Sexual violence in wartime: online discourse and identity representations of rape victim-survivors

This paper examines how victim-perpetrator representation in conflict-related sexual violence is linguistically constructed, evaluated and contested in online spaces, with special emphasis on the discursive positioning of female victim-survivors. To do so, YouTube responses to English-language news clips about testimonies of Ukrainian victim-survivors of rape during the Russo-Ukrainian war are analyzed as a case study. The study examines a corpus of over 12,000 comments (350,795 words) and draws on corpus-assisted discourse studies and Appraisal theory to explore how YouTube users employ linguistic resources and choices to position themselves in relation to victims and perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence. The findings reveal the predominance of a misogynistic discourse that delegitimizes, marginalizes and instrumentalizes Ukrainian victim-survivors’ experiences. However, Appraisal resources were also found to enact discourses that build solidarity and empathy with victim-survivors to resist hegemonic and patriarchal narratives.