Regulating Bodies: Children and Sexual Violence

This article argues that common ways of thinking about children and childhood make it very hard for young people to be recognised as victims of sexual assault. It says that social science research has largely left out children and youth when studying sexual violence. The author describes this silencing as a form of epistemic violence, meaning that people's knowledge and voices are erased. The author also argues that feminist researchers should draw attention to Institutional Review Boards, which act as gatekeepers over whose voices are represented in research.

Key points

• Disciplines have been silent on sexual violence, and children and youth are left out of social science research.
• Dominant frameworks of children and childhood make child sexual assault a discursive impossibility for most young people.
• Silencing is a form of epistemic violence and these erasures are fundamental to understanding violence and power.
• Institutional Review Boards act as gatekeepers of representation and voice.
• Feminist researchers should call attention to the undermining qualities of these review boards.

Limitations

Only a short abstract is available, so the evidence, methods and any specific country or setting are not stated. It is a conceptual argument and does not measure how common sexual violence is or test any intervention.