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Inka Lilja / Leave of absence 1.1.2022-31.12.2024

Senior Programme Officer

“I have always been fascinated by the socio-cultural context and moral aspects of criminal justice, and I am therefore inspired by the humane criminal justice spirit reflected in HEUNI’s work"


As a lawyer, I am fascinated by the interlinkages between rule of law and development - how rights stated in international conventions and national laws translate to individual wellbeing and happiness. Through my work at HEUNI I want to do my bit to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, in particular improve the criminal justice systems, so that they deliver justice, in the world of many injustices. I have worked for the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, and I am confident that HEUNI’s action-oriented research can contribute greatly to UN policies in the field of criminal justice and crime prevention.


Currently, I work mostly on HEUNI’s area of focus: “improving access to justice and the quality of services for vulnerable victims of crime”. I have expertise in the field of victims of crime and in particular on violence against women in the migration context. I am particularly proud of the outputs of the CCM-GBV project in which HEUNI was responsible for collecting extensive qualitative and quantitative data on the phenomena of refugee women as victims of gender-based violence and lessons learned in assisting them in 6 EU countries. The data informed the co-creation of a Handbook for practitioners and a publication titled Unseen victims. I am currently coordinating the follow up project SARAH, which aims to improve access to, and quality of, victim support services for migrant women victims of gender-based violence. 

Inka Lilja, Senior Programme Officer

Writings, projects and publications