This paper examines how violence against women in prostitution becomes socially invisible through the interplay of structural inequalities and narrative processes. Drawing on socialist and radical feminist theory alongside world-systems analysis, it conceptualises the prostitution industry as embedded in a capitalist patriarchy structured by relations between semiperipheral and core countries, where women from semi-peripheral regions are disproportionately exposed to exploitation. The empirical analysis is based on twenty-five qualitative interviews with Hungarian women engaged in prostitution in both Hungary and Western Europe. The study focuses on how temporal, spatial, and emotional distance from the prostitution industry shapes the narration of violence and trauma. The findings show that women still in prostitution tend to normalise and minimise violence, reproducing individualising narratives of control and responsibility. In contrast, women who have exited the industry – often with access to shelters and therapeutic support – articulate more structural interpretations, linking their experiences to gendered and economic inequalities. The paper argues that the capacity to narrate trauma is socially conditioned and that distance from exploitation is a key precondition for making violence visible.
Domestic and gender-based violence (D/GBV) in Poland has long been relegated to the margins of political, legal, and social agendas, as it was overshadowed by “more pressing” issues such as economic transition, EU accession, or wartime security. Despite Poland’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention (2015), its implementation remains partial and contested. Scholarship has documented the silencing and invisibilisation of women and children in contexts of D/GBV and international politics (e.g., Enloe), yet little attention has been paid to language as a literal and discursive barrier and opportunity in this regard. This paper asks how women and children are “hostages of/by language”. Drawing on feminist critical discourse analysis, sociological imagination, and norm translation theory, we analyse Polish politicians’ speeches, media reporting, and Catholic Church communications (2015–2025) to show how discursive silences and terminological struggles obstruct recognition and policy, making naming a necessary condition for protection.
This article examines the gender-based violence experienced by women politicians and journalists in Slovakia following the 2023 parliamentary elections, a period marked by democratic backsliding. Drawing on 14 semistructured interviews with women politicians, journalists, and gender equality experts, it analyses the forms and impacts of the violence, focusing on meaning-making processes, coping strategies, and motivations to remain publicly active. The findings show that women are frequently targeted through gendered attacks aimed not only at their personal lives and families but also at the values they represent, including democracy, human rights, and gender equality. These attacks often involve semiotic violence designed to discredit and disgrace them, such as accusations of being “foreign agents,” “prostitutes,” or “sell-outs.” The study identifies this violence as a contextspecific mechanism linking gender-based violence with broader political attacks against ideological opposition. It demonstrates how such violence operates as a strategic tool to silence women and limit their participation, particularly in the absence of effective institutional protection, thereby undermining democratic governance and diversity.
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has significantly accelerated the enlistment of women into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), with over 70,000 serving at the time of writing. Unlike many states that adopt gender mainstreaming and gender balancing policies gradually through phased reforms, Ukraine’s military bypassed this stage under the pressure of urgent security needs. The rapid increase in women’s participation, alongside the overall expansion of the AFU and the influx of personnel without prior military experience, has revealed persistent shortcomings in military culture regarding discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as gaps in policies and legal protections. This article argues that, while the war has brought these issues into sharper focus, it has also generated momentum for institutional reforms to address sexual misconduct within the AFU. Special attention is given to both existing and proposed mechanisms for addressing sexual harassment, including the amendments to the military disciplinary framework, as well as to the potential role of gender advisors and focal points in advancing these efforts. The article concludes with tentative reflections on how evolving gender dynamics within the military may shape broader societal transformations in post-conflict Ukraine.
This introductory article advances a feminist rethinking of gender-based violence (GBV) from the perspective of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Refusing to treat the region as a site of delayed development or exceptional violence, we position CEE as a source of theoretical insights for International Relations and feminist scholarship. Drawing on debates on the continuum of violence, intersectionality, feminist political economy, and the politics of knowledge production, we conceptualise GBV as a constitutive feature of contemporary political orders. We argue that violence operates across interconnected legal, institutional, economic, discursive, and military domains and must be understood in relation to broader processes of war, democratic backsliding, geopolitical contestation, and the global polycrisis. The article further reflects on the ethical and political challenges of feminist knowledge production in times of ongoing conflict and proposes solidarity, care, and pluriversality as key analytical and political horizons for future research on gendered violence.
