The Latest Issue of CJIR Is Now Available
The Czech Journal of International Relations (CJIR) is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 61, Issue 2 (2026), a special issue titled “Decentring Gender-Based Violence: Central and Eastern European Perspectives in International Relations.” Guest edited by Julia Sachseder (University of Vienna) and Maryna Shevtsova (KU Leuven), the issue offers a timely and innovative contribution to debates on gender-based violence (GBV), feminist International Relations, and security studies.
The special issue argues that Central and Eastern Europe should no longer be viewed as merely a regional case study but as a source of theoretical innovation. The editors propose a new perspective on GBV as a continuum embedded in political, military, institutional, and societal structures, while highlighting the importance of voices and experiences from the region.
The issue opens with an introduction by Maryna Shevtsova and Julia Sachseder, who outline the conceptual foundations for decentring gender-based violence. The research articles then explore GBV across a range of contexts:
• Christa Binswanger, Melanie Fleischhacker, Eva-Maria Graf, and Andrea Zimmermann examine the persistence of gender-based violence in academia and the challenges of making it visible.
• Liubov Gordiienko analyses sexual misconduct within the Ukrainian Armed Forces during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
• Patrycja Buxton and Aneta Ostaszewska investigate the silencing and normalisation of domestic and gender-based violence in Poland.
• Kristina Gotthardova explores gendered violence targeting women politicians and journalists in Slovakia following the 2023 parliamentary elections.
• Janet Elise Johnson and Veronika Tsiko examine Ukraine’s decolonial feminist response to conflict-related sexual violence and its implications for the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Taken together, the articles illustrate the diverse manifestations of gender-based violence across political and societal contexts, while highlighting the analytical contributions of feminist and interdisciplinary approaches to International Relations.
Indexed in Web of Science and Scopus, the Czech Journal of International Relations continues to provide an international platform for cutting-edge scholarship addressing contemporary global challenges.
The full special issue is available Open Access on the CJIR website.
