In the U.K.’s first major exhibition on sexual violence in conflict, Unsilenced amplifies the lesser-known perspectives of war.
Harrowing, yet vital, IWM London’s temporary exhibition unravels a history which has not been merely forgotten, nor overlooked – but actively silenced.
Once deemed a natural byproduct of war, sexual violence has long been a weapon wielded to oppress, humiliate, and incite fear among the already vulnerable. Now a recognized crime against humanity, the term “conflict-related sexual violence” includes acts of rape, forced prostitution, forced abortion, or other similar forms of sexual violence comited in the context of war or conflict.
“It feels very timely, I think we are far more aware of sexual violence and conflict,” says lead curator Helen Upcraft. “The power of reporting movements like Me Too is bringing awareness of this subject matter into a more public sphere.”
Unsilenced interweaves artefacts and testimonies spanning from the First World War to the present day, exposing the social contexts which fuel toxic power imbalances. Its collection of wartime propaganda does so starkly, with depictions of women as either sexually promiscuous deviants, or weak-willed, domestic angels, paired with slogans such as: “Keep Mum – she’s not so dumb” and “Beautiful? If you could see what the Doctor sees you’d leave ‘em alone!”
“If we could tackle some of these underlying societal causes, we could also potentially tackle the use of sexual violence in conflict,” Helen Upcraft, Lead Curator, Imperial War Museum.
“We help people to understand that it doesn’t take place in a vacuum,” says Upcraft. “If we could tackle some of these underlying societal causes, we could also potentially tackle the use of sexual violence in conflict.”
The selection of real-life testimonies and case studies span a century, interwoven by threads of alarming similarity. Earlier stories include the WWII Comfort Corps, which saw thousands of women across Southeast Asia sold, coerced, or forced into sexual slavery. Stripped of their belongings, these so-called “comfort” women and girls lived in state-sanctioned Japanese brothels, expected to sexually gratify multiple military personnel per day.
Today, survivors of the Comfort Corps are known as the Halmoni, meaning “grandmother” in Korean: “it’s a sign of respect for these women, but it’s also a way of recognising how long it’s taken for these crimes to come to light,” says Upcraft. Most of the Halmoni women have died waiting for justice and recognition, with fewer than ten still alive in Korea.
The exhibition features a small-scale replica of the peace statue, a widespread symbol of the comfort women. The bronze monument depicts a young woman, adorned in a traditional Korean hanbok, sitting with a small bird perched on her shoulder, her stare firm and unwavering.
Metres away, yet a century apart, visitors can hear the recorded testimonies of two Yazadi women, Hadia and Nazo, survivors of the 2014 genocide committed by jihadist group ISIS. In collaboration with the Wiener Holocaust library, the women documented their experience of rape, abuse and religious persecution.
“It was with the help of the Free Yazidi Foundation that we were able to locate these women to get their explicit consent to share their stories,” Upcraft explains, “we felt it was really important that they have agency over what is shared, especially given the subject matter.”
The IWM London provides a platform which is long overdue. In exposing patterns of violence and exploitation, victims and survivors are granted a space to be seen and heard, with the goal of personal and collective healing. On the exhibition’s walls, a sobering quote from ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Kahn KC reads: “We must do everything we can to create a safe space for survivors to come forward to teach us what they know, what they have experienced… This is our charge. It is our moral obligation.”
Amongst those hard-to-bear truths, it is the accounts of solidarity and resilience such as the Peace by Piece sewing project which leave visitors with a resounding sense of hope. Brought together by the Waging Peace organisation, a group of female Sudanese refugees collaborated to create a traditional toub, a large patchwork garment made during a series of sewing circles. Designed to bring together women with similar experiences, the project symbolized the opportunity to rework trauma into empowered futures.
“There are so many things that I have learned through working on this exhibition, but I think what will stay with me most are the incredible stories of survival,” says Upcraft.
“The incredible spirits of victims and survivors, and the organisations that work with them, who deal with this challenging material on a daily basis, I think is incredible. The fight for justice for some of these people is decades long, many of whom continue to do so, refusing to be defined by their trauma or their history.”
The Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict exhibition runs from 23rd May to 2nd November 2025 at IWM London. This exhibition includes cases of rape, sexual humiliation, torture and child abuse in conflict. IWM advises that this exhibition is only suitable for those aged 16 or over. All imagery courtesy of IWM.
