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I have worked at the interface of research, policy, and practice in humanitarian affairs and human rights for more than 20 years. Right now I’m working as an independent consultant, primarily with UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center, focused on addressing commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of youth.
Some background: My first interest was sexual and reproductive health in emergencies. In 2003, I helped co-found the NGO Circle of Health International. I led the first fact-finding mission on sexual and reproductive health among Iraqi refugees in Jordan in 2007 and was a member of the inter-agency MISP assessment team after post-earthquake Haiti in 2010. From 2009 to 2011, I headed International Planned Parenthood Federation’s SPRINT Initiative in the Asia Pacific, covering 28 countries. Later, I was a lead consultant for IAWG’s 2012-2014 Global Evaluation on sexual and reproductive health in emergencies.
After spending a decade on applied research, advocacy, and capacity development, I wanted to dig deeper into accountability in humanitarian response. I was approached to pursue a PhD and, as part of my doctoral work, developed a framework to enhance socializing accountability in humanitarian settings.
Once my PhD was completed, I continued to explore emerging/neglected issues in humanitarian affairs. After undertaking applied research on sexual violence against men and boys in the Syria crisis for UNHCR (2017), I founded and led the Sexual Violence Project at the Women's Refugee Commission, a feminist initiative focused on male and/including LGBTIQ+ survivors. I developed cross-sectoral guidance and undertook the first studies on sexual violence against boys, men and/including LGBTIQ+ persons in the Rohingya crisis (2018) and along the Central Mediterranean Route into Italy (2019). I was also a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice and a Senior Adjunct Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.
latest
Evaluation (October 2024): Family and Me 2.0: A new model of foster care for youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation in the San Francisco - Evaluation Report 3
Interview (May 2023): Interview with the Centre for African Justice, Peace and Human Rights
Evaluation (December 2022): Family and Me (FAM): A new model of foster care for youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation in the San Francisco Bay Area
field experience
Bangladesh, Germany, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Israel (not oPt), 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