Emma Gerhardy is a former police officer and the Lead Program Officer for the Inclusion Support Program, South Australia’s countering violent extremism intervention program, working across programs, policy, training, and community engagement. She is also a PhD candidate at Adelaide University, where her research examines coercive online violent extremism, including how online manipulation, grooming, and exploitation draw vulnerable people into extremist-adjacent harm. Her work sits at the intersection of national security, gender-based violence, and prevention-focused responses. challenging traditional security frameworks to better reflect lived harm.
