Dignity

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Volume 11, Issue 3 (2026)Read More

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    Current Articles

    • Journal Article1 September 2026

      Pornography and Men's Violence Against Women and Children: From Production to Consumption

      Gail Dines, Mandy Sanchez
      The average age of first viewing mainstream pornography for boys is around ten to twelve years old. The pornography they encounter is largely from “tube sites,” named after YouTube, which are popular because they require no registration, no payment, and no subscription. For the most part, an adolescent only needs access to a digital device to view hundreds of thousands of free videos. As we discuss in this article, the weight of the scientific evidence shows that viewing pornography is associated with multiple social, emotional, sexual, and cognitive harms. However, none of these studies provide a detailed analysis of the content, and we have learned from numerous presentations and workshops that much of the public is unaware of the cruelty and violence in pornography that are perpetrated against women by men. By focusing both on the content and effects, our goal is to expand and deepen the contemporary understanding of pornography as a cultural text and narrative that has normalized, glamorized, and cemented the ideological and material reality of women and girls as a debased sex-class.
    • Journal Article1 September 2026

      When Protection Becomes Predation: Militarized Masculinity and Sexual Violence in Northeastern Nigeria

      Tosin Osasona
      The study investigates the structural and situational drivers of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) perpetrated by state security actors in the context of Nigeria’s counterinsurgency campaigns in Borno State. Drawing on militarized masculinity and strain and deprivation theories, and using a qualitative, interpretive research design, the study argues that CRSV is not an isolated or episodic form of deviance by individual soldiers and security personnel but is embedded in routine military–civilian interactions. Advancing an interactionist explanation of CRSV in Nigeria’s Islamist counterinsurgency operations, the study demonstrates that the likelihood of sexual violence increases through the interaction of gendered institutional norms, operational pressures, and permissive institutional environments. It further highlights the strategic implications of such abuses, including their potential to undermine state legitimacy and contribute to insurgent recruitment. The paper concludes that preventing CRSV requires addressing not only individual misconduct but also the structural and institutional conditions, including gendered organizational norms, operational strain, and weak accountability mechanisms, that enable and sustain such violence.
    • Journal Article1 September 2026

      The Revival of Honor Killing in Iranian Kurdistan: A Sociological Analysis of Gender, Land, and Identity

      Parviz Sobhani
      Honor is a foundational yet restrictive sociocultural construct in Kurdish society of western Iran. Transgressions of its boundaries, particularly by women, are historically met with violent sanction. Despite processes of modernization, honor killings have re-emerged as a conspicuous phenomenon in Iranian Kurdistan, suggesting an active revival rather than a passive residue of tradition. This study employed a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological approach. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 social scientists and researchers from January 2022 to February 2024 in Iranian Kurdistan.  A grounded theory framework guided the thematic analysis. Findings reveal a dual symbolic encoding of honor: it simultaneously signifies female chastity and the sanctity of the Kurdish homeland. This conflation elevates honor to an absolute, non-negotiable value and mandates collective defense. Perceived violations of women’s conduct or territorial/cultural boundaries trigger potent communal reactions. Moreover, selected religious interpretations and structural contradictions within Iran’s national legal code function not as deterrents but as catalysts that perpetuate and intensify honor-based violence. Honor killing in Iranian Kurdistan is not a medieval relic but a dynamic manifestation of an embattled identity system. Interventions focusing solely on legal reform are insufficient; sociocultural narratives that fuse gender, land, and ethnic survival must be addressed concurrently.

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