Breaking the Spell of Silence: Collective Healing as Activism amongst Refugee Male Survivors of Sexual Violence in Uganda JERKER EDSTRO ¨ M Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, United Kingdom j.edstrom@ids.ac.uk CHRIS DOLAN Refugee Law Project, Makarere University, Kampala, Uganda dir@refugeelawproject.org MS received May 2017; revised MS received April 2018 Whilst sexual violence against men in armed conflicts has long been margin- alized in research and policy, the recognition that it is far more widespread than previously understood is slowly gaining ground. Based on research carried out in Uganda in 2015, this article explores how a group of male refugee survivors of sexual violence have been able to organize, heal and become activists, and reflects on how we should understand and engage with this struggle. We hear how these men have begun to heal through mutual support and politicized collective action, and how humanitarian organizations and service providers can play crucial roles in support. The authors call for: challenging binary views of gender that permeate much current policy; developing open-ended, survivor-driven psycho-social support models; and supporting refugee male sur- vivors’ activism through action research into advocacy and global networking strategy, to continue destabilizing the silence over male victimization in conflict- related sexual violence. Keywords: Men, victims of sexual violence, male refugees, male survivors, refugee activism, masculinities, gender violence, conflict related violence, sexual violence response Introduction Men’s experiences as survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remain extremely marginalized in research, policy and practice alike, both in relation to contexts of conflict and in humanitarian responses to forced mi- gration. With gradual growth in academic and policy work on the issue (Oosterhoff et al. 2004; Carpenter 2006; Russell 2007; Sivakumaran 2007; United Nations 2008; Johnson et al. 2010; Solangon and Patel 2012; Journal of Refugee Studies ß The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com doi:10.1093/jrs/fey022 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jrs/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jrs/fey022/5032360 by guest on 06 June 2018