Kate Seewald

Rights Lab Research Fellow in Anti-Trafficking and Justice Systems

Email: kate.seewald@nottingham.ac.uk

Kate Seewald works as part of the Rights Lab’s Law and Policy programme and currently is researching the performance of, and confidence in, the Indonesian justice system’s response to forced labour and labour trafficking. She is a human rights researcher and advocate specialising in gender-based violence, access to justice, and fundamental freedoms. Based for almost a decade in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Kate’s PhD examined the impacts of shrinking civic space on women human rights defenders across Southeast Asia. As a practitioner, Kate has worked with a wide range of grassroots networks, international NGOs, and UN agencies on human rights research and advocacy, primarily in Cambodia. Her previous work also includes rights-based research initiatives in Palestine, Papua New Guinea, and across Southeast Asia. In addition to her PhD from the University of Sydney, Kate holds academic qualifications in law, human rights, and international relations, and she continues to advise feminist organisations in Cambodia on gender justice and civic engagement.