Role: Human Rights Researcher

Please read this role descriptor carefully - have you got the essential skills or experience that we need?

Reporting to: Phil Thomas (Lead Trustee with Portfolio for Human Rights Research)

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Our research programme is the cornerstone of ReportOUT. The mission of Human Rights Researchers is to inform wider social, political and educational change via conducting and collating research on global human rights abuses against sexual and gender minorities using a range of data collection techniques. Our research has been cited by the UN, international media and government and NGOs. Projects you could be working on include: 

 

• In-depth country profiles of the lived experiences in sexual and gender minorities in nation states in partnership with local NGOs – current and past projects have included Uganda, Mongolia, Belize, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mexico, Mongolia, Ethiopia, and Morocco.   

• Responses to the UN and other global bodies on the treatment of sexual and gender minorities, where we have been cited in reports to the UN General Assembly multiple times 

• Country profiles on ‘The Global Guide to Queer Rights’ for which over 100 chapters have been completed  

• International thematic studies, with current projects focusing on the non-binary and intersex experience, media abuse of LGBTQ+ communities in the Middle East and mental health of gay and bi men in Pakistan. 

 

Our volunteer team is as diverse as they come with representation from around the world and a host of experience within academia, public and private sectors and NGOs. Currently over 30 countries from every continent are represented in our team. 

 

It doesn’t matter what your background, nationality or identity is, if you have experience of research in any context and you’re passionate about LGBTQ+ human rights, you will find a home at ReportOUT. This is a volunteering experience like no other – we ask a lot of our volunteers but receive near-universal positive feedback on the work our volunteers contribute to and the impact they feel they’re making. You can contact Phil Thomas (Trustee with Portfolio for Human Rights Research) with any further questions about this role via email philthomas@reportout.org  

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We welcome applications from every part of the world but are particularly interested hearing from applicants from South and East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Essential skills, experience, or qualifications you need for this particular role:

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• You’ll need some experience of research gained in an academic or professional setting – this includes compiling literature reviews, data analysis and interviews/surveys/focus groups. 

• You will have an excellent level of written and spoken English to communicate these findings. 

• You’ll be confident dealing with partner organisations (activists, charities, NGOs and government representatives) from around the world. 

• You will be naturally curious and eager to learn about what is happening globally to sexual and gender minorities and be willing to share this with the wider researcher team.  

• You are able to comfortably commit a minimum of 12 hours per month to volunteering at ReportOUT and have good time management skills to balance this around your other work, study and family commitments. 

• You’ll also be keen to learn about countries and themes that you have no prior experience of and treat this as an opportunity to develop your knowledge. 

• You need to be equally comfortable working as part of small international team, willing to lead when called upon, as well as working to your own initiative without supervision. 

• You will work to the highest ethical level with an understanding that ReportOUT has zero tolerance for plagiarism or deliberate misrepresentation of research. 

Desirable skills, experience, or qualifications:

• The ability to speak other languages is very desirable. 

• Previous experience of writing externally facing copy (research, blogs, opinion pieces) - feel free to share examples in your application!