Staff profile

Ulemu is a full-time PhD student at Durham Law School. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Malawi and a Master of Laws in Human Rights from the University of Cape Town, where she studied as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar. Her research focuses on the intersection of law, gender, and technology, particularly how legal systems respond to technology-facilitated violence against women. Ulemu is a lecturer in the University of Malawi's Private Law Department, teaching Law of Torts and Law of Business Ogranisations. She is also founder of the Young Feminists Network, an organisation tht advocates for women's rights, feminist leadership, and legal reform in Malawi. She has five years of experience as a legal practitioner and ten years of experience working at the intersection of gender and the law.

Current Research

Ulemu's current research, supervised by Professor Clare McGlynn and Dr Camilla Pickles, examines Malawi's legal response to image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) through a decolonial feminist lens. The research analyses how patriarchal norms and colonial perceptions have shaped the way IBSA is perceived, defined and prosecuted in Malawi, as well as the extent to which Malawi's legal framework responds to the intersecting vulnerabilities of young women affected by IBSA. Additionally, it explores women's lived experiences in navigating both formal and informal justice systems in response to IBSA.