Heli Askola

Heli Askola serves as Associate Professor in Law at Monash University, teaching core courses including Migration and Human Rights (LAW5465), Criminal Law 1 (LAW1114), International Human Rights Law (LAW5304), and Introduction to European Union Law (LAW4161). An international migrant with over two decades of global experience across Canada, the UK, Italy, Malaysia, Germany, Vietnam, and Finland, she integrates comparative perspectives into legal education and emphasizes transnational approaches to law.

Her research spans Immigration and Citizenship, International and Comparative Law, Gender and Law, International Human Rights Law, Trafficking in Human Beings and Modern Slavery, and European Union Law. Additional expertise includes transnational families and care, demographic change, freedom of movement, multiculturalism, minority treatment, feminism, and violence against women, approached through interdisciplinary and global lenses that prioritize gender justice and human rights.

Recent 2025 publications critically examine feminist legislation, family violence in migration contexts, and Australian immigration policy, revealing systemic intersections between gender, migration law, and human rights. These works demonstrate consistent thematic focus on legal reform, vulnerability of migrant populations, and gender-responsive lawmaking across diverse jurisdictions.

Askola leads significant research initiatives including the 2024 'Feminist Legislation: Engendering gender justice through law reform' project as Chief Investigator, and provides policy advice to international bodies such as the International Organization for Migration, European Commission, and European Parliament. She actively contributes to legal reform through submissions to Australian government committees on visa processing and COVID-19 impacts, alongside public outreach on migrant rights.

Affiliated with Monash's Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, she co-founded the Australian Feminist Legislation Project to advance gender justice through innovative statutory drafting. Her work directly supports UN Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality (SDG 5) and reduced inequalities (SDG 10), with practical applications in law reform across multiple national contexts.