“Sexual Violence and Antisemitism: Perspectives from International Law, Halakha, and Feminist Theory” Monday February 2 – Tuesday February 3, 2026

Sexual Violence and Antisemitism:
Perspectives from International Law, Halakha and Feminist Theory
Harvard University, February 2–3, 2026

This academic conference brings together an international group of scholars to examine the
historical, legal, and theoretical intersections of antisemitism and sexual violence. Building
on a Eirst workshop held in 2025 at the Katz Center, University of Pennsylvania, this
conference explores how recent scholarship on sexual violence against Jews reshapes our
understanding of antisemitism, its motivations and its impact on victims. Particular
attention will be given to the difEiculties—and urgency—of studying sexual violence and
antisemitism in the current political and intellectual climate.

Speakers include: Sarai Aharoni, Lotem Bassan-Nygate Elissa Bemporad, Christina von
Braun, Dara Kay Cohen, Thorsten Fuchshuber, Rachel Furst, Anna Hájková, Ruth Halperin-
Kaddari, Tamar Herzig, Kara Jesella, William Ross Jones, Thomas Kühne, Elissa Mailänder,
Tiarra Maznick, and Leah Sarna, among others.

Daytime panels will cover the following topics:
–Antisemitism and Fantasies of Sexual Violence
–Antisemitic Sexual Violence from Medieval to Modern Europe
–Challenges to Implicit Heteronormativity in Holocaust Inquiry
–The Effects of Exposing Silence on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

A panel on Monday evening from 7-9 p.m. will address the topic of Justice for Victims of
ConElict-Related Sexual Violence: October 7 and Beyond. This session will also be available
as a webcast: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95577331866

Registration is required to receive the program and attend the conference in person
and/or to receive the link to the webcast. Contact: [email protected]

The conference is convened by Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College; Anna-Carolin Augustin,
German Historical Institute (Washington, D.C.); and Sonya Michel, University of Maryland,
with the support of a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation and the Jewish Studies
Program at Dartmouth College. The conference is hosted by the Julis-Rabinowitz Program in
Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard University, Noah Feldman, Founding Director
Susan Kahn, Associate Director