“There are some things that cannot be said”

This dissertation analyzes women’s experiences of sexual violence during the Zimbabwean Liberation War of 1966-1980 and their perspectives on the trauma associated with this conflict. I examine why official state-sponsored narratives and popular accounts maintained within communities did not prioritize addressing women's trauma with the same urgency as that of men after the war ended. Using interviews with survivors of the liberation war and Jesuit archival sources, I evaluate women’s contributions to the war and their interactions with various fighting forces, including both Rhodesian and guerilla soldiers.