Danielle Hoffmeester

Danielle Hoffmeester

Danielle Hoffmeester is a Masters candidate in Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape. Until 2 years ago, her focus centred on issues of security and democracy, in particular how the use and/or threat of weapons of warfare (UAVs, nuclear weapons, chemical and biological weapons and cyberwarfare) impact on the political stability of fledgling or ‘weak’ democracies. Since, her focus has shifted to political violence. Currently, she is trying to identify a link between Nigeria’s colonial past and its subsequent extremist movements.

Prior to IJR, she was a research assistant at the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, where she worked on a variety of projects- democracy and good governance, land reform and human settlements, the vulnerable sector, etc. Her exposure to the vulnerable sector, in particular, stirred within her a strong desire to challenge and dismantle the attitudes, beliefs and systems that allow human rights abuses to occur without social or legal consequences. As such, she is a proud feminist. She has yet to latch onto the term ‘egalitarian’, and doubts she ever will. After all, equality is not all she seeks.