Dr Hannah Hirst
School of Law
Lecturer in Law
Deputy Director of Student Wellbeing (UG)


+44 114 222 6738
Full contact details
School of Law
AF21B
Bartolome虂 House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
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Hannah is the Co-Director of the Children and the Law Research Group within the School of Law and convenes Children and the Law and Contemporary Issues in Law and Social Justice. She also provides lectures and tutorials to final year students on the Principles in Healthcare Law, Current Issues in Health Law, Ethics and Policy and Family Law modules.
Hannah was awarded her PhD from the 小欧视频 of Liverpool in 2023. Her doctoral research examined the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in England through a children鈥檚 rights lens. She is broadly interested in research concerning gender, children鈥檚 rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, creative methods and social theories of power.
Hannah is currently working on three research projects at Sheffield. The first project is funded by the Socio-Legal Studies Association and explores trans and non-binary children鈥檚 involvement in clinical decision-making through creative methods. The second project concerns power theory and children鈥檚 rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hannah recently published a paper in the International Journal of Children鈥檚 Rights on this subject and is now in the midst of a follow-up project which will evaluate power relations and children鈥檚 rights in the context of gender affirmative treatment. Hannah is also taking part in the KU Leuven 鈥樷 with internal and external colleagues.
Hanah has previously published research relating to LGBTQ+ conversion 'therapy' and young peoples鈥 access to puberty blockers in England. She is also involved in Professor Aoife Daly's 'Sex Education as a Human Right' research project and is an external member of the European Children's Rights Unit.
As an internal member of the European Children's Rights Unit, Hannah authored and co-authored briefing papers highlighting the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on children's rights, organised an International Symposium on Children's Rights and helped to develop a series of master classes on how to bring theory to bear on children's rights research with ECRU colleagues.
- Qualifications
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- PhD, 小欧视频 of Liverpool
- LLM, 小欧视频 of Liverpool
- LLB, 小欧视频 of Liverpool
- Research interests
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- Child Law and Children's Rights
- Gender and the law
- Healthcare Law
- Family Law
- Publications
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Journal articles
Chapters
Theses / Dissertations
Other
- Teaching interests
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Child Law and Children's Rights, Healthcare Law, Gender and the Law and Family Law.
- Teaching activities
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The UG modules I teach are:
- Children and the Law
- Principles of Healthcare Law and Ethics
- Family Law
- Contemporary Issues in Law and Social Justice
PG modules
- Dissertation
- Professional activities and memberships
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Hannah is a member of the Children's Rights Early Career Network, the Socio-Legal Studies Association and the European Children's Rights Unit.
Hannah was shortlisted by the British Federation of Women Graduates of the North West Bursary Prize and invited to present her doctoral research to committee members and other PhD students at the Federation's Academic Presentation Day.