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EVENTS E-VAW LAB

International Forum on Transitional Justice and Gender
June 18–20, 2024; San Salvador

UN Women El Salvador and the E-VAW Lab organized the "International Forum on Transitional Justice and Gender," held in San Salvador from June 18 to 20, 2024. This forum aimed to create spaces for reflection and exchange on gender-sensitive transitional justice and included participation from academics, social movements, and international cooperation. Abby Córdova presented research on public perceptions of specialized police forces in preventing and addressing gender-based violence in El Salvador. Isabel Güiza-Gómez shared findings from a study on attitudes toward lethal violence against women activists working on peacebuilding in Colombia and land policies during peace processes in the country. Guillermo Trejo, director of the Laboratory for Violence and Transitional Justice, delivered the opening address on the impact of transitional justice mechanisms on lethal violence in the region.

      

 

Policy brief presentation - An Adverse Context for Peace: Stigmatization against Social Leaders and Peace Signatories in Colombia
June 14, 2024; Bogota, Colombia

Presented by Dejusticia and the Kellogg Institute's Notre Dame Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVAW) Policy and Practice Research Lab, this event showcased EVAW findings on citizen attitudes toward lethal violence against insurgent ex-combatants and social movements leaders after the 2016 peace agreement in Colombia. On June 14th at the Dejusticia offices in Bogotá, Abby Córdova and Isabel Güiza-Gómez highlighted main takeaways from a two-panel survey they fielded in the country between November and December 2023. The event convened state officials, scholars, social movements, and representatives from the Constitutional Court, who are tasked with addressing stigmatization against social mobilization and protecting social movements invested in peacebuilding. Learn more about this research project here!

Justice Inclusion and Victim’s Access: 4th Jiva Conference
March 21-23; Bhopal, India

Convened by Parimal Research Society with MP Police and sponsored by UN Women, the Justice Inclusion and Victim’s Access conference will host scholars and practitioners concerned about policing for gender-based violence as a strategy to accomplish the sustainable development goals for women. On March 23, Abby Córdova will deliver a talk entitled “Policing and Violence against Women in Contexts of Criminal Violence: The Latin American Case.” She will present the E-VAW’s Lab current research on the effects of a higher representation of women in the police on citizens’ attitudes toward the police and gender-based violence in El Salvador and Brazil.
 

NGO CSW 68 Forum
March 10-22, 2024

The NGO CSW connects global civil society, non-governmental organizations, and feminists with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. On March 19, Abby Córdova gave a presentation titled “Eliminating Violence against Women and Seeking Justice in Contexts of Transnational Crime”. Her presentation draws on E-VAW’s research examining the impact of organized crime and militarization on violence against women as well as feminist approaches to address violence against women in those contexts, highlighting the role of civil society organizations as key partners to preventing violence against women, seeking justice, and accompanying survivors. 
 

Sixth International Gender Conference (IGC)
March 1-2, 2024

Convened by the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts in India, DePaul University, and Montclair University, the Sixth International Gender Conference, “Bridging the Gap: Advancing Sustainability through Gender-Inclusive Solutions,” took place on March 1-2. Abby Córdova presented new E-VAW Lab work co-authored with Diana Orcés (Director of Research, Public Religion Research Institute, Washington, D.C.). Her presentation entitled “Gender and Migration Motives: Explaining Attitudes toward Undocumented Immigrants in the United States” draws from a conjoint experiment that explores how anti or pro-immigrant sentiment hinges upon immigrants’ gender and their reason for migrating, focusing on gender-based violence, climate change, and economic migration as structural causes of migration. More than 250 conference participants attended Dr. Córdova’s panel, entitled “Global Voices: Understanding Gender in the Context of Environmental and Climate Challenges.”

Sixth UN Women Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Leaders’ Forum
November 28-20, 2023; Quito, Ecuador

In commemoration of the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Women in New York invited Abby Córdova to  participate in the Sixth UN Women Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Leaders’ Forum on the theme “Strategic Foresight and Issues on the Horizon”, which took place in Quito, Ecuador from 28-30 November 2023. Abby participated as a knowledge expert, speaking about best practices and evidence-based strategies to increase women’s safety. The E-VAW Lab was also represented by Isabel Tasende and Lena Shadow, both undergraduate students at Notre Dame affiliated with the E-VAW Lab and the Kellogg Institute, and Isabella Randle, a PhD student in Political Science and research affiliate of the E-VAW Lab. 

The Forum provides an opportunity to exchange up to date knowledge and good practices related to the implementation of integrated safe cities and safe public spaces for women and girls’ programmes that help to achieve the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the New Urban Agenda.

Center for Inter-American Policy and Research CIPR's Fall Series on “Violence, Inequality, and Democracy in the Americas”
November 6, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana

Abby Córdova delivered a talk on the topic “Citizen Responses to Gender and Non-Gender Violence in Criminal Wars” at the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research at Tulane University. Drawing upon results from her book project, Abby discussed the extent to which attitudes toward victims of gender-based violence in criminal wars depend on four largely understudied characteristics: victims’ gender (men or women), perpetrators’ identity (criminal or state armed actors), the type of violence exerted (gender or non-gender based), and the salience of organized criminal groups’ territorial control. Findings show that citizens are more likely to condemn violence against women, especially sexual violence, compared to violence perpetrated against men; yet, public opinion is more tolerant of all violent acts committed by state armed actors than members of OCGs, particularly when aggressions occur in places marked by OCGs’ territorial control.
 

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Knowledge against Violence Speaker Series
October 26, 2023

Abby Córdova delivered a talk on “Weapons of War: Examining Gender- based Violence in Conflict Zones” hosted by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. In her presentation, Abby shared findings from her book project, highlighting the importance of  civil society organizations in the provision of services to survivors and increasing their access to justice, particularly in the context of criminal wars. This panel also showcased the research and activism of  Romina Istratii (School of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS).
 

Meeting with UN Women El Salvador
October 15, 2023

 As part of a memorandum of understanding signed by the University of Notre Dame and UN Women El Salvador, Abby Córdova and Xochilt Bendeck ran planning meetings in San Salvador to advance collaborative activities. The Notre Dame E-VAW Lab and UN Women plan to collaboratively study the impact of interventions to prevent gender-based violence, develop joint research programs, forge connections with local partners and international actors, and organize joint conferences and symposia.

27th IPSA World Congress and 2023 International Studies Association - Latin America & Caribbean Region Conference
July 17 and September 15, 2023

Isabel Güiza-Gómez presented a research project carried out along with Abby Córdova and Juan Albarracin at the 27th IPSA World Congress and the 2023 International Studies Association - Latin America & Caribbean Region Conference. Isabel showed a pre-analysis plan on citizen attitudes towards post-war violence against grassroots peacebuilders in Colombia, focusing on women and indigenous social movement leaders and former insurgent combatants. In late Fall 2023, this research team will field an exploratory survey to gauge public perceptions about social mobilization for redistribution through contentious repertoires in transitioning contexts where redistributive demands and protest are often regarded as system destabilizing. The exploratory survey will also gather qualitative and quantitative data on civilians’ disregard for violence measured through decreased empathetic concern, victim blaming, and criminalizing beliefs. These findings will inform a conjoint experiment embedded in a subsequent survey.