Dealing with the Historical Invisibility of Sexualized Violence in Marriage: Ethical and Methodological Reflections

ABSTRACT

Studying the history of sexual violence in marriage is an ethically complex endeavour, demanding consideration of both historical individuals subjected to violence and the contemporary audience engaging with this history. This article examines the ethical and methodological challenges inherent in such research, using twentieth-century Denmark as a case. It explores three interrelated problems: 1) why it is necessary to document historical sexual violence in marriage despite its difficulties; 2) how to identify instances of sexual violence in historical records, given the evolving definitions and silences imposed by hierarchically structured archives; and 3) how to present evidence without replicating historical violence.