Staff Profile

Sara joined Newcastle Law School in September 2025, and is an LLB and PhD Newcastle alumni. Her research is in the areas of sexual violence and feminist theories, particulalry in the areas of domestic criminal law and international criminal law.

Qualifications

LLM, Healthcare Ethics and Law, University of Manchester (2020)

LLB, Newcastle University (2019)

Advance HE Associate Fellowship - Awarded November 2024.

Undergraduate Teaching

Criminal Law (Stage 2)

Tort Law (Stage 2)

Family Law (Stage 2 and 3)

Law and Gender (Module Leader 2025-2026, Stage 2 and 3)

Research Interests

My research interests are in sexual violence, reproductive justice, gender and issues in armed conflict, and the intersection between gender issues and criminal law. I am particulalry interested in taking an intersectional feminist approach to conflict related sexual violence in the areas of international criminal law and the area of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Conference Presentations

Newcastle University’s ‘At the Intersections’ Conference. Paper Presented: Using Intersectional Complexities to Deconstruct Conflict Related Sexual Violence (May 2023).

University of Liverpool’s Annual Postgraduate Conference in International Law & Human Rights: ‘Conflict & Contestation in International Law’. Paper Presented: The Feminist Paradoxes in Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. (July 2025).

• Book Chapter

  • Houghton R, Godden-Rasul N, O'Donoghue A, Vincenzotti S. Abolition Feminism and Utopian Justice: Speculative Visionary Fiction and the End of Gendered Violence. In: Godden-Rasul N; Kula L, ed. Research Handbook on Gender Violence and Law. Edward Elgar, 2025. In Press.