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Halliki Voolma BA MPhil

PhD candidate

PhD Title: The Private is International: Domestic Violence Against Immigrant Women

Biography

Biographical case study available on the Gates Cambridge Scholarships website.

Qualifications

  • PhD candidate in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies (2011 - present), University of Cambridge
  • MPhil (Distinction) Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies, University of Cambridge (2011)
  • BA (Hons) (First-class) Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge (2010)

Awards and scholarships

  • Gates Cambridge Scholarships for PhD in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies (2011-present)
  • King’s College Graduate Studentship for MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies (2010-2011)
  • Polity Press Prize for performance in BA Social and Political Sciences Part IIB examinations (2010)
  • Scholar of the College scholarship from King’s College Cambridge (2008, 2009, 2010)

Research

This PhD will address the problem of domestic violence against immigrant women with the aim of developing recommendations for national law and policy as well as the international framework. Conceptually, the core notion I will address is human rights for the multiply marginalised; intersectionality in law and policy. Where do immigrant women experiencing domestic violence fit into the international frameworks around human rights? I will focus on the EU, employing the UK and Sweden as case studies for my fieldwork, enabling an analysis of both the EU and UN frameworks in relation to this issue. The UK and Sweden in the global context are both strong on gender equality and human rights, and have a long history of immigration. I will explore how these two countries negotiate international and EU obligations in relation to violence against women and human rights more broadly and investigate women’s experiences on the ground. The empirical component of this research will involve interviews with volunteer immigrant women who have experienced forms of domestic violence facilitated through professional bodies in both the UK and Sweden, support service staff that work with these women and national stakeholders in both the case study countries as well as international stakeholders of the issue in Brussels, Geneva and New York.

Teaching

  • BA Politics, Psychology and Sociology dissertation (2011-2012) supervisor
  • BA Politics, Psychology and Sociology Part IIB Paper Psy 6 ‘Psychology and Social Issues’ supervisor (Michaelmas 2011)

External activities

  • Independent researcher for Mary Honeyball Labour MEP for London (2011-present) – research project on sex advertising in London local newspapers
  • Public Engagement with Research and Research Engagement with Society (PERARES) academic advisor (2010- present). PERARES is a European Commission project which aims to strengthen public engagement in research by developing multi-annual action plans, involving researchers and Civil Society Organisations in the formulation of research agendas and the research process. I am acting as an academic advisor for a work package concerning a comparative research study about domestic violence during pregnancy being conducted in the UK, Norway and Belgium, and I also give talks to interested students in Cambridge and at public engagement conferences.