Research Interests

Open to PhD applications in: 

• The legal framing of sexual consent
• Rape reform
• Responses to sexual and gender based violence in international and domestic criminal law
• Feminist legal theory

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Public outreach & key achievements

• Produced two policy briefs from a Socio Legal Studies Association (SLSA) funded project on sexual consent in Northern Ireland; distributed to key stakeholders working within the sexual violence sector in Northern Ireland: https://slsa.ac.uk/index.php/news/socio-legal-publications-2#June26_01
• Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women’s thematic report on rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women, May 2020
• Chair, Outreach event on the Gillen Review into the Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Sexual Offences in Northern Ireland, January 2019
• Response to the Preliminary Report of the Gillen Review – Chapter on Consent, January 2019
• Consent Training delivered to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, June 2018
• Published short blogs in The Conversation, including ‘An International Response to #MeToo, Rape and Sexual Abuse is Needed’, https://theconversation.com/an-international-legal-response-to-metoo-rape-and-sexual-abuse-is-needed-95617
• Contribution to agendaNI Magazine, ‘Rape and Consent: Ongoing Challenges’, 28 April 2018 https://www.agendani.com/rape-and-consent-ongoing-challenges/
• Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women’s call for submissions on the adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women, with Dr Y Brunger, November 2016
• Contributed to School of Law Human Rights Centre submissions to international judicial bodies in the case of The Prosecutor v Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo before the International Criminal Court: L Moffett, R Killean, Y Brunger, E Dowds, L Dempster, K Schwarz and S Gilmore (2016). Submission by QUB Human Rights Centre on reparations issues pursuant to Article 75 of the Statute

Research students

PhD area	How can anti-carceral feminism influence Chinese feminist legal discourse?
Name	Qingran Yan
PhD area	The Evolution of Women's Rights to Political Participation in Modern China: Shanghai, 1840-1949
Name	Ningning Liu
PhD area	He who shall not be named? Rethinking Northern Ireland's approach to defendant anonymity in rape trials
Name	Chloe Hanna
PhD area	A critical evaluation of the admission of sexual history evidence in Northern Ireland trails: Prevalence, Impact and Reform
Name	Chloe Templeton

Alumni: Where are they now

PhD area	Addressing misogyny: The law, hate crime and new feminist approaches
Name	Dr Meghan Hoyt
Years of study	PhD awarded 2024
Current Position	Women's Sector Lobbyist Policy Assistant, WRDA
Quotation	"Dr. Dowds is a wonderful supervisor. She was supportive and thorough when commenting on my work, and always happy to discuss any issues arising. I remain thankful for her kind, flexible approach to supervision which undoubtedly made my PhD process more pleasant. I also benefited from Dr. Dowds' knowledge and expertise in my field of study and am grateful for the many productive conversations which helped to shape and improve my work."
PhD area	Ethical value pluralism as a constitutive element of legal sovereignty: The case of the United Kingdom
Name	Dr Leanne Cochrane
Years of study	PhD awarded 2020
Current Position	Senior research analyst, Trilateral Research Ltd
Quotation	"I could write a story on my PhD experience, or rather, experiences.  Looking back, I can most simply say that it is a journey well worth embarking on!"

Discover More

• Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• School of Law
• Human Rights Centre
• Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• QUB Gender Network

Get ahead: tips on how to prepare your application to study for a PhD at QUB Law

Read our guidance on the steps in our PhD applications process and how to present your research proposal.