Gendering internal colonialism: engaging reproductive justice and digital testimony of Uyghurs in diaspora

This article explores reproductive violence against China’s internally colonized Uyghurs through the lens of reproductive justice developed by women of color in the United States (US). Reproductive justice includes the right to birth and raise children. We follow Sara Salem’s example of engaging “Western” theories in “non-Western” spaces of diaspora Uyghurs’ digital testimonies from the Uyghur Tribunal based in the United Kingdom (2020–2021). We ask: what insights arise from engaging reproductive injustices through reproductive justice in digital testimonies that offer resistance while simultaneously generating ethical concerns? Sub-questions concern how well reproductive justice travels, and positionality in diaspora testimony. Building on Saskia Witteborn’s study of Uyghur testimonies, we argue that reproductive justice transforms outside the US, and specifically that addressing reproductive justice for Uyghurs points to geopolitical complications in countering reproductive violence in China. This article broadens research on internal colonialism and reproductive justice. While reproductive justice’s roots underline activism, this is largely impossible in the context of Uyghur and similar political communities in China given the extent of digital censorship and other forms of repression, raising the question of whether and how the international community should respond. The article also develops the concept of internal colonialism by considering a specific gendered form of colonization – that of reproductive injustice.