Vânia Sampaio

Vânia Sampaio is the Head of Unit for Security & Criminal Justice Cooperation, as part of the Radicalisation, Violent Extremism and Organised Crime Portfolio. She is a certified trainer and has been involved in several projects addressing radicalisation and violent extremism, including the prison-exit continuum, law enforcement and community perspectives, as well as organised crime, namely trafficking in human beings.

Vânia is part of the implementation team of the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation, being involved in the Thematic Panel ‘Prisons, Rehabilitation and Reintegration’, Foresight Services, and Training.

Vânia has an MA in Terrorism, International Crime and Global Security (Coventry University, United Kingdom) with a dissertation focused on the role of civil society in the fight against organised crime, namely the case of the Sicilian mafia.

She has a BA in Criminology (University of Porto, Portugal), where she conducted research on police perceptions of trafficking in human beings and was an intern at the National Republican Guard, specifically at in its criminal investigation unit.