Mythili Rajiva

Dr. Mythili Rajiva is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa, located on unceded Algonquin territory. Her research focuses on trauma, racialization, girlhood, South Asian diaspora, and feminist methodologies. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Carleton University. Dr. Rajiva’s work interrogates intersectional issues like gender-based violence, postcolonial identity, and cultural memory through media and historical analyses.

She leads SSHRC-funded projects examining sexual violence against adolescent girls and the consequences of mass rape in post-WWII Germany and the Bosnian War. Her teaching includes courses on gender representation, globalization, and popular culture. Current supervisees include Alessia Mastrorillo, Marina Gomá, and Shahzeb Hassan, whose theses explore trauma, migration, and online harassment.

Key publications include The Forgotten Victims of Sexual Violence (2022) and articles on media representations of honor killings, diasporic cinema, and Indigenous girls’ perspectives on rape culture. She critiques settler colonialism, advocating against systemic racism and gender violence. Her work bridges academic scholarship with activism through media analysis and cultural critique.