Sexual Violence and the Culture of Impunity

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Room 920
Melbourne Law School
185 Pelham Street
Carlton

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Speaker: Dr Dolly Kikon, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne

Anthropologist Dr Dolly Kikon presents insights and reflections from her 2016 monograph Life and Dignity: Women’s Testimonies of Sexual Violence in Dimapur (Nagaland). Focussing on her ethnographic work in Nagaland, a tribal state in Northeast India that has witnessed India’s longest armed conflict, Dr. Kikon shows how the Indian state is deeply implicated in escalating the culture of sexual violence and impunity. She highlights how perpetrators of sexual violence - both state and non-state actors - escape justice, while their victims are trapped between exhortations by women's advocacy groups not to ‘suffer quietly' and the social stigma attached to sexual violence. Dr Kikon highlights how the arc of sexual violence must now be seen to extend from a militarized nation and a militarized region downwards to the constituent units upon which its edifice is located: home, family, and the community. Dr Kikon will read sections from her monograph to share her research findings about how the naturalization of the home as a hub of love, security, and care erases the experiences of structural violence and trauma that the social units and relations have undergone in militarized societies.

MAEVe Seminar Series

The Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence Against Women and their Children (MAEVe) was established in 2015 to draw together research and evaluation capacity across the University, in partnership with community, industry and government agencies, to respond to this pressing challenge.

MAEVe strives to make a difference to the lives of women, families and communities by addressing and preventing violence against women through interdisciplinary and intra-institutional collaboration.

MAEVe's lunchtime seminar series is held fortnightly (with the exception of holidays)

Semester 2 Program

All events are held on Tuesdays between 1pm and 2pm at Melbourne Law School, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton.

DateRoomTopicSpeaker
25 July920Violence and Disability: Contemplating the IntersectionsJessica Cadwallader
8 August224Children's Voices in Family Violence Practice and ResearchAnita Morris
22 August920Sexual Violence and the Culture of ImpunityDolly Kikon
5 September920New Psychological Perspectives on Objectification and Violence Against WomenAdriana Vargas Saenz and Michelle Stratemeyer
19 September920Securing Muslim Women's Safety: Organising Against Domestic Violence in the 'Age of Terror'Amy Piedalue
10 October223Understanding Women's Mobility and Empowerment in Bangladesh's Garment IndustryRimi Khan
24 October920Gender and Activism for Indonesian Survivors of Enforced Military Prostitution during the Japanese Occupation of the Netherlands East IndiesKate McGregor
14 November224Intervention Orders Online: Early Results of an Evaluation of the Online Application for FVIOs in Three Magistrates' CourtsStuart Ross
28 November224Violence Against Women in Indian Print MediaAmanda Gilbertson