Between war and peace Themes: Sexual violence of colonial armies, coercion, impunity

Sexual violence was not incidental, but central to colonial rule. Soldiers, administrators, and settlers systematically exerted power through coercion, assault, and absolute impunity—including the taking of women hostage to force labor productivity. Today, these historical patterns of violence and control persist in militarized policing, border regimes, and wartime contexts.  

In this fifth episode of Disrupting the Colonial Script: Centering Black Women’s Voices—a crucial chapter in our Unfinished Freedom project—we confront these continuities head-on. Produced in partnership with FEMNET, co-hosts Lavender and Susan sit down with guests Gassi and Musola. Together, they trace how historical systems of militarized violence shape contemporary realities and discuss what it means to demand genuine accountability in a world that routinely excuses these harms.  

This episode is an invitation to move beyond standard human rights frameworks and engage with deeply transformative, decolonial approaches to bodily autonomy and justice.  

• Colonial roots of violence: Understand the direct, historical link between colonial rule and contemporary forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).  

• The impact of militarization: Recognize how ongoing militarization and state security regimes shape and restrict women's bodily autonomy, even outside of formal conflict zones.  

• Frontline perspectives: Hear grounded, real-world perspectives from activists and practitioners working on the frontlines of survival and resistance.  

• Decolonial accountability: Engage with feminist, decolonial approaches to justice that challenge existing institutional frameworks.  

• Imagining meaningful repair: Reflect on what true structural change, collective safety, and meaningful repair could look like for affected communities.  

Production: African Futures Lab, FEMNET and Matt Dann.

Recording and editing: Matt Dann.  

Music: "African Dreams," written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti.  

Artwork: Florence Akyams. 

This episode was made possible through the generous support of our individual donors:

Nabeelah Shabbir, Carmen Ervin, A. Lorenceau, Taoufik, Anita Munyaneza, Amy Ngoc Dung Hong, Britta Redwood, Michel DeGraff, Deborah Ashimwe, Soline Laplanche-Servigne, Claire Bernard, Yasmine Abdillahi, Simon and Anita Hanukai Kirpalani, Maite Van Regemorter, Asdis Olafsdottir, S.F. du Toit, and Julie Frey.

We are deeply grateful for their generosity and for supporting efforts to amplify Black women's voices and advance decolonial feminist storytelling.