Transitional Justice Institute

Dr Catherine O’Rourke

Lecturer in Human Rights and International Law

University of Ulster

Jordanstown, Co. Antrim

BT37 0QB

Ph: +44 (0)28 9036 8159

Catherine is Lecturer in Human Rights/International Law and Gender Research Coordinator at the Transitional Justice Institute. Catherine graduated from Queen's University Belfast with an LLB (Law and Politics) in 2003. She undertook her masters degree at the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics, graduating with an MSc Gender and Development in 2004. She first joined the Transitional Justice Institute as a Research Assistant/Associate in 2004, to work with Professor Christine Bell on comparative analysis of peace agreements. Catherine also pursued her doctoral research at the TJI. In 2007-08, she was Visiting Scholar at American University School of International Service, Washington DC. While conducting her doctoral fieldwork in 2008, Catherine was a Visiting Researcher at the Law Schools of Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile and Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. As an advocate, Catherine has been involved with the Amnesty International (UK) Stop Violence Against Women campaign, provided guidance to the Northern Ireland women's sector on the Bill of Rights drafting process, and participated in expert work by the International Center for Transitional Justice (New York) on gender and security sector reform.

Research Interests

Catherine's research interests lie in the area of gender and transitional justice, women's movements in transitional societies, violence against women and reproductive rights, and sociolegal research methodologies. Her doctoral work examined feminist engagement with, and gendered outcomes of, transitional justice in Chile, Northern Ireland, and Colombia, with particular reference to the legal treatment of violence against women and the legal regulation of women’s reproductive lives. She is currently working on the publication of this research as a monograph.