Research Staff

Torunn Wimpelmann

Research Director

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Reports

Political ethnographer whose current focus is on the intersections between gender, political and legal orders in contemporary Afghanistan.

Torunn Wimpelmann completed her PhD on gender violence in Afghanistan (SOAS). Her main field of research is gender politics and legal reform in Afghanistan, where she has done several years of fieldwork. 

She is the author of The Pitfalls of Protection. Gender, Violence and Power in Afghanistan ( University of California Press, 2017) and has published in Central Asian Survey, Women's  Studies International Forum , Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, Men and Masculinities and the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies,  as well as various University Presses. 

Wimpelmann is currently researching the relationships between law, religion and  Afghan gender politics and activism. 

She has previosly co-directed a three year research project on masculinities and marriage practices in Afghanistan, funded by the Research Council of Norway.  She has also worked on numerous aid evaluations and policy assignments, and recently led an analysis of Norway's Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security

Between 2014 and 2016 she served as an member of the government-appointed Commission of Inquiry into Norway's engagement in Afghanistan. She is currently a member of the expert group to the inquiry on Denmarks engagement in Afghanistan.

Most recent publications