How have conceptualizations of sexual violence changed over time and place? How did social movements develop to resist violence, provide services, and change policy and law? How might histories of sexual violence inform women’s history, histories of race and colonialism, queer history, the history of sexuality, and more? And what is the role of history and the historian in reinforcing or challenging racialized and gendered understandings of victims and perpetrators?

NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality is seeking short submissions (800-1000 words) exploring any aspect of histories of sexual violence. We welcome blog posts, interviews with scholars, archivists, and activists, as well as submissions to our “Archives of Desire” series in which historians reflect on specific primary sources and their value in researching or teaching histories of sexuality. Regardless of format, posts are meant to be accessible and interesting to a non-historical, non-academic audience.

Men, women and children united together and marched against sexual assault during the Take Back the Night march on Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 1, 2015. The Take Back the Night event is held annually on Kadena Air Base to raise awareness around the installation about sexual assault. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Omari Bernard, Wikimedia Commons)
Men, women and children united together and marched against sexual assault during the Take Back the Night march on Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 1, 2015. The Take Back the Night event is held annually on Kadena Air Base to raise awareness around the installation about sexual assault. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Omari Bernard, Wikimedia Commons)

Possible topics for exploration include but are not limited to:

  • Sexual violence in war and conquest
  • Racial violence
  • Sexual violence and the family
  • Trans/homo/biphobias and violence experienced by gender and sexual minorities
  • Anti-violence social movements
  • Men and/or masculinities and sexual violence
  • Law and policy
  • Representations of sexual violence
  • Transnational, comparative, or global perspectives
  • Intersectional approaches to analysis
  • Archival and/or oral history practices in the history of sexual violence

Style and image guidelines:

  • Submissions should be written for a non-specialist and international audience. Therefore, avoid jargon and use hyperlinks wherever possible to clarify terms or concepts that may be unfamiliar to a general readership.
  • Include at least one relevant image for which you have obtained permission and caption your image with clear attribution information. We also welcome your use of a range of sources such as movies or sound files.
  • Include a short author bio including hyperlinks with your submission.
  • For more information see our submission guidelines.

Proposals and queries are most welcome. Send submissions to Desiree Abu-Odeh at doa2105@cumc.columbia.edu by February 1, 2018. All submissions to NOTCHES go through an internal review process prior to publication.



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NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.notchesblog.com.

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