Canadian Researcher Honoured in Berlin: Myriam Denov Gives War’s Forgotten Children a Voice | Falling Walls Science Summit, 6–9 Nov 2025, Berlin

Myriam Denov: Her novel approach brings the voices of children born of war directly into research and policy.

How do you research the consequences of war when some of the most affected voices are silenced? Myriam Denov, Professor at McGill University (Montreal, Canada), has spent more than a decade breaking that silence. Her participatory approach involves children born of wartime sexual violence as co-researchers — ensuring their experiences directly shape policies and practices worldwide.

Her work began in Sierra Leone, working with girls who had given birth after being held by armed groups. Since then, she has followed the lives of young people in Uganda and Rwanda, uncovering the intergenerational realities of war and sexual violence. By enabling former child soldiers to share their stories with each other, Denov has opened entirely new avenues of knowledge and understanding. Read more.

On 9 November in Berlin, she will be honoured as a Science Breakthrough of the Year and present her work to an international audience at the Falling Walls Science Summit — the premier gathering of world-leading scientists, policy-makers and innovators.

Interviews with Myriam Denov can be arranged on request. Press accreditation to the Science Summit is free of charge. Use the code SCSU25_Press on our website to get your press ticket: https://falling-walls.com/scie...