Katherine (Kat) Watson, United Kingdom / United States / Germany.
Kat is a lawyer and researcher with more than 20 years of experience working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender equality and adolescent rights. Her particular expertise lies at the intersection of law, policy and sexuality, with a longstanding focus on how legal and policy frameworks shape adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health, rights and autonomy. An activist at heart, she brings a rights-based, feminist and intersectional lens to her work.
Over the past 12 years as an independent consultant, Kat has led and contributed to research, evaluation and policy initiatives for UN agencies, international NGOs, research institutions and global advocacy networks. Her technical expertise includes socio-legal and policy research, qualitative and mixed-methods research, evidence synthesis and evaluation. Her substantive expertise spans comprehensive sexuality education, child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU), adolescent SRHR and gender-based violence.
Kat has particular experience translating research into practical tools, policy and guidance. She co-developed a global database of sexual rights laws for the Sexual Rights Initiative and led a team that developed the WHO database mapping national health-sector policies on violence against women. She has worked extensively on the intersections between CEFMU, adolescent sexuality, agency and SRHR, and recently led a six-country research initiative for UNESCO on understanding relationships outcomes of school-based sexuality education.
Kat is also a Research Fellow with the University of Nottingham Rights Lab, researching the intersections between SRHR and human trafficking using a reproductive justice approach. Her doctoral research at Leiden University's School of Law examines how states regulate adolescent sexualities through law and policy, reflecting her broader interest in the gap between what laws intend to achieve and how they are experienced in practice.