Kim Thuy Seelinger, JD, a professor of practice at the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named an affiliate of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW). The center’s mission is to understand the causes, contexts and most effective responses to violence, and to translate that research into innovative solutions and strengthened capacity to drive the elimination of violence against women.
An expert on gender-based violence in armed conflict and forced displacement, Seelinger focuses on survivors’ need for protection and accountability and strengthening the support and legal systems they encounter. She engages with justice actors, victims’ advocates, human rights defenders and asylum adjudicators to develop survivor-centered approaches.
In June, Seelinger delivered the keynote address at CEVAW’s first international conference. Her talk examined the reasons for and effects of delays in prosecuting crimes of sexual violence, concluding that it is possible and desirable — albeit difficult — to take a survivor-centered approach to speeding up the wheels of justice.