Susan Lee-Rife

Susan Lee-Rife is a social demographer who consults for the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Lee-Rife conducts research and policy analysis on a range of issues, such as women's empowerment, fertility, child marriage, reproductive health and rights, and adolescent transitions to adulthood.

Lee-Rife brings 12 years of experience researching gender and health issues in developing countries.  From 2008 and 2011, she was on the research staff at ICRW and conducted a systematic review of evaluated child marriage interventions, directed the organization’s work on son preference and daughter discrimination, and conducted research on women’s empowerment and reproductive health. Before joining ICRW, she examined the gender attitudes and health of Egyptian adolescents for the Population Council and conducted a situational analysis of married adolescent girls. She has conducted research at the Population Studies Center and the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan and taught a graduate-level course on research methods. Lee-Rife also worked in the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, developing a gender component for a project on rural water supply systems in Pakistan. She has published a number of papers on reproductive behavior, women's empowerment and neighborhood influences on adolescent sexual behavior.