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Dr Olga Jurasz
Professional biography
Dr Olga Jurasz is a senior lecturer in law at the Open University Law School, specialising in international law, human rights, and legal responses to violence against women (including online violence).
Research interests
International Law, women, and post-conflict situations
Olga’s research interests lie in the area of international law, human rights & post-conflict situations. She is particularly interested in how various mechanisms of public international law address the long-term impact of armed conflict on women and how women’s rights are protected in the aftermath of war, during the process of transition from war to peace.
In 2018-19, Olga worked on the British Academy funded project 'Making international law work for women post-conflict: new voices'.
Online violence against women, social media and law
Another area of Dr Jurasz's research is online violence against women, online trolling and gender-based abuse on social media. Olga's research focuses in particular on the exploration of legal perspective on online violence against women (OVAW), gender-based social media abuse, online violence against women in politics (OVAWP) and online misogyny specifically. Olga is working on several projects which related to this area and contributed to a number of consultations concerning hate crime reform and legal responses to violence against women (both online and offline), including submissions to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, the One Scotland Consultation on Amending Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland and Women & Equalities Committee.
Dr Jurasz's research (with Dr Kim Barker, University of Stirling) explores a number of aspects of online, text-based abuse, including consideration of online misogyny as a hate crime as well as legal regulation of online abuse. Olga's book Online misogyny as a hate crime: a challenge for (legal) regulation? (authored with Dr Kim Barker) which addresses these themes was published by Routledge in 2018.
Olga has published in the above research areas and presented her research at many conferences, both in the UK and internationally. Her research has been funded by the British Academy, Economic & Social Research Council, and British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (BILETA).
She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gender Studies.
Teaching interests
- Public International Law
- International Criminal Law
- International Humanitarian Law
- Human Rights
- Law, Gender & Social Media
Impact and engagement
Dr Jurasz contributed to a number of consultations in her areas of research, including submissions to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, the One Scotland Consultation on Amending Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland, the Australian Government's Online Safety Charter Consultation, and Women & Equalities Committee.
Olga's research was quoted in the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee Report on Sexual Harassment of Women and Girls in Public Spaces and also endorsed by members of the Welsh Assembly.
In March 2019, Olga was invited to speak at the UN Commission on the Status of Women event in New York, where she shared findings of her research on online violence against women, discussing effective protection from online violence against women in politics.
Olga's research was also cited by Leanne Wood AM in the Welsh Assembly (First Minister's questions, Online Abuse of Women in Public Life (27 March 2019)).
Publications
Journal articles
Szablewska, Natalia and Jurasz, Olga
Global Change, Peace & Security, 31(3) (pp. 263-282)
Online Misogyny: A Challenge for Digital Feminism? (2019)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
Journal of International Affairs, 72(2) (pp. 95-113)
Towards an Intersectional Understanding of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Gender, Sexuality, and Ethnicity at the ICTY (2018-09-28)
Isaac, Maike and Jurasz, Olga
International Criminal Law Review, 18(5) (pp. 853-882)
About justice that is yet to come: a few remarks about the international pursuit of post-conflict gender justice (2015)
Jurasz, Olga
Journal of Gender Studies, 24(1) (pp. 56-69)
The Istanbul Convention: a new chapter in preventing and combating violence against women (2015)
Jurasz, Olga
Australian Law Journal, 89(9) (pp. 619-627)
Authored books
Barker, Kim and Jurasz, Olga
ISBN : 9781138590373 | Publisher : Routledge
Book chapters
Jurasz, Olga and Szablewska, Natalia
In: Gámez Fuentes, María José; Núñez Puente, Sonia and Gómez Nicolau, Emma eds. Re-writing Women as Victims: From Theory to Practice. Interdisciplinary Research in Gender (pp. 68-82)
ISBN : 9781138487154 | Publisher : Routledge
AFRC Trial Judgement (Prosecutor v. Brima, Kamara, Kanu), Special Court for Sierra Leone (2019-09-05)
Jurasz, Olga; Labenski, Sheri; Mouthaan, Solange and Sedman, Dawn
In: Hodson, Loveday and Lavers, Troy eds. Feminist Judgments in International Law (pp. 373-406)
ISBN : 9781509914456 | Publisher : Hart Publishing
Reparations for Gendered Harm at the International Criminal Court: Towards Transformative and Gender-Just Reparations? (2019-02-28)
Jurasz, Olga
In: Jurasz, Olga and Mouthaan, Solange eds. Gender and War: International and Transitional Justice Perspectives (pp. 235-258)
ISBN : 9781780686868 | Publisher : Intersentia | Published : Cambridge
Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 (2018-11)
Jurasz, Olga
In: Rackley, Erika and Auchmuty, Rosemary eds. Women's Legal Landmarks: Celebrating the history of women and law in the UK and Ireland
ISBN : 9781782259794 | Publisher : Hart
Gender, human rights and cybercrime: are virtual worlds really that different? (2014-06-01)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
In: Asimow, Michael; Brown, Kathryn and Papke, David Ray eds. Law and Popular Culture: International Perspectives (pp. 79-100)
ISBN : 978-1-4438-5810-6 | Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing | Published : Newcastle upon Tyne
Women of the Revolution- the future of women's rights in post-Gaddafi Libya (2013-02)
Jurasz, Olga
In: Panara, Carlo and Wilson, Gary eds. The Arab Spring: New Patterns for Democracy and International Law. Nijhoff Law Specials (ISSN: 0924-4549) (82) (pp. 123-144)
ISBN : 9789004230415 | Publisher : Martinus Nijhoff | Published : Leiden
Edited book
Jurasz, Olga and Mouthaan, Solange eds.
ISBN : 9781780686868 | Publisher : Intersentia
Conference items
Jurasz, Olga
In : 108th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (7-12 Apr 2014, Washington DC) (pp. 429-432)
Other
Barker, Kim and Jurasz, Olga
Stirling Law School & The Open University Law School
Online Harms White Paper Consultation Response (2019-06)
Barker, Kim and Jurasz, Olga
Striling Law School & The Open University Law School
Written Submission of Evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry on Democracy, free speech and freedom of association. (2019-05-15)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
UK Parliament
Submission of Evidence to Online Safety Charter Consultation Paper (2019-03)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
Australian Government
Expert Response to One Scotland Consultation on Amending Scottish Hate Crime Legislation (2019)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
Scottish Parliament
Written Submission of Evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into sexual harassment of women and girls in public spaces (2018-03-05)
Barker, Kim and Jurasz, Olga
Stirling Law School & Open University Law School
Online Violence Against Women: The Limits & Possibilities of Law (2018-01)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
Stirling Law School & Open University Law School
Submission of Evidence on Online Violence Against Women to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, Dr Dubravka Šimonović (2017-11)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
United Nations
Submission of Evidence to Scottish Government Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation (Bracadale Review) (2017-11)
Jurasz, Olga and Barker, Kim
Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland
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