Profile:

My research focuses on violence against women (VAW) and health systems responses, including the interconnections between violence against women and violence against children, reproductive coercion, and the integration of violence response within health services , including sexual and reproductive health services, primary care, HIV settings. I use gender and intersectional approaches to examine how health systems can better prevent and respond to violence.

My work also engages with gender integration in global health policy, including One Health frameworks, and the intersections between gender-based violence, climate change, and health systems strengthening.

Current research projects:

I currently work on two projects:

• Strengthening synergies between prevention and response to violence against women (in collaboration with the University of São Paulo and the South African Medical Research Council). This project contributes to the development of coordinated strategies that enhance alignment between prevention and response interventions.
• Multi-country evaluation of One Stop Crisis Centres (in collaboration with WHO) . This work involves co-developing protocol and research tools for a cross-country evaluation of integrated service delivery models for survivors of violence in Nepal and Mozambique.

I also served as an advisor to an intervention project examining intersection between sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and climate change.

In parallel, I have contributed to a multi-country study (WAOH) integrating gender into One Health policies and governance frameworks in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and Guinea (policy component).

Selected research contributions:

• Qualitative study assessing the impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the help-seeking behaviour of survivors of violence and on service provision responding to violence against women in South Africa (in collaboration with the South African Medical Research Council).
• Situational analysis assessing collaboration between violence against women and violence against children sectors in 3 countries in the Middle East Region, namely Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (funded by UNICEF). 
• A systematic review exploring promising interventions that seek to prevent and/or respond to intimate partner violence against women and child maltreatment (funded by Innocenti, UNICEF);
• Healthcare Responding to Domestic Violence and Abuse (HERA) study: measuring health systems readiness of sexual and reproductive health clinics (in Brazil, Palestine, Nepal and Sri Lanka) to integrate care for intimate partner violence into their services (NIHR funded study);
• Pilot study assessing the health systems readiness of primary health clinics in Brazil and Palestine to integrate intimate partner violence into their services (MRC Global Challenges study);
• EMPOWER study assessing the feasibility and acceptability of gender-based violence within an HIV prevention package for young girls in South Africa and Tanzania (with Wits RHI, South Africa and part of STRIVE);
• Safe and Sound study: evaluating the implementation of a brief counselling intervention for pregnant women who experienced IPV (Safe and Sound study with Wits RHI)

Previous research leadership:

I was Principal Investigator of the ADVANCE study evaluating integration of intimate partner violence into antenatal care and policy in Nepal and Sri Lanka. I also contributed to the INTEGRA study in Kenya and Swaziland, examining integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services and women’s experiences of partner violence following HIV disclosure.

My PhD research was the first health policy and systems evaluation of One Stop Crisis Centres in Malaysia.

In the past, I led a project as Principal Investigator to evaluate the integration of IPV into antenatal care settings and health policies in Nepal and Sri Lanka (ADVANCE study).

I was a also researcher on a larger study (INTEGRA) in Kenya and Swaziland. As part of Integra, I conducted research on providers’ and clients’ experiences with integrated care, and also on women’s views and experiences of partner violence following disclosure of their HIV status.

As part of my PhD, I conducted the first health policy and systems evaluation of the One Stop Crisis Centres in Malaysia