Sanne’s research concerns the way in which post-conflict countries deal with the past and take steps toward peace and reconciliation. Within this process, she is particularly interested in whether and how transitional justice mechanisms are capable of addressing and transforming gender relations, and what ‘gendered’ peace and reconciliation mean for the people affected by conflict. Hereby, she aims to contribute to an improved understanding of how peace and reconciliation mechanisms can better respond to the needs and demands of conflict survivors, and to the transformation of structural inequalities.
In 2017 Sanne completed a PhD on the gendered dynamics of the land restitution and reparations provided by Colombia’s Victims’ Law, for which she conducted ethnographic and participatory visual research in Colombia. She undertook her PhD at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, where she also worked as a research assistant.
Prior to that, Sanne worked as a researcher, gender policy advisor and gender team coordinator for human rights and development organisations in Guatemala for over five years, implementing projects related to transitional justice, gender-based violence, and gender equality in development. She published various research reports and policy briefs on those topics.