Dr. Cecilia Strand

Biography

Cecilia Strand, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research interests lie primarily in health communication, digital activism, and social change, focusing especially on LGBTQ+ rights and gender-based violence. After obtaining her Ph.D., she worked on health communication related to development cooperation in Lesotho, Namibia, and Uganda, completing her dissertation titled 'Perilous Silences: Counterproductive Narratives in the HIV/AIDS Ugandan and Lesotho Namibian Press' in 2010. Strand has been involved in the UNDP-hosted 'Global Commission on HIV and the Law' project, aimed at improving marginalized populations’ access to HIV/AIDS services. She has conducted extensive research on sexual minority rights in Africa, paying particular attention to the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in Eastern Africa. Currently, she is leading a project funded by the Swedish Research Council that examines activism spaces amidst state-sanctioned homophobia, including a focus on intimate partner violence. Throughout her career, Strand has collaborated closely with women's shelters in Sweden to develop interventions to support survivors of intimate partner violence, with a notable interest in the legal aspects related to abusive relationships.

Research Interests