Shahana Rasool

Shahana Rasool is a Rhodes Scholar who obtained a Masters and Doctorate from the University of Oxford (UK), Department of Social Policy. She is currently an Associate Professor and former head of the Social work department at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), lecturing in research, social issues, and community development. Prior to coming to UJ, she lectured at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS).

Shahana has been an activist, researcher, trainer and academic in the field of gender for many years, with a particular focus on gender-based violence. She Shahana has a keen interest in social transformation, which began as an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa and continued through her work in the NGO sectors, both in South Africa and Australia. In South Africa, she has worked in the field of gender based violence as a social worker, trainer, and researcher. Whilst in Australia she worked in the HIV and AIDS sector, with women experiencing post-natal depression and with immigrant women on domestic violence policies. Her research has looked at the socio-cultural influences of help-seeking as well as responses from formal and informal resources to abused women. Her current research is focused on the relationship between adolescent gender attitudes and exposure to gender based violence. She has international partnerships in the Caribbean, Egypt, Germany, USA, and UK. Shahana is also chair of the Southern African Journal for Social Work and Social Development. She also does consult in the areas of gender, leadership, and transformation.