She was a drafter of the South African Children’s Act, and has contributed to child law reform in many southern and eastern African countries (among them, Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi, and South Sudan). She has published widely on child and family law issues, including in the areas of customary family law, juvenile justice, child-headed households, and access to justice.

Prof Sloth-Nielsen served as a member of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child between 2011 and 2016. Currently she serves as a member of an international expert group on surrogacy, co-convenes an annual summer school in Leiden on the frontiers of children’s rights, and co-convenes an annual conference on child and family law in Cape Town.

A staff member at UWC since 1994, Prof Sloth-Nielsen has extensive postgraduate supervision experience, with more than 70 students having graduated under her supervision, and has also lectured internationally in Belgium, Switzerland, China, and the United Kingdom.