**UB Gender Inst. - The Politics of Sexual Violence in Communist China

Whose rape matters, and who has the right to suffer? During Communist China's Land Reform campaigns (1945–1952), rape became a revolutionary weapon—but only when wielded by the "right" hands. Party propaganda emphasized sexual predation by landlords to galvanize revolutionary support, yet widespread rape committed by revolutionary cadres and peasants was systematically hidden or excused, creating what the speaker identifies as a class-based rape culture. By centering rural women's experiences, this talk reveals not only their trauma but also their agency, illustrating how sexual violence emerged as both a powerful and contradictory force within the revolution.

Dr. Qiong Liu is assistant professor of history at Virginia Military Institute. She earned her PhD in history from the University at Buffalo in 2022. Her current research projects focus on gendered violence in the Chinese Communist Revolution. She is working on a book tentatively titled "Sullied Women, Unruly Revolutionaries: Class, Sexuality, and Gendered Violence in Chinese Land Reform, 1946-1953." At VMI, she teaches the two-semester World History course and upper-division courses on the Chinese Communist Revolution, gender and sexuality, and the cultural history of Martial Arts. She also serves as the advisor of the VMI Martial Arts Club.