About
Expertise grounded in evidence. Work centered on people.
Dr Gabrielle Morrissey is a sexologist, internationally published author, educator, speaker, media commentator and social-impact leader whose career has explored how people love, relate, communicate, heal and change.
For more than three decades, Gabrielle has worked across sexuality, relationships, women's health, education, media, nonprofit leadership and organizational change. She holds a PhD in health science, specializing in sexology, and a master's degree in human sexuality education.
Her work has moved between universities, public-health settings, community organizations, media platforms, publishing and executive leadership. Across those environments, her focus has remained deeply human: translating complex evidence into ideas and practices that people can understand and use.
Gabrielle has taught and contributed to university programs in the United States and Australia, written internationally published books about sexuality and relationships, and offered expert commentary across television, radio, print and digital media. Her nonprofit and social-impact work has included women's health, reproductive justice, gendered-violence prevention, education, organizational development and systems change.
She brings intellectual rigor, warmth and candor to subjects that are often difficult to discuss. Her work helps individuals, audiences and organizations approach complexity with greater clarity, care and courage.
Changemaker
She does not walk past the problem.
Gabrielle's career has been defined not only by what she knows, but by what she is prepared to do with that knowledge. For decades, she has stepped toward difficult, stigmatized and deeply human problems—bringing courage, persistence and practical action to places where change was urgently needed.
Gabrielle's commitment to change began long before it became her profession. As a high school student in New Delhi, India, she developed a project supporting women's access to contraception—an early expression of the reproductive-health advocacy, practical action and respect for women's autonomy that would continue throughout her life.
In the 1990s, when public and institutional support was far less assured, Gabrielle championed LGBTQIA+ rights. She continued to advocate for equality, dignity and legal recognition, including marriage equality.
Gabrielle has never confined her advocacy to the safety of theory. She has rallied and picketed, volunteered as an abortion-clinic escort and accompanied women navigating the family-court system. She has helped women escape abuse, supported and sheltered victim-survivors and worked alongside women and children facing some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Her work has also produced significant policy and systems change. In New South Wales, Gabrielle spent more than a year advocating relentlessly with politicians and decision-makers to secure the funding required to take Staying Home Leaving Violence statewide. Her leadership was recognized as instrumental in getting that funding commitment across the line.
Staying Home Leaving Violence challenges the longstanding expectation that women and children must abandon their homes, schools, communities and support networks to escape abuse. It supports victim-survivors to remain safely in their homes while perpetrators are removed—shifting disruption and accountability away from the person experiencing violence and toward the person responsible for it.
Gabrielle is also a builder of what does not yet exist. She created and launched the world's first master's program in forensic sexology, establishing a formal postgraduate pathway for examining the complex intersections between sexuality, behavior, crime and the law.
She also expanded service-learning programs originally centered on medical students to include allied health students, bringing more disciplines and more intersectional perspectives into the response to difficult social and public-health challenges. Across decades and multiple cities, this work has helped emerging health professionals understand that meaningful social impact requires collaboration across disciplines, communities and lived experiences.
Her contribution to comprehensive sexuality education has been equally sustained. Beginning with her doctoral research in 2000 and continuing more recently through her work as Strategic Advisor to SRHA, Gabrielle has championed national standards for comprehensive sexuality education in Australia. Her work has focused on ensuring that young people receive accurate, inclusive, age-appropriate and evidence-informed education about sexuality, relationships, consent and health.
Across reproductive rights, sexuality education, LGBTQIA+ equality, gendered-violence prevention, university education and frontline service, Gabrielle has repeatedly been willing to challenge convention when existing systems were failing people. She brings ideas into practice, builds coalitions around difficult problems and persists long after easier attention has moved elsewhere.
She is a trailblazer and constructive disruptor: someone who enters complexity, identifies what is missing and mobilizes people to build what needs to exist. When a problem demands a solution or a difficult truth needs to be confronted, Gabrielle does not look away.
“Change is not something Gabrielle talks about from a distance. She steps into the fray and helps make it happen.”
WOMEN'S SAFETY
Building safety when systems fall short.
Gabrielle's work in women's safety has always extended beyond policy and organizational leadership. She has directly helped women find shelter and escape abuse, including situations where refuge accommodation was unavailable, inaccessible or not a safe option.
When established systems were unable to respond—or were themselves perpetuating further harm—Gabrielle brought together informal networks of trusted supporters to help women and children reach safety, stability and practical assistance.
She also developed and implemented training for frontline workers in licensed clubs, gaming venues, bars and hospitality settings. The training equipped employees—from security personnel and bartenders to managers and hospitality staff—to recognize possible signs of abuse, respond safely and respectfully, and connect people with appropriate specialist support.
This work reflects a central principle of Gabrielle's approach: women's safety cannot be the responsibility of specialist services alone. People across communities and everyday settings can be equipped to notice, respond and help create pathways to safety.
“Safety often begins with one person who notices, believes and knows how to respond.”
Direct pathways to safety
Helping women and children find shelter, support and safer alternatives when conventional options were unavailable.
Community response networks
Bringing trusted people together when established systems were unable to provide a safe or effective response.
Frontline workforce training
Equipping security, bar, gaming and hospitality staff to recognize abuse, respond appropriately and refer people to specialist support.
Reproductive freedom
Abortion rights, access and education.
Gabrielle has supported abortion rights and access across decades, countries and different stages of her career. Her commitment began through early work with Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia and continued through Family Planning NSW in Sydney, combining reproductive-health education with practical advocacy for bodily autonomy and equitable access to care.
Her advocacy has also taken place on the ground. Gabrielle has volunteered as an abortion-clinic escort, supporting people to enter healthcare services with greater safety and dignity in the face of protest, intimidation and stigma.
As an educator, she has helped graduate students understand that reproductive health is shaped not only in clinics and classrooms, but also through legislation, public policy and civic participation. She has taken graduate students to the Massachusetts State House to advocate directly for reproductive equity—giving emerging health professionals practical experience in how evidence, public service and political advocacy can come together to protect access.
From contraception and comprehensive sexuality education to abortion access and reproductive justice, Gabrielle's position has remained consistent: people deserve accurate information, respectful care and the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies and lives.
“Reproductive freedom requires more than principle. It requires access, education, advocacy and the courage to protect all three.”
Education as change
Championing national standards for comprehensive sexuality education.
Gabrielle has advocated for comprehensive sexuality education in Australia for more than two decades. Beginning with her doctoral research in 2000, she has worked to advance education that is accurate, inclusive, age-appropriate and grounded in evidence rather than fear or stigma.
More recently, as Strategic Advisor to SRHA, she continued this work by championing national standards for comprehensive sexuality education. Her focus has included stronger educational consistency, better support for teachers and a more complete approach to sexuality, consent, relationships, health and human development.
For Gabrielle, comprehensive sexuality education is not simply the delivery of information. It is a foundation for bodily autonomy, respectful relationships, informed decision-making, safety and lifelong sexual health.
Interdisciplinary impact
Expanding who gets to create change.
Gabrielle recognized that difficult social and public-health challenges cannot be understood through a single professional lens. She expanded service-learning programs originally designed for medical students to include allied health students, widening both participation and perspective.
By bringing students from different health disciplines into meaningful community service, she helped future professionals understand the intersections between health, identity, inequality, environment and access. Students were encouraged to work with communities—not simply for them—and to recognize lived experience as essential knowledge.
Across multiple cities and over decades, Gabrielle has helped create opportunities for emerging health professionals to move beyond the classroom, confront real social challenges and understand their capacity to contribute to lasting change.
Evidence of change
What the work has achieved.
01
Securing statewide change
After more than a year of sustained political advocacy, Gabrielle was recognized for securing the funding that took Staying Home Leaving Violence statewide across New South Wales.
02
Creating a world first
Gabrielle created and launched the world's first master's program in forensic sexology, establishing a new postgraduate field at the intersection of sexuality, behavior and the law.
03
Defending reproductive freedom
Across work with Planned Parenthood, Family Planning NSW, abortion-clinic escorting and legislative advocacy, Gabrielle has supported abortion rights, access and education for decades.
04
Advancing national education standards
From her doctoral research in 2000 to her work as Strategic Advisor to SRHA, Gabrielle has championed national standards for comprehensive sexuality education in Australia.
05
Expanding the social-impact workforce
Gabrielle widened service-learning opportunities beyond medical students to include allied health disciplines, bringing interdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives to complex public-health challenges.
06
Advocating before it was easy
Gabrielle championed LGBTQIA+ rights in the 1990s and continued to advocate for equality, dignity and marriage equality.
07
A lifelong commitment to bodily autonomy
Beginning with a high school project in New Delhi supporting women's access to contraception, Gabrielle's advocacy for reproductive health and autonomy has continued across decades.
Impact principles
How change gets made.
Courage in practice
Stepping toward difficult and stigmatized issues with conviction, care and a willingness to act.
Systems that protect people
Changing policies and programs so that responsibility rests with people who cause harm—not those forced to survive it.
Building what is missing
Creating educational pathways, community initiatives and practical programs when established responses are not enough.
Persistence that delivers
Bringing people, evidence and political will together to move vital ideas from advocacy into funded action.
A longtime member of what she calls the ‘GSD Club’—Get Shit Done—Gabrielle is known for turning conviction into action.
Creating change—in policy, programs and people.
Explore Gabrielle's work across leadership, social impact, education and human change.
Qualifications
Professional foundation
The training, teaching and practice that underpin three decades of work.
Harvard Medical School Executive Education
Completing professional development certification in Women's health.
PhD in health science, specializing in sexology
Doctoral research and training in sexology, sexual health and health science.
Master's degree in human sexuality education
Graduate training in human sexuality education and sexual-health pedagogy.
International university teaching
Teaching and contributions to university programs across the United States and Australia.
Published authorship
Internationally published books on sexuality, intimacy and relationships.
Media and public education
Expert commentary and long-running columns across television, radio, print and digital media.
Nonprofit and social-impact leadership
Extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, organizational strategy, women's health, gendered-violence prevention and reproductive justice.
Program development and evaluation
Designing education and prevention programs, and practical approaches to measuring what they achieve.
Work across the United States and Australia
Professional practice, teaching and leadership in both countries.
Areas of work
Where the expertise is applied
Sexology and relationship education
Evidence-informed education on intimacy, desire, consent, communication and sexual health across the lifespan.
Writing and publishing
Books, columns and educational writing that translate research into language people can actually use.
Speaking and media
Keynotes, panels, interviews and expert commentary for public, professional and organizational audiences.
Leadership and social impact
Nonprofit leadership, strategy, governance support and advocacy in women's health and gendered-violence prevention.
University education and program development
Teaching, curriculum design, student supervision and the development of education and prevention programs.
Intimacy coordination
Los Angeles-based intimacy coordination for film and television, grounded in sexology, consent and communication.
Explore Gabrielle's work
See how this expertise translates into education, speaking, media, leadership, publishing and screen production.