It is our great pleasure today to introduce Maike Isaac as an IntLawGrrls contributor. Maike received a Master of Law degree (LL.M.) in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from Viadrina University in Germany and a Master of Arts degree (M.A.) in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European Peace University in Austria. As an undergraduate student, Maike studied Cultural Anthropology and African Studies at Leipzig University in Germany and Transitional Justice at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She has worked with several research institutes and non-governmental organizations in Europe, Africa and the United States.

Maike is a passionate peace researcher and human rights analyst. She is interested in the development of international criminal law, the acknowledgement of sexual violence as an international crime, and the nexus between gender stereotyping and the dynamics of armed conflict. Maike’s LL.M. thesis dealt with the prosecution of sexual violence against men in armed conflict under international criminal law, which is the subject of her first post. Heartfelt welcome!