Julia Bleckner

Julia Bleckner is a Ph.D. student in political science, specializing in comparative politics and qualitative methods. Her research interests include social psychological foundations of conflict, political violence, peacekeeping, and human rights. She holds a B.A. in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College. Prior to coming to Yale, Julia worked as a senior research associate in the Asia division of Human Rights Watch where she focused on sexual violence and torture in South Asia, and as a Fulbright research fellow in Bangladesh where she studied the impact all-female peacekeeping units in deterring sexual violence in UN missions. She has worked throughout South and Southeast Asia. Additional professional experience includes research consultancy on various projects related to sexual and reproductive rights for the Harvard Program on International Health and Human Rights and for the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on gender mainstreaming.