Dr Samantha van Schalkwyk

Dr. Samantha van Schalkwyk is a feminist scholar and activist working in the field of gender-based violence and transforming patriarchal trauma. She is a Senior Researcher at the Community Engagement Unit (CEU) at the University of the Western Cape, where she is leading processes related to the institutionalisation of the scholarship of engagement for societal impact (SoE-SI) and driving community-engaged research. She integrates critical feminist research with impactful community-based interventions and training. Holding a PhD in Psychology, Dr. van Schalkwyk’s academic and activist work spans over thirteen years and focuses on gender-based violence at the intersections of historical trauma and the disruption of racialised and patriarchal systems through participatory and collective research methodologies.