Ellie Newman Grainger studied Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, where she specialised in conflict related sexual violence and sexual violence against men.  Her dissertation explored the crisis of sexual violence against men in conflict regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Following this, she studied MA International Security and Terrorism at the University of Nottingham, where she further specialised in the field of sexual violence and sex trafficking research, writing her dissertation exploring the sexual exploitation of children through the sex tourism trade in Southeast Asia. Her article entitled Gendered Understandings of Forced Sexual Exploitation comes as the conclusion to an internship with the Rights Lab where she researched the sexual exploitation and trafficking of cisgender men and transgender individuals worldwide.