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Research on sexual and gender inequalities in accessing citizenship has produced significant impacts by:
Research conducted by LSHTM put the physical and mental health of women trafficked for sexual exploitation firmly on the international agenda. The research generated the first-ever guidance for health providers caring for trafficking victims and internationally recognised ethical and safety recommendations from WHO. The research resulted in the UK giving trafficked women a longer period to decide whether to cooperate with any criminal investigation against their traffickers, and police training on victim symptoms and interview timing to support recovery. Findings and health care recommendations have been incorporated into guidance materials globally.
Allwood's research into Women and Politics has looked at women's participation in mainstream and alternative forms of political activity; gender and policy, focusing on prostitution, violence and abortion policy; and the political participation of refugee women. The research has informed government advisory panels, think-tanks, and NGOs, in particular in debates around gender quotas and the relationship between gender and democracy. External voices and actors have helped shape the research process, and the audience of this research has made material and distinct decisions based on new insights effectively shared, as demonstrated by citations of research outputs in policy documents and discussion papers.
More than twenty years of sanctions and war have decimated all areas of Iraqi society, including its higher education sector. In this context, the work of Professor Nadje Al-Ali has countered conservative forces pursuing Iraqi reconstruction in ways that explicitly marginalise women. Drawing on her research on women's rights in Iraq and beyond, Al-Ali has worked to raise consciousness of how perspectives informed by gender theory can contribute to a more equitable reconstruction of Iraqi civil society. Through in-country and regional training of academics and women's rights activists, and mentoring numerous Iraqi research projects, Al-Ali has substantially progressed the promotion of women's rights and gender-based equality in Iraq.
Research by Dr Garikipati identifies that microfinance is most beneficial to women when it enables them to enhance their livelihoods and participate in the local enterprise economy. It also shows that over 80% of the microfinance loans in Andhra Pradesh, India, did not meet these conditions. Using these research findings, Dr Garikipati directly lobbied the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). This has had an impact on governmental organisations and other stakeholders within the microfinance industry and lead to the introduction of the Livelihood Enhancement Plan (LEP), which is used at the time of loan application. Dr Garikipati collaborated with the GoAP in designing and implementing the LEP. It impacts 500,000 women per year who join the microfinance program and enables them to enhance livelihoods in keeping with the demands of the local economy.
Using a ground-breaking database of recovered narratives of Latin American women during the Wars of Independence,
Dr Julie Gottlieb's research on women's politicization and gender roles in inter-war British extremist politics has had cultural impact in terms of the understanding of, and the coming to terms with, often uncomfortable and traumatic family memories. The personal and contemporary resonances of this research have led the media and the public, in particular the descendants of those still affected by the much-stigmatized political choices of their immediate ancestors, to become closely engaged with her work, serving to recover and understand overlooked histories. Of the audiences of hundreds who have heard her in person and hundreds of thousands who have listened to her on radio, several have contacted her with information and insights that signify a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted relationship between women and politics in the aftermath of suffrage, in particular during the crisis years between the world wars. Gottlieb's work has provided an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate women who have been sidelined in political history, providing a launching point for public discussion about women's political agency and representation almost a century after suffrage.
Enacting citizenship research at The Open University's (OU) Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG) is helping to re-define the idea of citizenship by contributing to policy and public debates across Europe. These research ideas are being used by European policymakers to reform European citizenship policies. Activists across Europe are increasingly using the research to give them a vocabulary through which they can understand their collective activism as European citizenship.
The findings of empirical research conducted by Professor Jim Barry and Dr Trudie Honour of UEL were shared at two focused capacity building sessions held in 2008 and 2009 for women leaders in middle and senior positions of responsibility and decision-making in the public and third sectors of a number of developing countries. Workshops were attended by women from Albania, Bahrain, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Participants considered the relevance and application of the research findings for their own countries, and worked together and with the researchers to formulate potential capacity development implementation strategies for women in positions of responsibility in those countries.