Sophie Evekink
Biography
Sophie-Alexandra Evekink (married name under Sophie Bayern) is a doctoral candidate researching for her PhD supervised by Professor Carolyn Hoyle in the Centre for Criminology at the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford. Her work focuses on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), with a special interest in minority groups such as the Yazidi population in Iraq.
Sophie also teaches a class on CRSV and transitional justice under Professor Hoyle’s Victims Course for Masters students.
Alongside her research, she is involved with the Nymphenburg Aid Association (https://hn-bavaria.org/) based in Munich, Germany, in particular leading a new initiative which supports refugees and those affected by conflict and crises in Bavaria.
Prior to this, Sophie has worked in various development, political, and diplomatic roles.
Most recently in Geneva at the World Health Organisation and in London at the Wellcome Trust, leading Global Government Relations, which included engagement in multilateral fora such as G7/G20, COP26 Climate Summit, and the World Economic Forum.
Prior to this, Sophie spent seven years in New York at the United Nations, at the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres in DSG Amina J. Mohammed's Sustainable Development Unit, and at the WHO UN Office, where she was focal point for issues including gender and human rights, violence, climate change, and child and adolescent health. In this position, she served as Rapporteur and supported mediation for country negotiations including the Global Health and Foreign Policy Resolution and various Political Declarations of UN High-Level Meetings. She was also a Human Rights Advisor at the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations, and worked in External Relations at the Roll Back Malaria Partnership Office at the UN, particularly supporting Middle East engagement.
Sophie has a keen interest in justice, violence prevention, and women’s human rights-- themes on which she has conducted research in the Middle East and Caucasus-- as well as a passion for efforts which help build global consensus and bridge voices of the Global North and South. She has previously written on topics such as terrorism and radicalisation, as well as on human trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.
Sophie is a dual Dutch/Canadian citizen and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and East European Studies from University College London (UCL) and a Masters in Science from the University of Oxford.