Leigh A. Payne’s work on Perpetrators’ Confessions to State Violence examines how public confessions by perpetrators of state violence impact newly formed democracies. She emphasizes the "unsettling" nature of confession, challenging the common assumption that mechanisms like Truth and Reconciliation Commissions "settle" the past. She argues that public confessions are inherently unsettling and do not lead to immediate national reconciliation. Instead, they catalyze contentious debate. Confessions trigger public disagreement and "dialogic warfare" between victims, perpetrators, and society. Yet Payne suggests this contentious debate is actually healthy for democratic processes as it promotes political participation, freedom of expression, and the open contestation of political ideas.
For this project, Payne received funding from:
Spanish translation
The book was translated into Spanish and a chapter on Colombia was added. View here
Confessions to Violence in the Franco Era
Together with Paloma Aguilar, Leigh A. Payne worked on Confessions to Violence in the Franco Era.
Team:
The research for this book was conducted by Professor Leigh A. Payne when she was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She benefitted from research by graduated students–Yousun Chung, Valerie Hennings, Tricia Olsen, Kerry Ratigan, Marcela Rios Tobar, and Jelena Subotic–and undergraduates–Jennifer Cyr, Hillary Hiner, Jessica Menaker, Sheri Wright Linzell, Heidi Smith, and Nicole Wegner.
Publications:
Focusing on confessions by revolutionary and guerrilla movements, this study investigates how leftist actors confront their own responsibility in political violence. Through cases such as Argentina’s Montoneros and Colombia’s FARC, it traces how timing, politics, and power shifts shape public reactions and how self-critical reflection can open paths toward accountability and democratic renewal.
Team:
Leigh A. Payne has worked on how the armed left has confronted its violent past in key Latin American countries. At the University of Oxford, Erika Chaben Cabrera and Sarah Phillips collaborated in the research on confessions from the armed left.
Publications:
This pioneering project examines how perpetrators of wartime rape confess their crimes—and how such admissions can transform social norms, validate survivors, and prevent future violence. Using the first global database of rape confessions (CONFESS) and participatory fieldwork across continents, it develops theory and practice for confessions that promote truth, dignity, and justice after war.
This project is led by Leigh A. Payne and Kiran Stallone during their fellowship at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, supported by a research team including Harvard College Radcliffe Research Partners–Sofía Chavez, Michelle Canas García, Mia Lupica, Diego García Moreno, and Katherine Villanueva–and Oxford University based researchers Charli McMakin and Erika Chaben Cabrera. Together, we aim to produce actionable knowledge that bridges scholarship, survivor experience, and policy reform.
The project also received support from the Clingen Center Legacy Project, Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, 2024-2025, “Confessions to Rape in the Aftermath of Colombia’s Armed Conflict.” As part of that project, the following podcast was recorded: Preserving Voices, Confronting Violence: Insights from the Legacy Project, Episode 75, Published: 2025-09-08
Length: 47:53. Host: Josefina Echavarría Álvarez. View more
Publications:
Publications
Our research spans multiple continents, focusing on societies emerging from prolonged violence.
We currently work in:
Latin America: Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru
Africa: South Africa, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo
Asia: Myanmar, Sri Lanka
Europe: Bosnia and Kosovo
Each site contributes unique insights into how societies confront past violence, seek truth, and rebuild norms around justice and accountability.
© 2026 Leigh A. Payne. All rights reserved.
