Dr Sandra Pertek is UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Government and School of Social Policy, and Senior Research Fellow at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. She was previously Lecturer at the Institute for Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, and Teaching Fellow at POLSIS and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRiS) at the University of Birmingham, where she is actively affiliated.
In her PhD studentship (School of Social Policy), Sandra explored the intersection of religion and the continuum of gendered violence in forced migration in Turkey and Tunisia, integrating intersectional and ecological approaches. Her thesis conceptualised religion as a multidimensional factor - intersectional vulnerability and a primary resilience resource across different stages of forced migration. She has led several studies across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, including the “Protecting Forcibly Displaced Women and Girls in the Muslim World” project, the “Ukrainian Refugees at Risk” project in Poland and Ukraine, the “Untold Migrant Stories” project in the Mediterranean, and the “Forced Migration, SGBV, and COVID-19” study. As the SEREDA Impact and Policy Fellow, in partnership with the Women’s Refugee Commission, she coordinated a multi-stakeholder Geneva-based roundtable to enhance protection in forced migration and undertook a joint technical assignment on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and migration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Currently, Sandra leads an interdisciplinary and policy-oriented, £1.3m UKRI-funded research initiative, Making Aid Work for Displaced Women, which investigates how better integration of Islamic philanthropy and the international humanitarian system can improve outcomes for displaced women.
With over a decade of experience as a gender and social development specialist in humanitarian, development, and migration settings, Sandra has consulted for various governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental organisations. For example, for the Home Office UK, she developed a Theory of Change (TOC) for integration, along with TOC guide notes based on the Indicators of Integration framework. In collaboration with GIZ, she conducted religious and traditional actor mapping in Zambia for a violence prevention programme in Southern Africa. For the Islamic Development Bank, she co-developed resources to integrate gender sensitivity into Islamic microfinance programmes for women. She also provided technical support to the European Commission on how to engage with religion, gender, and violence and has collaborated with the Danish Human Rights Institute, UNHCR, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on policy and capacity-building initiatives.
Previously, Sandra was Senior Policy Adviser on Gender (Global Technical Lead) at Islamic Relief Worldwide, where she authored its Gender Justice Policy and spearheaded a gender mainstreaming strategy. She also piloted gender-based violence (GBV) programmes in Africa and Asia, and facilitated learning exchanges in partnership with institutional donors, including UN agencies, the EU, Sida etc.
Sandra has also served on the Leadership Council of the SVRI/JLI Faith and GBV Hub and was part of the UN Women Roster for Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVAW) Spotlight Initiatives. She has supported several local and regional women’s organisations and remains an active contributor to networks focused on gender, religion, and forced migration.
She has published articles on gender, religion and forced migration in leading journals and co-authored the monograph, ‘On the Significance of Religion in Violence Against Women and Girls’ (Routledge). Her new monograph, ‘Violence against Women, Religion and Forced Displacement: Experiences and Humanitarian Responses’, is underway. Sandra also guest lectures at various academic institutions.
She holds PhD in Gender, Religion and Forced Migration from the University of Birmingham, MSc in Social Development Practice from University College London and BA in European Studies from the University of Warsaw.