The Auxiliary Chamber is thrilled to present the second episode of its mini-series with the brilliant Shreya Shankar on her Leiden master's thesis exploring: why do non-state armed groups comply with international law - An identity based approach. In this episode, we are going to be putting the human back into international law and exploring: The Importance of Identity and Language on the Compliance of Non-State Armed Groups. Following up from the first episode where we start to explore Shreya’s Leiden University thesis, with her unique methodology combining international law, psychology and linguistics, today we are focussing on how the concept of compliance, language, and identity. We explore how these concepts fit under psychology and intepraitonal law, its theories, and how they have been applied to non-state armed groups in the Donbas and Hezbollah. Shreya Shankar is a Tamil woman of colour, a migrant, whose journey weaves together academia, activism, and the corporate world. She has been working on a PhD that explores how identity shapes compliance with international law, and she has spent years tracing the ways stories influence justice and accountability. Her work has taken her from grassroots communities and indigenous voices to global research and teaching. Alongside this, she is building a career in the corporate sector, where she focuses on compliance and risk management with the same rigor and ethical lens. She brings to her work a deep commitment to equity, compassion, and the recognition of overlooked narratives. Her story is one of bridging worlds that often seem far apart, showing how identity and expertise can come together in transformative ways. She hopes to continue to carve spaces where human stories and institutional frameworks meet, challenging both to grow.