Decentring Gender Based Violence: A New Special Issue from the Antigender Politics Network

How should we understand gender-based violence in a period marked by war, democratic backsliding, anti-gender mobilisation, and growing geopolitical tensions? A new Special Issue of the Czech Journal of International Relations brings together scholars from across Europe to address this question from the perspective of Central and Eastern Europe.

For many years, research on gender-based violence has often approached Central and Eastern Europe through the lens of deficit, portraying the region as lagging behind Western Europe or as an exceptional site of violence. Drawing on works of feminist scholars from the region, this Special Issue takes a different approach. It demonstrates that Central and Eastern Europe generates important theoretical and empirical insights into some of the most pressing global challenges facing democracies today.

The Special Issue includes contributions examining diverse manifestations of gender-based violence across the region. The articles explore conflict related sexual violence and sexual harassment in wartime Ukraine, domestic violence and the politics of language in Poland, violence against women politicians and journalists in Slovakia, violence in prostitution in Hungary, and the often-overlooked problem of gender-based violence within academia. Together, they demonstrate that gender-based violence is a complex issue deeply connected to democratic governance, institutions, citizenship, and political participation.

For the COST Action 23149 Democratization at Stake? Comparing Anti-Gender Politics in CEE and NME Countries, this Special Issue resonates strongly with the network’s objectives highlighting how anti-gender politics, democratic backsliding, and gender-based violence are interconnected processes that cannot be analysed in isolation. Understanding these dynamics requires interdisciplinary perspectives and close collaboration across countries and academic traditions.

The publication also reflects the collaborative spirit of the COST network itself. Both guest editors, Julia Sachseder and Maryna Shevtsova, are members of the network. In addition, many network members contributed to the development of the Special Issue through peer reviews, detailed comments, and scholarly discussions that strengthened both the individual articles and the overall intellectual coherence of the volume. This collaborative exchange illustrates one of the core strengths of COST Actions: creating spaces where international academic communities can collectively develop new research agendas and advance emerging fields of scholarship.

As debates on gender equality, democracy, and security continue to intensify across Europe and beyond, the Special Issue offers timely contributions that place Central and Eastern Europe at the centre of these discussions rather than at their margins. It invites readers to rethink established assumptions and to recognise the region as a source of theoretical innovation and critical knowledge production for understanding contemporary gender politics.