, Dr. Feride Rushiti, Kosovo, and Ajna Mahmić Ćatić, Bosnia and Herzegovina share their experiences from region to region on justice, reparations, and survivor-centered care. 

Twenty-five years after the adoption of Resolution 1325, Bosnia and Herzegovina still fails to protect women from violence. Instead: impunity, silence, and a political culture that mocks survivors. But feminist movements keep fighting. 

Through sustained feminist advocacy, the ECOWAS Court reframed female genital mutilation as torture and compelled Sierra Leone to legislate against it — setting a regional precedent for women’s rights protection in Africa.

After the coup in Myanmar, the military junta has conscripted men as soldiers. Trapped between militarized power and unseen oppression, men struggle with trauma, fail their traditional provider roles, and are forced to replicate the unjustness they once resisted.

Domestic violence and hegemonic masuclinity are deeply entwined in China – they reinforce and stabilize each other, to the detriment of women. Our author pleads for an alternative thinking about masculinity in general – drawn from pre-modern concepts and Bruce Lee.

Rigid gender norms in Cambodia continue to reinforce a version of masculinity that tends to stifle progress toward gender equality. These outdated norms harm both women and men, fueling gender-based violence, and stigmatizing nonconformity.

Changing deeply rooted gender norms begins with conversation. This story follows participants in community dialogue initiatives in Cambodia who challenge traditional ideas about masculinity, household roles, and gender equality.