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Miranda Forsyth
Dr Miranda Forsyth
Qualifications
LLB (University of Melbourne), LLM (University of Connecticut, USA), PhD (ANU)

Miranda Forsyth is an Associate Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) in the College of Asia and Pacific at ANU. Prior to coming to ANU, she was a senior lecturer in criminal law at the law school of the University of the South Pacific, based in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Miranda is the author of A Bird that Flies with Two Wings: Kastom and State Justice Systems in Vanuatu (2009) ANU ePress and co-author of Weaving Intellectual Property Policy in Small island Developing States, Intersentia 2015.
The central analytical question animating Miranda’s scholarship is how people’s diverse justice needs can best be met in contexts of multiple legal and normative orders. Her geographical focus has been primarily in the Pacific Islands region, particularly Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Previous projects include the relationships between state and customary justice in Vanuatu and a pluralistic approach to the regulation of intellectual property in the Pacific Islands.
Current research projects focussing on the Pacific include the potential of Restorative Justice for the Pacific islands region, particularly in relation to gender based violence; the promise and challenges of Community Rule-Making as regulatory innovation; and a multi-year project on overcoming sorcery accusation related violence in Papua New Guinea. Miranda is also working on the development of a new agenda for Environmental Restorative Justice in both Australia and internationally.
Miranda draws creatively upon theories and methodological approaches from the disciplines of law, anthropology and criminology to interrogate these issues, working in close partnerships with Pacific islands researchers and research institutions.
Research interests
- Legal pluralism
- Law and society
- Legal anthropology
- Restorative justice
- Crime and violence
- Government and politics of Asia and the Pacific
- Intellectual property law

Engaging youth in messaging for the creative arts to end sorcery accusation violence
The belief in witchcraft or sorcery exists widely across the Pacific, especially in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Why is sorcery related violence occurring in PNG?- Miranda Forsyth interviewed on Good Will Hunters radio show
Associate Professor Miranda Forsyth talks about sorcery accusation related violence (SARV) in Pa

Health and environmental protections at risk during COVID-19
Health and environmental standards are at risk of manipulation by governments during the global coronavirus crisis, new research from The Australian National University (ANU

The importance of messaging for COVID-19. What can we learn from messaging against Sorcery Accusation Related Violence?
Drawing on key findings from their four-year collaborative research project on how communities respond to fear relating to misfortune in selected PNG communities, RegNet’s

Thinking collectively, acting individually: governance in a time of COVID-19
By Miranda Forsyth and Gordon Peake

RegNet researchers awarded ARC Discovery Project grants
We are delighted to announce that RegNet’s Miranda Forsyth,

Joint Research project by ANU, UPNG and Unitech addresses family and sexual violence in Lae, PNG
Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and the PNG Univer

Countering poisonous stories: an example of sorcery in Papua New Guinea
by Miranda Forsyth and Philip Gibbs

The potential of policing coalitions in PNG
Australia has recently announced a $135.9 million package over three and a half years to support policing i

Activating the Five Powers of Law - Associate Professor Miranda Forsyth writes in PeaceLab
Some methods of rule of law promotion, such as support for the development of new legislation, frequently lead to disappointing results.

Research findings on the impact of FSV on families and children in Lae
RegNet’s Miranda Forsyth and colleagues Michelle Nayahamui Rooney (ANU Devpolicy Centre), Mary A

PhD Scholarship with RegNet/EPA
A three-year full time PhD Scholarship under the ANU/Victorian Environment Protection Authority Linkage project Preventing and Addressing Environmental Harm through Re

ANU & EPA Awarded Research Grant on Restorative Justice for Environment
The Australian Research Council (ARC) recently awarded the Australian National University (ANU) and Victorian Environmental Protection Authority

Studying ways to address family violence in PNG
Low-income women living in Papua New Guinea (PNG) face many societal and financial hurdles that limit their ability to seek government or societal help in addressing famil

Sorting through the witchcraft myths
Burning or stabbing people accused of witchcraft conjures up images from hundreds of years ago, yet the practice continues today and is even growing in some remote areas of Papua New Guinea.
Pages
Current

Improving the impact of state and non-state interventions in overcoming sorcery accusation related violence in PNG
Sorcery accusation related violence is seen as a growing problem in PNG and has attracted domestic and international calls for an effective government response.

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Report

Author(s): Lia Kent, Miranda Forsyth, Joanne Wallis, Sinclair Dinnen, Srinjoy Bose
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Joanne Wallis, Lia Kent, Miranda Forsyth, , Sinclair Dinnen, Srinjoy Bose
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Book

Author(s): Forsyth, Miranda
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: Working paper

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Judy Putt, Thierry Bouhours, Brigitte Bouho
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: In Brief

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Judy Putt, Thierry Bouhours, Brigitte Bouho
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: In Brief

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Judy Putt, Thierry Bouhours, Brigitte Bouho
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: In Brief

Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Judy Putt, Thierry Bouhours, Brigitte Bouho
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: In Brief

Author(s): Forsyth, Miranda, Farran, Sue
Date of publications: 2015
Publication type: Book

Author(s): Forsyth, Miranda
Date of publications: 2011
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Forsyth, Miranda
Date of publications: 2011
Publication type: Book chapter

Author(s): Forsyth, Miranda
Date of publications: 2009
Publication type: Book