Authors:
- Ruth Beecher, School of Historical Studies, Birkbeck, University of London – ORCID

- Emily Bridger, Department of Archaeology and History, University of Exeter - Google Scholar, ORCID

Abstract: »Three decades ago, Shani D’Cruze warned historians that ‘research into sexual violence…is not lightly undertaken,’ but replete with political, methodological, and ethical challenges. Since her cautioning, researchers have worked to contextualise sexual violence, demonstrating how its meanings and experiences are historically and culturally specific, and how understandings of what constitutes harmful sex change across time and place. Yet how historians go about conducting such research – what questions they ask, what sources they use, and how they position themselves in their work – remains little explored. Today, historians of sexual violence are moving beyond the previous reliance on court documents and increasingly using interdisciplinary methods, drawing on work in medicine, psychology, and anthropology, and looking for sources beyond the traditional archive through oral histories and participatory methodologies.
This special feature explores the methodological challenges and ethical complexities of researching histories of sexual violence. It argues that these concerns are foundational to the work that we do and can benefit from explicit interrogatation in our research, analysis, and writing. The special feature’s articles were developed through an online workshop held in 2022 and an international conference in 2023.« (Source: History Workshop Journal)

Contents: -

Wikipedia: Sex and the law: Sexual violence