Summary

I graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2014 with a BA (Hons) in International Development Studies. My practice experience includes 4 years in the third sector working as a as a Community Development Worker, with women in the diaspora communities affected by FGM. I returned to academia in 2016 to study for a Masters’ in Research Development Studies at the University of Portsmouth.  I was then awarded an ESRC South Coast DTP scholarship to study for a PhD in International Development. I completed my PhD in 2023. 

I currently work as a Research Fellow in the School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature with Professor Tamsin Bradley on ‘The Girl Generation- Africa Led Movement to end FGM’ project which is funded by the FCDO. I also coordinate the Centre for the Advancement of Equality, Gender and Inclusion Studies which sits between the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Business and Law. Additionally, I support colleagues in the department with teaching on the Global Development Module at level 4.

Research Interests

I am a feminist researcher activist with research interests that focus on intersectionality between gender, culture and development policy and practice.

I am interested in the wider role that conservative gender ideology plays in legitimising violence against women and girls and perpetuating gender inequality. As a feminist anthropologist, I am specifically interested in how vulnerabilities and subjectivities are formed and how agency and autonomy is negotiated. My PhD research focused on the implications of harmful practices such as FGM, child marriage, bride price, polygamy on women and girls’ vulnerability to HIV infection.

I am concerned with qualitative methodologies, and I combine these with a range of theoretical frameworks including feminism, and postcolonial theory. My fieldwork methods combine ethnography with life-history narratives of personal experiences. Through applied research lens I critique approaches to development policy and practice, arguing for policy makers to maximise opportunities to end violence against women and girls by integrating various forms of gender- based violence including harmful practices in programming across development sectors.