Biography
Laura Rahm is a Political Sociologist. She is a Jean Monnet Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Population and Development in Paris.
Previously, she served as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Research Fellow, leading the GlobalKnoT project (Knowledge Transfer in Global Gender Programmes), in collaboration with the Central European University, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance. Prior to that, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Barcelona, working on the ERC-funded Europe Abortion Access Project.
Rahm’s research focuses on global governance and gender studies. She has worked extensively on knowledge transfer, sustainable development, and public policies related to gender, population and health. Her work has been published in Population and Development Review, Critique Internationale, Men and Masculinities Journal, PLOS One, and BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health. Her first book, Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India, and Vietnam: Assessing the Influence of Public Policy, appeared with Springer in 2019. Her second book, Ending Gender-Based Violence: The Global Governance of Harmful Practices, will be published by Bristol University Press in 2025.
In addition to her monographs, Rahm has contributed to several book chapters, including Gender Equality Beyond 2030: Rethinking Progress in a Post-SDG World (under review) and SDG 5: Beyond Data Availability for Empowering Policy Action on Gender Equality (Edward Elgar, 2024). Moreover, she has served as a Reference Group member for a UN-system wide Evaluation Synthesis of Gender Equality (SDG 5) and worked with international organisations including UNFPA, UN Women, the World Bank, and German International Development Cooperation - focusing on monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and partnerships.
Rahm holds a PhD in Political Demography and Sociology from Sorbonne University in Paris, where she lectured on Population and Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).