Professor Aisling Swaine

Professor of Peace, Security and International Law, Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Ireland.

2026

Aisling Swaine is Professor of Peace, Security and International Law at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Ireland. Aisling holds a PhD in law from the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Aisling works on research and global law/policy development in the areas of conflict-related violence against women, the UN women peace and security agenda and gender equality in global peacebuilding. She was awarded €2million by the European Research Council to lead a five-year study expanding understanding of women’s experiences of coercive control in contexts where armed and/or criminal groups are present. Prior to her academic roles, Aisling led programmes for the United Nations and international NGOs in humanitarian emergencies and post-conflict settings, including Kosovo, Burundi, Timor-Leste and Darfur, Sudan among others; as well as global policy roles in UN Women headquarters in New York and with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. As part of the UN Generation Equality Forum in 2021, Aisling was named by A-Political as one of the world's 100 Most Influential People in global gender policy.