Over the last twenty years, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has become a conspicuous concern of academics, activists, and practitioners. However, fundamental conceptual and political problems are also increasingly visible in the field. I suggest that we now need to turn our attention to knowledge production about gender-based violence. I outline three fundamental and inter-related challenges of undertaking CRSV research. These challenges concern (1) the subject and object of our research, (2) the models of knowing that we use, and (3) how we account for values in our research. These are, respectively, ontological, epistemological, and axiological issues. Reflecting on these challenges for researching CRSV can usefully refocus our attention on these fundamental challenges for all research on gender and violence.
Kirsten Campbell is a Professor in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has published extensively in the areas of gender, conflict-related sexual violence, international criminal law, and transitional justice. Her most recent book is The Justice of Humans: Subject, Society, and Sexual Violence in International Criminal Law (CUP: 2022). She was the principal investigator of the European Research Council funded project, ‘The Gender of Justice’, which analysed the prosecution of sexual violence in armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
