Helen Liebling

Dr

    Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
    1995 …2024

    Research activity per year

    Personal profile

    Research Interests

    Survivors of conflict and post-conflict sexual and gender-based violence and torture in Africa and the UK: Refugees and Asylum Seekers

    Biography

    Helen has been carrying out applied research with survivors of conflict and post-conflict sexual violence and torture in Africa since 1998. Helen has numerous journal publications including two books: ‘Ugandan Women War Survivors’ (Liebling-Kalifani, 2009) and ‘Justice and Health Provision for Survivors of Sexual Violence’ (Liebling and Baker, 2010). Helen’s research includes several innovations in theory including a re-conceptualisation of trauma, integrated justice and health approaches, and a holistic approach for service provision for conflict-affected survivors, the arguments for entitlement to health care being a human rights issue and policies for war survivors as well as governance and sexual violence. Helen has carried out consultancies, training and interventions in Africa to enhance support for conflict survivors and service providers in conjunction with Isis-WICCE, Uganda. Consequently Helen has had her policy recommendations adopted by the pre-consultative meeting in gender mainstreaming in the African Union and the executive summary and published book were presented to the President of Uganda who stated he would act on their recommendations. Furthermore, the South African Correctional Department recommended implementation of Helen’s research and policy recommendations to inform services for conflict survivors at trauma centres opened in Gulu and Kitgum, northern Uganda.

    Area of Expertise:

    Applied research with survivors of conflict and post-conflict sexual violence and torture in Africa since 1998. Helen has carried out consultancies, training and interventions to enhance support for conflict survivors and service providers. Helen has also carried out research with survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and torture including refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

    Vision Statement

    My concern is to capture the voices and lived experiences of African women, men and children regarding their experiences and the gendered effects of conflict and post-conflict sexual and gender-based sexual violence and torture. I am inspired by the resilience and strength that survivors demonstrate in the midst of such adversities. How do survivors understand the effects of their experiences? To whom do they look for health and justice service responses and support? What assists their recovery? I found that Africans have their own culturally sensitive ways of understanding the collective impact of their experiences. My research also revealed that sexual violence and torture has had a devastating impact on the physical, reproductive and mental health and rights of African people and there is a lack of effective health and justice services to respond. The premise of my research is that only by understanding how African survivors themselves understand the effects of their experiences and their needs, as well as the health and justice providers views of current service provision, will governments, policy makers and donors be in a position to determine how best services should be delivered in order to meet these outstanding needs and ensure fairness, effectiveness, equity and sustainability.

    Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

    In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

    • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

    External positions

    External Examiner, Trinity College Dublin

    30 Sept 201630 Sept 2020

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