About Satang Nabaneh

Profile

Satang Nabaneh, PhD, LLD, is an award-winning interdisciplinary scholar, social justice advocate, educator, and human rights practitioner. Her research interests cover the fields of human rights democratization, autocratization, transitional justice, and comparative constitutionalism. Satang’s work also extends to refugee and asylum law and policy, addressing the exploitation of migrant women and children and combating racial, gender, ethnic, and disability-related discrimination.

Her scholarly work has been published in journals such as the Politique Africaine, Health and Human Rights Journal, African Human Rights Law Journal, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, African Disability Rights Yearbook, Constitutions of the World, and the International Review of Constitution Reform. Satang also actively engages in public scholarship, contributing to various platforms, including the Conversation, Open Global Rights, AfricLaw, Verfassunsblog, OpinioJuris, Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog, International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL-IADC), Democracy in Africa, Vanguard Africa, Völkerrechtsblog and African Law Matters. She is the author of Choice and Conscience: Lessons from South Africa for a Global Debate (PULP, 2023) and co-edited The Gambia in Transition: Towards a New Constitutional Order (PULP, 2022) and Sexual Harassment, Law and Human Rights in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023). Her forthcoming edited volume is Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Politics of Criminalization (PULP, 2024).

Satang has been featured in prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, Reuters, Time, The Pulse of Family Planning with Dr. T- ICFP, and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Think Global Health. She was named one of 10 exceptionally talented African scholars to watch in 2024 by The Africa Report.

As a leader in the field, Satang inspires and mentors the next generation of human rights advocates.

EDUCATION & ACADEMIC JOURNEY

Dr. Satang Nabaneh holds a PhD from the University of Washington, where her doctoral research focused on the intersection of politics, democratization, and autocratization in the Gambia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

She also earned her Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of Pretoria, where she also served as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. Her research focused on laws, politics, socio-cultural, and institutional factors shaping the provision of abortion services by nurses and midwives in South Africa. The Norwegian Research Council supported this pivotal study through the Political Determinants of Sexual and Reproductive Health Project at the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, Christian Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway. Dr. Nabaneh’s research has been enriched by grants such as the African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (ADDRF) from 2018-2020, coordinated by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). Her work provides insights into issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights across Africa, aiming to drive significant social change through informed, evidence-based advocacy.

Her academic journey began with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of The Gambia, followed by a Master of Laws (LLM) in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the University of Pretoria.

To stay at the forefront of her field, Dr. Nabaneh has completed advanced professional courses in human rights, research methodology and scientific publishing, quantitative research methods, gender-based violence, gender and sexuality, program management, preventive diplomacy and mediation, and public international law. These courses have equipped her with a diverse skill set to address complex challenges and advocate effectively for gender justice.

Throughout her career, Dr. Nabaneh has been dedicated to advancing gender equality and human rights.

Professional Experience (Selected)

Dr. Satang Nabaneh is the Director of Programs and Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Dayton Human Rights Center, with a joint appointment as a Research Professor of Law in the School of Law.  Her portfolio, which all have gender equality and women’s rights dimensions, is broadly centered around developing and implementing research-driven advocacy, programming (i.e., human rights and development in Africa, people of African descent, international human rights treaty mechanisms,  remote sensing for human rights investigations, and SDGs), and educating future human rights and development practitioners. As an activity manager for global programming, she  human manages the conceptualization, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs and education to advance the strategic direction of the HRC and align with best practices and the visions of locally-led organizations in Africa and other parts of the world.

Previously, she coordinated the Masters and Doctorate programs in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. At the Centre, she was responsible for curriculum development, project management, program funding, and maintaining relationships with partner organizations, institutions, development partners, donors, academia, and related groups.

Dr. Nabaneh is an Extraordinary Lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, and a Research Affiliate at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and the University of Bergen Centre on Law and Social Transformation in Norway. She is an active academic and scientific community member who teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and supervises master’s and doctoral research.

In her previous role at the Women’s Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, she served as Legal Advisor to the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. She contributed to developing norms on women’s rights in Africa, including conducting formative research and drafting general comments.

Before that, Dr. Nabaneh taught at the Faculty of Law at the University of The Gambia, where she instructed courses on gender and the law, constitutional law, clinical legal education, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. She is the Founder & Director of Law Hub Gambia, a legal resource and knowledge platform on The Gambia. Additionally, she served as the Gambian Country Reporter for the ‘Constitutions of the Countries of the World’ publication by Oxford University Press and the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria.

As an international human rights and gender expert with extensive experience in women, peace and security, combating sexual and gender-based violence, refugee and asylum law, the rule of law and access to justice, democracy, and governance, and security sector reform, she serves as an international advocate, advisor, trainer, and researcher for multilateral organizations, civil society, political, security, and justice sectors. Her portfolio includes analyzing, reviewing, and translating legal documents, drafting laws and policies, developing strategies, and creating standard operating procedures and advocacy resources. She is the founder and CEO of Ripples Consulting, registered in both the United States and The Gambia. Organizations she has worked with include the African Union, ACHPR, African Committee of Experts on the Rights of the Child, UN agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNOWA & OHCHR), International Republican Institute (IRI), Women’s Democracy Network (WDN),  International IDEA, The Gambia National Human Rights Commission, American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa.

In The Gambia, she served as the Coordinator of the Female Lawyers Association-Gambia (FLAG), overseeing the running of the Secretariat and implementing activities, including the Legal Aid Clinic for women and children who cannot afford legal services.

 

Human Rights Advocacy

Dr. Nabaneh is an ardent social justice advocate and has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of gender, law, and democracy across Africa. She has extensive experience in the non-profit sector as a frontline advocate for women and children’s rights. She is a well-known, credible, and highly respected human and women’s rights advocate in The Gambia. She played a key role in the advocacy campaigns that led to the enactment of the Children’s Act 2005 and the Women’s Act 2010.

She is a co-founder a national feminist collective Think Young Women (TYW) in 2011, a non-profit organization for and by young women aiming to bring about a new generation of enlightened young female leaders. TYW works on a mission to inspire and assist girls and young women to achieve their individual needs and collective interests by developing their leadership skills empowering them through capacity building. She is also the co-convener of the Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network in The Gambia, a platform through which individuals and organizations advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls through advocacy, research, and coalition building.

Her other experiences focus broadly on elections and democracy (the AU Election Observation Mission and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) African Governance Network); and gender and mediation (AU’s Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation-FemWise-Africa and ECOWAS conflict prevention efforts in the region). She is also a member of the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) Panel of Expert. ISLA is a Pan- African and feminist-led initiative that uses the rule of law and African domestic and regional courts to advance women’s human rights.

Writing, editing, advising to knowledge production on a wide range of advocacy publications and learning materials, such as:

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS

  • Global Programme for Women’s Leadership (GPWL) Fellow 2019, Vedica Scholars Programme for Women, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), and UK’s Department of International Development
  • Winner of the Advocacy Competition on Gender and Political Participation in Africa, organized by Association of African Women for Research and Development (AAWORD), March 2012.
  • Africa’s 25 Most Outstanding Emerging Women Leaders, MILEAD (Moremi Initiative Leadership and Empowerment Development) Fellowship 2010.
  • Most Outstanding Arts Student Award, presented by the Gambia Methodist Academy, 2007.
  • Child of the Year 2003, Child-Friendly Award presented by the Young Observer.
  • Girl Child of the Year 2002, Children in Development Award (CIDAD) presented by PlaySchool-The Gambia.
  • Gambian Representative to the Children Parliament of the World, 2002

Academic Fellowships and Awards

  • Junior Scholar Workshop Awardee, Law and Society Association (2019)
  • African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Kenya (2018-2020)
  • Fellow, Comparative Law & Societies Study (CLASS), Law, Societies & Justice Department, University of Washington, USA (2017-2021)
  • Doctoral Scholarship, Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway (2017-2020)
  • Winner of the Victor Dankwa Prize for the best performance in the Module: Human Rights in Africain the 2012 LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa) program (2012)
  • DAAD Scholar: German Academic Exchange Service Scholarship to pursue a Master of Laws (LLM) in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. (2012)
  • Gambian government Scholarship to study law at the University of The Gambia  (2007-2011)