Acts of sexual violence and rape, as well as the ensuing treatment of survivors and those who perpetuate the crimes, are pervasive in canonical texts that populate mandated reading lists in secondary English classrooms. Given the outsized role the literary canon places in English curriculum, we believe English teachers must develop practices that…

The framework of visual grammar (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, via Serafini, 2014) is used to examine the artwork of Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll's "Speak: The Graphic Novel," which tells through words and pictures the story of Melinda Sordino, a girl who is raped just prior to beginning her freshman year in high school. Three…

Contemporary critical literacy instruction primarily revolves around group discussion, yet the reflective nature of writing makes it an ideal strategy for supporting student sense-making about the world and how we operate within it. And semi-private reflective writing is especially necessary for instructional models that center text reading that…

Universities in the United States have undertaken the goal of addressing gender-based violence (GBV) on campus. Legal reforms have provided guidance on how this should be done, including the adoption of Title IX and the 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter. This guidance focuses on limiting liability concerns through mandatory/responsible…

In this article, we analyze and compare photographic images from some of the most widely circulated Japanese and American high school history textbooks regarding their treatment of the Pacific War. We focus on the visual component of war technology, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the visibility or invisibility of women,…

Growing evidence from multiple countries in Africa documents sexual violence in schools. However, when that violence is committed by teachers it is shrouded in secrecy. This article identifies disconnects between quantitative and qualitative research, policy and practice, which have contributed to these silences. We address some of these silences…

In this paper, I discuss rape myths and mythologies, their negative effects on rape and sexual assault complainants, and how they prejudicially construct women qua women. The backdrop for the analysis is the Belfast Rugby Rape Trial, which took place in 2018. Four men, two of whom were well-known rugby players, were acquitted of rape and sexual…

This article draws upon the 2020 review commissioned by the University of Strathclyde in the UK into the sexual misconduct of an academic staff member, Kevin O'Gorman, to examine competing and multi-varied forms of precarity in UK higher education. It considers how precarity as a political condition has the ability to shift and attach to different…

In this manuscript, the authors examine three young adult novels using critical literacy as a lens for addressing issues of power and justice around sexual violence and the actions taken by characters to make social change in their fictional schooling contexts. This piece uses scholarship around youth activism in young adult literature to engage…

While sexualized violence is perhaps one of the most common acts of aggression in imperial, colonial, and genocidal histories, it is also one of the most silenced, ignored, and under-addressed topics in the history curricula. Making sexualized violence visible is perhaps the biggest task and favor that history education can do to support efforts…

Because university campuses are microcosms of broader political and social climates, the increasingly polarized climates outside universities can permeate the classroom, challenging faculty who teach topics characterized by controversy and discomfort. We conducted a lesson study project at a college in the southeastern United States in three…

The #metoo movement has drawn attention to the significant issue of sexual assault. The concern has been so considerable that the US Department of Education (DoE) mandated adherence to various crime prevention, reporting and support practices through the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). As…

Sexual violence--which can include crimes such as rape and other forms of sexual coercion--is widely acknowledged as a problem on college campuses. Although the Department of Education (Education) collects some data on sexual violence at colleges that receive federal funding, measuring the prevalence of campus sexual violence has proven difficult,…

This article explores public debates about credibility in media discourse regarding a Somali refugee who was raped on Nauru. Given the pseudonym "Abyan", she was living on Nauru as a result of Australian refugee policy and was brought to Australia for medical assistance. Her treatment by the Australian authorities became the subject of…

This paper situates sexual harassment and violence in the neoliberal university. Using data from a 'composite ethnography' representing twelve years of research, I argue that institutional inaction on these issues reflects how they are 'reckoned up' in the context of gender and other structures. The impact of disclosure is projected in market…