AAS Call for Proposals

TW: This call discusses issues of sexual violence, which may be overwhelming for some.

We invite presenters to submit paper abstracts for a panel for the 2027 Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference held in March 18-21, 2027 in Boston.

Sexual Violence in Asia

Chair/Organizer: Michelle Ho, National University of Singapore

Discussant: TBA

Sexual violence against women is prevalent around the world and presents a global public health issue. Sexual violence encompasses behaviors ranging from "verbal harassment to forced penetration, and an array of types of coercion, from social pressure and intimidation to physical force" (World Health Organization & Pan American Health Organization, 2012). With advances in technology, digital forms of sexual violence known as technology facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) are also becoming commonplace (Powell & Henry, 2017). For instance, in the 2010s, South Korea encountered a spy camera epidemic, whereas large gender and digital safety gaps remain in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

This panel explores sexual violence in various parts of Asia, including but not limited to the lived experience of victims-survivors, rape myths and victim-blaming culture in the media, and awareness and representation of sexual violence (or the lack thereof). Despite the vast scholarship on sexual violence in Australian, North American, and United Kingdom contexts, fewer studies have so far been done in Asian contexts. We therefore aim to understand how sexual violence is diversely experienced, represented, and approached across Asia. This panel is significant for contributing to sexual violence issues in Asian studies and a growing body of work on TFSV in Asia.

Possible topics may include but aren't limited to:

• Lived experience of sexual violence, including rape, intimate partner violence, family violence, child abuse
• Representation of sexual violence, including in film, games, television, and other forms of media and popular cultures 
• Rape myths and victim-blaming culture in dating apps and social media platforms
• TFSV, including sextortion, voyeurism, online sexual harassment, image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), and other categories of TFSV
• Digital feminist movements, sexism, and sexual violence
• Men's and LGBTQ+ people's experiences of sexual violence and TFSV

Interested presenters should email a 250-word abstract, including a working title for your paper, and short author bio to Michelle Ho (michelle.ho@nus.edu.sg) by Wednesday July 15, 2026. 

Graduate students and junior scholars are especially welcome to apply.

Depending on the enthusiasm of the panelists, there may also be an opportunity for a special issue or edited volume to come out of this conference.