The prize is for her book Women’s Rights in Armed Conflict under International Law (Cambridge 2020). The prize is awarded by the IALT every two years.
Catherine’s book was nominated by Prof Rory O’Connell. To quote from his nomination:
In Women’s Rights in Armed Conflict under International Law (Cambridge 2020) Prof Catherine O’Rourke powerfully synthesises research across different areas of international law (human rights law, criminal law, humanitarian law, UN Security Council) to address the position of women in conflict.
She expertly deploys feminist institutional methodologies to chart the development of international law and practice in this area and to identify optimum ways of effecting change going forward.
The book is an output of the Political Settlements Research Programme which was funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Details of the book are on the Cambridge website.
Catherine was the coordinator of TJI’s Gender research from 2009 and from February 2020-September 2021 was the TJI Director. In October 2021 she took up the post of Chair in Global Law at Durham University.