Dr Charlotte Grech-Madin

Dr Charlotte Grech-Madin is a Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at the Coral Bell School. As a peace researcher, Charlotte utilises qualitative, interview and fieldwork methodologies to uncover experiences of violence, and the many ways we seek to prevent it. Through a constructivist lens, her research looks at the confluence of international humanitarian and environmental norms, in particular around water as indispensible to civilians. Her research on an evolving “water taboo” against using water as a weapon, based on fieldwork in India and the United States, has won two international awards and is published in International Security. 

 

Alongside research on water, Charlotte is working with Professor Bina D’Costa on an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship ‘Humanitarian Emergencies and Global South Responses to Children’s and Young People’s Displacement’. The project aims to enhance the protection of children in protracted crises and when faced with attendant challenges of trafficking, forced labour, child marriage, and sexual violence. The most complex humanitarian emergencies in Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Europe are in focus, including the mass displacement of Rohingya and enduring protection challenges.

 

Prior to joining ANU, Charlotte worked for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on peace and security, including atrocity prevention, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and peacebuilding related to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. She has also worked for the research school of the UNESCO International Centre for Water Cooperation in Stockholm, and is committed to bridging research and policy to inform evidence-based policy-making.