Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Anaise Williams, PhD ’23, MPH researches gender equity and gender-based violence prevention with a focus on norms and economic empowerment.
Research Interests
Gender norms, gender equity, gender-based violence, reproductive health, and economic empowerment
Experiences & Accomplishments
Anaise Williams is an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. With an interdisciplinary background across the fields of anthropology, economics, humanitarian assistance, and public health, her research portfolio addresses the topic areas of gender-based violence prevention, women’s economic empowerment, reproductive health, gender equity, and mental health. Bringing specialized skills in survey design, randomized controlled trials, qualitative research methods, and multilevel modeling, she has engaged in health promotion of underserved populations both domestically and internationally, with a special focus on women and girls.
Select Publications
Cardona, Carolina, Anaise Williams, Elizabeth Gummerson, Saifuddin Ahmed, and Philip Anglewicz. "Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso." Feminist Economics (2024): 1-29.
Bevilacqua KG*, Williams A*, Wood SN, Wamue-Ngare G, Thiongo M, Gichangi P, and Decker MR. Sexual harassment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 2022; 12 (10): p.e066777. Available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066777
Williams A*, Wood SN, Stuart HC, Wamue-Ngare G, Thiongo M, Gichangi P, and Decker MR. Gendered time use during COVID-19 among adolescents and young adults in Nairobi, Kenya. eClinicalMedicine 2022; 49 (101479). Available here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101479
Decker MR, Bevilacqua K*, Wood SN, Ngare GW, Thiongo M, Byrne ME, Williams A*, Devoto B, Glass N, Heise L, and Gichangi P. Gender-based violence during COVID-19 among adolescent girls and young women in Nairobi, Kenya: a mixed-methods prospective study over 18 months. BMJ Global Health 2022; 7 (2): e007807. Available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007807
Decker MR, Wood SN, Thiongo M, Byrne ME, Devoto B, Morgan R, Williams A*, and Gichangi P. Gendered health, economic, social and safety impact of COVID-19 on adolescents and young adults in Nairobi, Kenya. Plos One 2021; 16 (11): e0259583. Available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259583
Seff I, Williams A, Hussain F, Landis D, Poulton C, Falb K, and Stark L. Forced Sex and Early Marriage: Understanding the Linkages and Norms in a Humanitarian Setting. Violence Against Women 2019; 26 (8): 787-802. Available here: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219845523
Williams A*, Kusumaningrum S, Bennouna C, Usman R, Wandasari W, and Stark L. Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand motivation to register births in Lombok, Indonesia. Children & Society 2018; 32 (5): 368-380. Available here: https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12262
Sommer M, Muñoz-Laboy M, Williams A*, Mayevskaya Y*, Falb K, Abdella G, and Stark L. How gender norms are reinforced through violence against adolescent girls in two conflict-affected populations. Child Abuse & Neglect 2018; 79: 154-163. Available here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.02.002
Williams A, Sarker M, and Ferdous ST. Cultural Attitudes toward Postpartum Depression in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Medical Anthropology 2017; 37 (3): 194-205. Available here: https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2017.1318875