Positionality and knowledge production on conflict-related sexual violence against men and boys in (counter-) terrorism

What happens to knowledge production when African-based researchers studying intersections between terrorism and wartime sexual violence interrogate prevailing heteronormative socio-norms? As the influence of socio-political bias in reflexive methodology in international relations (IR) continued to be discussed, critics argue that reflexive discourses have yet to address their entrenched racial and colonial logic, which centers on Western voices. Thus, African-based researchers’ fieldwork experiences in the research process are poorly reflected in IR or terrorism studies. We reflect on our experiences studying fellow nationals on issues of sexual violence victimization of men and boys in areas affected by terrorism. We argue that irrespective of shared national/ethnic identity, researcher–researched relations are strained when researchers pose vexing questions that interrogate heteronormative social norms. This leads to researchers’ feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and physical harm as their gender and sexuality become open to social scrutiny. We also argue that study participants strategically silence ethnographic encounters, demonstrating their power when researchers disregard existing social norms and study participants’ sense of existential security. Our study embodies the Feminist-Informed Researchers’ Commitment to IR, which addresses the politics of field research, nuances the methodology of uneasiness concept on wartime sexual violence, and advocates flexibility to mitigate methodological messiness.