About

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Dr. Sarah Chynoweth works at the interface of research, policy, and practice in humanitarian affairs and human rights. She has pioneered research and fact-finding missions on reproductive health, sexual violence, and accountability in conflict and disaster settings. 

Sarah spearheaded and currently leads the Sexual Violence Project at the Women's Refugee Commission. She is also a Research Fellow at the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University and an Adjunct Lecturer in Health, Rights and Development at the University of New South Wales. Sarah led the first studies on sexual violence against men and boys in the Syria crisis for UNHCR (2017) and in the Rohingya crisis (2018).

See her letter to the Lancet on the need to apply the evidence base for sexual and reproductive health care in humanitarian settings as well as a short piece in Forced Migration Review on learning from local organizations providing care for male and LGBTI+ sexual violence survivors.

Sarah lives in Kuala Lumpur and writes science fiction in her spare time.

field experience

Bangladesh, Germany, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tibet, Timor Leste, Vietnam

guest lecturing

Boston University, Columbia University, Harvard University, New College, New York University, Stanford University, University of Denver, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UCSF, University of New South Wales, University of Palermo