Attacking health: Understanding the dynamics and broader impacts of violence against healthcare
Larissa Fast (Professor of Humanitarian and Conflict Studies at the University of Manchester)
Wednesday, 19 November 2025, 5pm to 6pm
Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB
RSC Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2025
Series convened by Professor Tom Scott-Smith and Professor Catherine Briddick
About this talk
Attacks on healthcare have captured international attention in recent years, as the bombing of hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere signal how readily conflict parties neglect their obligations under international humanitarian law. In Sudan and Myanmar, medical staff have been at the forefront of resistance movements to military regimes. While especially prominent in armed conflict, the threat to healthcare is not confined to conflict; the COVID 19 pandemic saw a rise in violence towards health workers globally. What are the dynamics of this violence, and what does it mean for the healthcare system, for conflict-affected populations, and for international law, particularly given the seismic shifts affecting the humanitarian sector? This seminar will examine these questions, drawing on findings from the Researching the Impact of Attacks on Healthcare project.
About the speaker
Larissa Fast is Professor of Humanitarian and Conflict Studies and former Executive Director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Research Institute at the University of Manchester. She is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of the worlds of academia, policy, and practice. Her research addresses two fundamental problems: how best to protect civilians, particularly those who intervene in violent conflict, and how to make such intervention more effective, ethical, and responsive to local needs and circumstances. In addition to her monograph Aid in Danger: The Perils and Promise of Humanitarianism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), she has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles and policy reports. She is Principal Investigator of the Researching the Impact of Attacks on Healthcare (RIAH) project (2019-2026), and co-Investigator on a project examining the ethics of research in conflict and disaster settings (2023-2025). Her research has been funded by the UK FCDO, British Academy, Research Council of Norway, the Wellcome Trust, US Agency for International Development, US Institute of Peace, and the Swiss Development Corporation.
The seminar will be followed by drinks in the Hall.
Registration not required.
All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk