Rimona Afana on “Animal Captivity: The Matrix of Extraction, Torture, Murder”

Location: Rachel Carson Center, fourth floor, Conference Room, Leopoldstr. 11a, 80802 Munich, Germany

Guest Speaker: Rimona Afana

Trillions of animals live and die in captivity. Across sectors like food, clothing, medicine, or entertainment, the torture and murder of animals rely on their confinement. Captivity facilitates the extraction of animal body parts or forced labor, and it is typically the precursor of killing. Beings with complex sentience suffer physically and psychologically from captivity; their need for liberty, autonomy, and bodily integrity collides with our “right” to (ab)use them. Captivity is part of a continuum of torturous practices, crushing the body and spirit of animals.

Drawing on scholarship in animal law, nonspeciesist criminology, ethics, zoology, and veterinary science, Rimona Afana will document some common forms and effects of animal captivity, covering a variety of wild and domesticated animals trapped in different commercial sectors. Next, she will discuss how animal captivity is being challenged: lawsuits seeking to free confined animals, laws banning animal captivity or improving confinement conditions, and direct action, particularly open and clandestine rescue. Despite sporadic victories, challenging captivity remains ineffective and risky, as states and corporations engage in a variety of repressive strategies to normalize animal abuse and crush dissent. Finally, she will reflect on the prospects for redefining and criminalizing animal captivity: low, given the increasingly carceral systems (mis)shaping the lives of both humans and nonhumans.

The event will be chaired by Prof. Dr. John Barry. 

Rimona Afana is a Romanian–Palestinian researcher, lecturer, activist, and multimedia artist. Her research on mass atrocities against humans and nonhumans is published in law and criminology journals and books, and her artwork appears in literary journals, arts magazines, festivals, and exhibitions. Over the past 20 years she has also contributed to many civic projects on human and nonhuman rights in various countries.