Media and Op-eds
I am a regular contributor to print and broadcast media both in Australia and internationally. Interviews about my research have appeared on the BBC, Huffington Post, ABC and Foreign Affairs, as well as on radio and TV platforms in Australia and overseas. I am available for comment on issues related to my research, or issues related to the Melbourne Free University, which I co-founded and convene.
My research focuses on civil wars and peace processes, in particular, how the international community supports societies as they move from war towards peace, and why these processes often fail to establish stable peace. I'm particularly interested in the negotiation of power during these processes, the role of non-state actors and women, and how the assumptions and behaviours of international interveners affects their capacity and credibility in the countries in which they work.
Selected Audio
ABC RN Big Ideas: Sexual abuse by UN and non-UN peacekeepers
Broadcast of lecture presented at Monash Gender, Peace and Security
June 2020
Book Launch: Violating Peace
with Dr Helen Durham (ICRC) and Prof. Susan Harris Rimmer (Griffith University)
November 2020
Women in Australian International Affairs
Online launch of AJIA Special Issue on critical analyses in Australian foreign, defence and strategic policy
June 2020
Binge Thinking Podcast: War and Peacekeeping with Jasmine Westendorf.
September 2017
It’s all academic: Interview with Patricia Karvelas on RN Drive about why peace processes often fail.
December 2015
Selected Opinion Pieces
Do no harm: The challenge of transactional sex in humanitarian operations
Humanitarian Alternatives, March 2021.
French translation available here.
Why transactional sex is difficult to stop in the aid sector
The New Humanitarian, 6 October 2020.
Sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers is shocking and shameful. Why does it persist?
ABC News, 15 June 2020
Covid-19 is not the biggest threat to UN peacekeeping
Lowy Interpreter, 18 May 2020
Why Isn’t Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Treated the Same as Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Contexts?
(with Alicia Luedke) Peace Research Institute Oslo Blog, 20 November 2017
Connecting Women, Peace and Security, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in peace operations can improve policy and practice
London School of Economic Center for Women, Peace and Security Blog, 5 October 2017.
Taking in more refugees won’t solve the Syrian crisis
The Age, 10 September 2015.
Proof the internet filter lives on by other means
(with Jem Atahan) ABC The Drum, 16 May 2013.
After the storm, we need to keep talking about Kony
Open Democracy/Open Security, 26 March 2012.
Excluded: The forgotten women of war and peace
The Conversation, 2 November 2011.
More than lip service needed to protect women in war
The Age, 29 October 2011.
Selected Video
A Look at Civil Society and the Cyprus Peace Process on Sigmalive EN, Cypriot TV station.
Politics, power and peace processes at the Developmental Leadership Program conference.