Welcome! My name is Anne-Kathrin Kreft. I am a violence researcher and head of the research unit Victimology at the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony in Hanover, Germany. Previously, I was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo. I hold a PhD in Political Science from the University of Gothenburg (2019) and obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at Western Washington University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Bielefeld. To date, I have published 17 peer-reviewed articles inter alia in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Affairs, International Studies Quarterly and International Peacekeeping, as well as several book chapters and research reports.
Expertise. My primary research interests are gender-based and political violence, the nexus of victimhood and socio-political agency, and public opinion on political violence and its victims. My research concentrates on both armed conflict settings and violence dynamics in Western Europe, including Germany. Current research projects focus on violence against politicians, public perceptions of sexual violence in repression and law enforcement contexts, contestations of the global commitment to combatting conflict-related sexual violence, and violence against firefigheters and emergency responders.
Mixed methods. In my work, I combine quantitative, qualitative and survey (experimental) methods, and I embrace an interdisciplinary curiosity. I have carried out qualitative (field) research in Colombia, Germany, Norway and Sweden, at the United Nations in New York, and at the European Union in Brussels; and survey research in Germany, the U.S., the UK and Sweden. I have ample experience conducting interviews with civil society actors, diplomats, international organization staff, politicians, bureaucrats, and victims of gender-based and political violence.
Accomplishments. For my PhD dissertation “Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Threat, Mobilization and Gender Norms” I received the 2020 Christiane-Rajewsky-Prize for early-career conflict researchers awarded by the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies. Daniela Donno and I also received the 2019 James Caporaso best paper award for our article on women’s rights in authoritarian regimes. I have secured a total of approximately 1 million EUR in external research funding.
Project management. In addition to independently conceptualizing, securing funding for, and implementing research projects as an academic, I have project management experience from working in higher education consulting and as external expert at KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt). I have also completed internships at GIZ (Lusaka), the German Foreign Office (Berlin), and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (New York).
Education and outreach. I have taught courses, supervised BA and MA theses and given (guest) lectures on armed conflict, gender, political violence, fieldwork, interviewing and qualitative data analysis in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and the U.S. Likewise, I have both contributed to, and been cited in, different media outlets in various countries, and presented at numerous international conferences, workshops and events.
International. I have lived and worked in Germany, Sweden, Norway, the U.S., and, for shorter periods, in Colombia and Zambia. Besides being fluent in German and English, I have (widely) varying levels of proficiency in Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, French and Japanese.
Other interests. Some of the things I enjoy most are traveling, photography, northern lights hunting, and observing animals in the wild (from squirrels to arctic foxes, count me in!). I have a thing for beautiful and rugged landscapes, off-the-beaten-track locations and a major crush on the Arctic. Closer to home, I like reading crime fiction, hiking, and knitting. I have a strong culinary affinity for cheese. I want to see the momonga and the shima enaga!
News
- Hiring a researcher
I am looking for a researcher with an interest in political violence, very good statistics skills and an interest in a mixed-methods designs to join my DFG-funded project “Violence against Political Actors at the Grassroots Level”. 👉 https://en.kfn.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/08/Stellenausschreibung_Politische-Gewalt-an-der-Basis_englisch.pdf - New research grantI am delighted to report that I have received a grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the three-year, mixed-methods project “Violence against political actors at the grassroots level.” The focus will lie on individuals active in civil society organizations, political parties and party youth organizations in Germany, who have never competed in democratic … Continue reading New research grant
- New research grant
Karin Johansson Schaftenaar (Uppsala University) and I have received a grant from the Swedish Research Council for a 3-year project entitled “Between Exigency and Backlash: International Responses to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.” With transnational anti-feminist and anti-gender movements on the rise, and in a context of major geopolitical transformations, prior commitments to combatting CRSV have weakened … Continue reading New research grant
Dr. Anne-Kathrin Kreft 