Âé¶¹Éçmadou

headshot of HDR student

Estelle Keerthana Ramaswamy

PhD Candidate
Arts, Design & Architecture
School of Social Sciences

·¡³¾²¹¾±±ô:Ìýe.ramaswamy@unsw.edu.au

³§³Ü±è±ð°ù±¹¾±²õ´Ç°ù²õ:ÌýJoyce Wu, Maree Higgins, Anthony Zwi

Mx. Estelle Keerthana Ramaswamy (she/they) is India’s first Thirunangai (Tamil equivalent to transwoman) and non-binary researcher to have secured an RTP scholarship awarded by the Australian Government and the Âé¶¹Éçmadou to pursue her PhD with the School of Social Sciences in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA) at the University of New South Wales (Âé¶¹Éçmadou). Her PhD explores gender-based violence experiences of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people during disasters. She works with Drs. Joyce Wu and Maree Higgins and Professor Anthony Zwi.

She is the Founder & Chief @Ardham Foundation and Social Collective through which she has worked for the empowerment of underprivileged and underserved communities especially the trans and gender diverse (TGD) communities in India. In addition, she is also an adjunct faculty member with the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities @Woxsen University in India and contributes to HEIs like the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG). She also was the Chief Editor for @Ecopreneur India.

In Australia, Estelle was part of the Gender Equality Taskforce (GET) for the City of Casey (Victoria, Australia) and Community Reference Group at the Victorian Pride Centre (Melbourne, Australia). In addition to her PhD, she is currently engaged at Âé¶¹Éçmadou as an Associate with the Australian Human Rights Institute and a member of the Gendered Violence Student Reference Group.

Research Areas:

  • Transgender people
  • Trans and gender diverse people 
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  • ·¡»å³Ü³¦²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²ÔÌý
  • Climate Change 
  • Living Experience 
  • Decolonial Methods 
  • Gender-based Violence

Trans and gender diverse people’s experiences ofgender-based violence in New South Wales (Australia) and Tamil Nadu (India) during climate change disasters.

  • Keerthana Ramaswamy, E. (2024). "". In Disrupting the Academy with Lived Experience-Led Knowledge. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Retrieved Mar 17, 2025.
  • Ramaswamy, H. H. S., & Kumar, S. (2021). . Policy Futures in Education, 20(4), 524-536. 
  • Ramaswamy, H.H.S. (2021), "", Health Education, Vol. 121 No. 2, pp. 140-149.Â