Description
Women’s rights activists have described memorials, museums and other heritage sites as tools of advocacy to fight the scourge of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). These sites can sensitize the public to sexual crimes related to war and genocide and, it is hoped, help pursue justice for survivors and prevent further violence. For war museums, the curation of CRSV nonetheless poses ethical and political challenges. This study asks, how do leading war museums in the United States and United Kingdom curate the memory of CRSV? It examines war exhibits at the Imperial War Museum (London) and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.) and considers strategies, dilemmas, and openings in their attempts at evoking CRSV. The study reveals that these war museums use contrasting curatorial strategies. One uses verbal narrative and centers CRSV perpetrated by authoritarian states. The other presents photos and exposes violence perpetrated by the national self, a liberal democracy. The article argues that each addresses some feminist concerns while obfuscating others. It concludes by advocating curatorial strategies that invite a visceral empathetic connection with victims/survivors - testimonies, art, and immersive experiences - while balancing conflicting feminist ethical imperatives.
