The “secret war”: Silence, testimony, and wartime sexual violence

Abstract

Breaking the silence around wartime sexual violence is often understood as paramount to ending it. Many survivors feel compelled to publicly testify to prevent future harms, contest denial, and hold perpetrators to account. Yet, testimony is not always spoken, and silence should not be elided with powerlessness. In this article, we conceptualize the space in-between silence and voice as a form of multi-modal testimony that is given to protect, sustain, and reimagine relationships. We consider this in relation to the efforts of Adok, a woman abducted and forced into marriage by a rebel group in northern Uganda. Following her escape and return home with two children, Adok faced what is described as the “secret war”: ongoing structural and lateral violence. Her efforts to hold the father of her children to account attests to the “secret war,” and calls for a collective response to protect the future of her children.