Research

Publications

Norosky, Jenna. “Distinguishing between the ‘soldier’ and the ‘brute’: engraving hierarchies of masculinity in conflict-related sexual violence discourse.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 26, no. 3 (2024): 544–565. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2024.2345097.

Abstract: On the one hand, feminists critique the securitization of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) on various grounds, but, on the other hand, also raise concerns that the Western hyper-fixation on CRSV reproduces colonial narratives about race, gender, and sexuality. However, the productive effects of specifically Western state discourse about CRSV have yet to be fully examined in this context. How do Western states make use of the colonial gaze in constructing CRSV as an issue of grave concern, and to what ends? Further, what are the implications of this for the nexus of feminist critique and praxis? This article utilizes a macro-structural approach to discourse analysis to analyze the 2014 Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, led by the United Kingdom. It argues that Western delegates securitized CRSV by relying on tropes of racialized men as maintaining backwards practices of gender and sexuality, and the construction of CRSV as a “pre-modern” weapon of war. This frame reproduces a racialized hierarchy of masculinity that constructs men from “conflict countries” as potential perpetrators in need of intervention, and men from “safe countries” as role models for gender-conscious militarized manhood. The article concludes by identifying potential practical implications of this discourse.

Norosky, Jenna, and Charli Carpenter. “The Right to Flee the Dangers of War: Rethinking Ukraine’s Gender-Based Restriction on Civilian Men’s Freedom of Movement.” Human Rights Quarterly 46, no. 3 (2024): 461–491. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2024.a933873.

Abstract: Amid Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the human rights community has understandably focused its attention on human rights violations committed by the Russian state, leaving the human rights implications of Ukraine’s martial law on civilians largely unexamined. This article highlights the ways Ukraine’s travel restriction on “battle-aged” civilian men has harmed three overlapping groups: civilian men, families (including women and children), and trans and nonbinary individuals. It then demonstrates that wartime policies such as this one are at odds with several areas of international human rights and humanitarian law: the right to freedom of movement, the right to conscientious objection, and the principle of respect for family life—all of which are meant to be implemented without discrimination on basis of gender. We conclude this type of gender-based law is not justified according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ rules on derogation in time of national emergencies and emerging customary law and should receive greater attention by the human rights community.

Working Papers

“The many metaphors of silence: Conceptualizing silence as a collaborative structure” (R&R w/ minor revisions).

“Beyond ‘silent’ male victims and ‘silencing’ feminists: Rethinking narratives about conflict-related sexual violence against men and boys” (under review).