Yajna Sanguhan is a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Conflict) in the Department of War Studies working on the legacies of enforced disappearances on the household and intersecting harms in Sri Lanka. This research is part of the ERC-funded project ‘Relational Harm’ led by Dr Rebekka Friedman.

Yajna completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2026. Yajna’s dissertation research demonstrates how the Sri Lankan civil war shapes Tamil women’s informal political engagement, supporting both the household and the community. Prior to the PhD, Yajna has conducted research on the political economy of development in conflict-affected areas, studying household access to livelihoods and services, and perceptions of governance. Additionally, she has studied the political economy of violence against women, women’s labour force participation and structural inequality. Throughout her work she has focused on the particular vulnerabilities of women-headed households in post-war contexts.

Yajna has over a decade of fieldwork and research experience, employing a wide variety of both quantitative methods, utilising household surveys and global cross-country datasets, and qualitative methods including in-depth interviews and ethnography.

Research Interests

• Legacies of civil war
• Gendered legacies of violence
• Women’s political engagement in conflict contexts
• Experiences of women-headed households

Yajna’s research interests lie at the intersection of gender, conflict and politics with a specialisation in Sri Lanka.