Over the past decade racism, racialisation, empire and solidarity have re-emerged as some of the most central and contested issues to contemporary political struggles. The political right has mainstreamed and instrumentalised explicit and implicit forms of racism to reach the halls of power. This racism has not simply been rhetorical, as successive right-wing governments have implemented exclusionary and discriminatory policies.

Sexual violence remains one of the world’s most under-reported crimes. Victims who press charges are often subjected to painful scrutiny of their own behaviour and personal lives by medical personnel, juridical authorities and the media. Survivors of sexual violence have described their frustration at the legal process, which seems to place them rather than their attackers on trial: ‘…I feel like I was given the life sentence that he deserves’.

Coordonné par Damiano Matasci (Université de Genève) et Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo (Université de Coimbra)