Intersecting identities and conflict-related sexual violence

This paper examines conflict-related sexual violence through an intersectional framework, exploring how vulnerability is shaped by race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and displacement. It argues that sexual violence in conflict cannot be understood through a singular gender lens, as patterns of victimization and access to justice are shaped by the positions of survivors within existing power structures. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the paper examines how conflict-related sexual violence is shaped by pre-existing systems of inequality that determine which populations become vulnerable during war and its aftermath. It argues that sexual violence operates through social hierarchies already embedded within everyday political life, including racial exclusion, marginalization, ableism and heteronormativity. These hierarchies shape who is targeted, as well as how violence is carried out and whether survivors are able to access protection or justice afterward. Across conflict and humanitarian settings, populations already positioned at the margins of society often face compounded forms of vulnerability, as displacement, dependency, stigma and institutional exclusion intensify exposure to violence and limit access to justice. The paper therefore approaches sexual violence as part of a broader process through which armed actors and institutions reproduce social marginalization and reinforce existing structures of power. The paper’s final section examines Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace and its efforts to incorporate intersectional approaches into the investigation of conflict-related sexual violence. The paper concludes that responses to sexual violence must account for the layered and structural nature of vulnerability in contexts of conflict.