Rachel Eapen Paul

Policy Director, Office of the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud / Board Member of the Norwegian Women’s Lobby

Rachel Eapen Paul is Policy Director for Gender-Based Violence at the Office of the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud in Norway and a board member of the Norwegian Women’s Lobby, the umbrella organisation of the Norwegian women’s movement. In May 2018 she was elected by the state parties as a member of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) which monitors the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.

Her work focuses on immigrant women, human trafficking, forced marriages and violence against women. She has led several aid programs aimed at women and girls in the Middle East funded by the Norwegian government, and was Program Manager for the Norwegian Church Aid’s Capacity Building, Democracy and Human Rights program for Iraq. She is also a board member of Legal Aid for Women (JURK) and Oslo Women’s Shelter, and was a member of the government-appointed Commission on Violence against Women (Kvinnevoldsutvalget). She has a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Madras (India) and a cand.polit. degree in criminology from the University of Oslo.