Connecting local knowledge to International Law – how social science changed the course of a landmark trial

Researchers can play important roles bridging and connecting different communities and their knowledge. In this post, Duncan Green talks to Holly Porter about how her anthropological research has helped to inform cross-cultural understandings of sexual wrongdoing. Discussing the impact this work has had on the trial of LRA commander Dominic Ongwen, and the precedent it sets for the prosecution of international crimes of a sexual nature, they reflect on the limits and significance of this kind of research in driving positive change.