Rachel George is a Research Fellow within the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion team at the Overseas Development Institute. She holds a PhD in International Relations and works on projects related to social norms and has research experience in the Middle East, with particular specialism in gender, international law, religion and human rights.

Rachel works on a number of projects at ODI including ALIGN, which brings together global research on discriminatory and harmful gender norms, and the Regional Platform on Gender and Prevention of Violent Extremism in North Africa, funded by UN Women.

Rachel's research on legal and social change in the Middle East with a focus on women’s rights, children’s rights and civil and political rights in Islamic society has been published in a range of books, blogs and journals. This includes the International Journal of Law and Interdisciplinary Legal Studies, the Routledge Handbook on the History of Human Rights, and as a chapter in The Arab Gulf States and the West: Perception and Realities – Opportunities and Perils. She has particular experience in qualitative and interview research and has worked on projects funded by Transparency International, UN Women, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors.

Rachel holds a BA in Political Science from Princeton University, an MA in Middle East Studies from Harvard University, and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics. She is currently coordinator for ODI’s Advancing Learning and Innovation on Gender Norms (ALIGN) project.