Welcome to the Sexual
Harms Research Alliance
We foster collaboration in arts and humanities research about sexual abuse and violence, bringing academics, practitioners, and people with lived experience together to investigate the past and present and share our learning.
Understanding experiences
across time and place
How have sexual abuse and violence been investigated, understood, and treated in different regions of the world or by distinct individuals, communities, or groups, whether historically or in contemporary societies? How have victims and survivors of sexual violence been seen, understood, helped, or harmed—and how do they understand their own experiences?
Recovery Histories
New
Recovery Histories is a Wellcome Trust-funded research project running from 2024-2028. It is the first social, cultural and medical history into recovery from child sexual abuse in the second half of twentieth century Britain and Ireland.
Writing Difficult Subjects: Creative Writing as Self-Care
October 2024 – December 2025
Writing Difficult Subjects is a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant funded project. It explores how academics in the field of sexual violence might process harms associated with their research and develop self-care skills through creative writing techniques.
SH+ME
Resources
Events
Research
Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters (SHaME) was a Wellcome Trust-funded research project running from 2018-2024 that explored the role of medicine and psychiatry in sexual violence. We aimed to move beyond shame to address this global health crisis.
Affected by sexual violence or sexual abuse?
If you have been affected by issues relating to sexual violence, we can recommend some support services.
