Sydney Leigh Smith

Sydney Leigh Smith (she/her) is a PhD student in Security Studies at Princeton University, co-advised by Kim Lane Scheppele and Barbara Buckinx. She specializes in conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), child soldier recruitment and reintegration, international human rights, and humanitarian law. She holds a B.A. in International Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University. Sydney applies feminist research methodologies to inform policy and legal reform, with a particular focus on sexual violence in conflict settings and the often overlooked victims and perpetrators of CRSV.

Currently, Sydney serves as Principal Researcher for the All Survivors Project (ASP) and the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). At Princeton’s Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, she is the Gender and Security Fellow and Convener, as well as an Africa Program Fellow and Graduate Advisor. She is also a Contributor for Global Voices, chairs the Africa Policy Network at Princeton University, and serves as President of the Princeton Pet Society.

Her research journey into CRSV began at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, where she contributed to the development of a comprehensive global dataset on state-perpetrated sexual violence. She later served as Lead Researcher at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, where she supported strategic litigation initiatives addressing gender-based violence across Africa. As a Legal Researcher and Advisor at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, she contributed to the design of data tools supporting the African regional human rights system and provided research on legal issues affecting the rights of women and girls. She previously served as an International Legal and Policy Consultant with the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) at the University of Cape Town, where she supported the Judicial Institute for Africa (JIFA) and AfricanLII programs with expertise in African international law, governance, and policy.

Beyond her academic and professional work, Sydney is deeply committed to advocacy and community engagement. She volunteers with Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, The Sato Project, and Liberty in North Korea. In her free time, she enjoys taking long walks with her rescue dogs, Baby and Barnaby.