Lateral violence is aggression, physical violence, emotional or psychological violence, harassment, bullying, or other forms of violent behaviour between people in impacted communities. When impacted people harass, bully, or isolate other impacted people, this is lateral violence. Lateral violence is often perpetrated by peers who have been harmed by colonialism, abuse, and other forms of exploitation, who seek to use those colonialist practices to gain power by taking it from others.

WeRNative defines lateral violence thus: “Lateral violence- also called internalized colonialism or horizontal violence- happens when people who have been oppressed for a long time feel so powerless that rather than fighting back against their oppressor, they unleash their fear, anger, and frustration against their own community members. For Indigenous communities, lateral violence is a part of a larger cycle of hurt that has its roots in colonization, trauma, racism, and discrimination. Sometimes those who hurt others with lateral violence may not be 100% aware of their actions or the suffering their actions cause. This might be because lateral violence often provides individuals who hurt others with a false sense of power or influence.” (emphasis added)

The American Institute on Domestic Violence defines lateral violence as: “organised, harmful behaviours that we do to each other collectively as part of an oppressed group, within our families, within our organisations and within our communities.”

People who have power and are outside of the impacted community itself often encourage, foster, and facilitate lateral violence as a way of disrupting solidarity so that they can keep power. We must work together to deconstruct violence centered in harmful dynamics.

Resources: We Name It So We Can Repair It: Rethinking Harm and Accountability in the Anti-Trafficking Sector