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Dr Sandra Pertek is an interdisciplinary researcher and social development specialist with expertise in gender-based violence (GBV) and over a decade of experience in humanitarian, development, and migration settings.

She is a Lecturer at the Institute for Global Health and Development, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ and a Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She has previously served as ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham, following her role as an Impact and Policy Fellow in the SEREDA project at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS).

Her research integrates an intersectional and ecological analysis to explore the intersection of gender and religion in forced migration, focusing on resilience and vulnerability. She has led several research assignments in countries such as Ethiopia, Jordan, Poland, Tunisia, Turkey, the UK, and Ukraine.

Her studies, funded by ESRC, AHRC, Research England, the Institute for Global Innovation, and philanthropic donors, have been contributing to understanding experiences of and responses to GBV and displacement within diverse contexts.

As Senior Policy Advisor on Gender, she authored the Gender Justice Policy of Islamic Relief Worldwide and spearheaded a gender integration strategy in its global operations.

Additionally, she has provided consultancy services to various organisations, including the Home Office UK (developing a Theory of Change for Indicators of Integration), GIZ (religious actors mapping in Zambia) and Islamic Development Bank (gender integration into Islamic microfinance). She has also contributed to regional and local migrant women’s organisations.

Sandra’s commitment to strengthening protection in forced displacement is evident through her coordination of multi-stakeholder initiatives, grounded in her policy-oriented and collaborative research. She has published articles on gender-based violence in forced migration and co-authored the monograph, ‘On the Significance of Religion in Violence Against Women and Girls’ (Routledge). Her new monograph, ‘Violence against Women, religion and Forced Displacement: Experiences and Humanitarian Responses’, is underway.

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Affiliations:

British Sociological Association Gender and Development Network GBV Community of Practice (GBV Area of Responsibility)