Amelia Watkins-Smith

Amelia Watkins-Smith serves as a Research Fellow at the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, specializing in forced and child marriage within religious anti-slavery action frameworks. She leads research on child and forced marriage in a project examining religious motivations behind anti-slavery initiatives, building on her doctoral work investigating trafficking of women and girls from Myanmar to China for forced marriage and childbearing.

Education

• PhD, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham (funded by ESRC Studentship, Midlands Graduate School)

Her research spans human trafficking, forced marriage, child marriage, modern slavery, and community/faith-based anti-slavery interventions. She has contributed to Rights Lab projects developing slavery-free campus frameworks and analyzing religious community roles in anti-slavery efforts, emphasizing practical applications of academic research.

Awards and Recognition

• ESRC Studentship (Midlands Graduate School) for doctoral research on human trafficking

Dr. Watkins-Smith collaborates with interdisciplinary teams at the Rights Lab to advance anti-slavery solutions, focusing on how religious orientations can be leveraged to combat contemporary slavery through community engagement and policy development.