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Key information

aleisha.ebrahimi@ucl.ac.uk

Aleisha joined the Faculty of Laws in September 2018. Her PhD research focuses on gender equality as a matter of international human rights law, with a focus on structural inequality, domestic abuse and economic violence. Aleisha’s doctoral research combines doctrinal and empirical methodologies, in order to consider the effect of law on society. In September 2022, Aleisha was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales.ÌýIn March 2023, she was invited by the Women and Equalities Select Committee to act as an academic expert for a roundtable on International Obligations & Violence Against Women and Girls.Ìý

As part of her broader work on gender, Aleisha researches and writes on the complexities of coercive control, post-separation abuse and the intersection between the rights of women and children. Her research on gender and law is supported by a ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Faculty of Laws Research Scholarship, the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Joseph Hume Scholarship and the prestigious Modern Law Review Scholarship (awarded for both 2019-2020 and 2020-2021).ÌýÌý

Aleisha is a Family Law Associate Lecturer (Teaching) at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€™s Faculty of Laws and a Lecturer atÌýÌýin Paris, France where she is convenor for her module ‘Gender and International Human Rights Law’. As part of this module, Aleisha delivers content on maternal rights, domestic violence, the role of UN human rights treaties and women in times of war. She delivers specialist teaching on the causes and consequences of rape, coercive control and economic violence.ÌýÌý

She holds an LLB in European Law, having studied in both France, for a Licence en Droit Européen, and the UK. She also holds an LLM in Transnational Law (Distinction) from King’s College London. Aleisha was Called to the Bar as a Lord Lowry scholar and is a member of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple. ÌýÌý

Prior to the civil service and academia, Aleisha was at Amnesty International and worked on the United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, and before this was at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in London during the peak of the Syrian conflict in 2013. ÌýÌý

As part of pro bono efforts, Aleisha is on the Executive Committee ofÌýÌýand is head of theÌý. She regularly acts as lead draft for submissions to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Her work for Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights has been relied upon and referred to by the United Nations Human Rights Council and Human Rights Watch.ÌýÌýÌý

Aleisha is also on the Board of Trustees for theÌýÌýand is elected governor for a primary school in north east London.ÌýÌý

She is regularly asked to speak at conferences, webinars and radio shows about women’s rights and international human rights law, as well as delivering guest lectures internationally. Aleisha is an advocate for social mobility and diverse representation in law. She mentors several junior lawyers.ÌýÌýÌý

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ÌýResearch Supervisors

• Professor Colm O'Cinneide
• Professor Silvia Suteu

Areas of Expertise

Children, family law, gender, human rights, refugee lawÌýand Palestine

Visiting Fellowships

• Sciences Po, Faculty of Law, Paris 2020-21

¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Associations/Academic and Professional Memberships

• Society of Legal Scholars
• Member of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple
• Member of Socio-Legal Studies Association
• ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Journal of Law & Jurisprudence

• Co-editor of Journal of International Women's Studies 2021 special edition

Professional Experience

• 2022-Ìý Office of the Domestic Abuse CommissionerÌý
• 2015 – 2018 United Kingdom Government.
• 2014 – 2015 Amnesty International.
• 2013 – 2014 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Conference Papers and Presentations

• ‘Domestic Abuse in the Family Court’, Socio-Legal Studies Association conference, Ireland, April 2023Ìý
• ‘Domestic Abuse and the Istanbul Convention’, International Women’s Day 2023: Domestic Abuse, Housing and the Istanbul Convention on Violence Against Women, Garden Court Chambers, March 2023Ìý
• ‘Breastfeeding in Refugee Camps: a Child and Maternal Right?’, Columbia University, New York, March 2023Ìý
• ‘The Family Court – the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s perspective’, Against Violence and Abuse, October 2022Ìý
• ‘Structural economic violence: the gendered implications of the private and public sphere divide’, Sorbonne University, Paris, July 2022Ìý
• ‘The growing attack on Palestinian students: education and arbitrary detention under military occupation’, University College Union, April 2022Ìý
• ‘Breastfeeding in Refugee Camps: A Child and Maternal Right?’ÌýSocio-Legal Studies Association conference, York April 2022Ìý
• ‘Silencing Palestinian students: how international solidarity with Palestinians is important’ Birzeit University, Palestine, November 2021Ìý
• ‘Economic violence: structural inequality, gendered barriers to the labour force and devaluation and dependency’ÌýSocio-Legal Studies Association conference, Cardiff April 2021Ìý
• Gender and Sexuality Conference, ‘Refugee Mother and Child: the Legal Dyad’ (online, 2020). Award for best presentation receivedÌý
• World Conference on Women’s Studies, ‘Analysing Infant Feeding in Refugee Camps as a Matter of International Human Rights Law' World Conference on Women's Studies’Ìý(Colombo, Sri Lanka 2020)Ìý
• Gonzaga University, International Human Rights Conference: Women’s rights as human rights. ‘Economic violence and Gender Based Violence: the domestic arena’ (Florence, Italy 2020)ÌýRescheduled due to Covid-19Ìý
• British Institute for International and Comparative Law: Law, Culture and Human Rights in Asia and the Middle East, ‘Addressing Gender Based Violence in Tunisia with Islamic feminism’ (London, UK 2020)Ìý
• World Conference on Women’s Studies, ‘The role of UN Resolution 1325 in eradicating Gender Based Violence: achieving gender equality through Transitional Justice’ (Bangkok, Thailand 2019)Ìý
• Conference on Gender & Women’s Studies, ‘Gender Based Violence in the Middle East and North Africa’ (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2019)Ìý

Publications

Articles

• Ebrahimi A, ‘Breastfeeding in Refugee Camps: A Child and Maternal Right?’ (2021) 21 Human Rights Law Review 533
• Ebrahimi A, ‘Reintegrating FARC’s female combatants: the challenges of addressing gender binaries in Transitional Justice’ Birkbeck Law Review Vol 6, No. 1 (2018) 79-109

Book Chapters

• Suteu S and Ebrahimi A, 'Participatory Constitution-Making and Women's Rights: Two Distinctive Agendas?' in Brodeala E, Motoc I, Jelic I, Suteu S (eds), Women’s Human Rights in the 21st Century: Developments and Challenges in International and European Law (Edward Elgar 2022, forthcoming) Ìý

Edited Volumes

• Ebrahimi A, 'Introduction to the Special Issue: Overcoming Women’s Subordination: Socialisation, Law and Structural Inequalities. The 6th World Conference on Women’s Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 29-31 May 2020', in A Ebrahimi, D Fox and C Sanderson (eds) Journal of International Women's Studies (2021) 22(4).

Book Reviews

• Ebrahimi, A. (2021), Campbell, Meghan, Women, Poverty, Equality: The Role of CEDAW, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2018, 328pp, eBook £27.00. The Modern Law Review