About
Research on violence has mostly taken on a gender lens, assuming that there is homogeneity in the women group, without taking into account the dynamic effects resulting from ethnicity, socioeconomic class, sociocultural context, and other categories regarding inequality. The intersectional approach recognizes the multiple identities, such as gender (cisgender, transgender), sexual orientation, immigration status, socioeconomic level, among others, and takes into account the experiences produced by structural inequalities, such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and poverty. An intersectional approach challenges the notion of a common and universal or shared experience of violence and warns against the use a unique model. Victims' lives are complex and have a multidimensional nature, so no experience, identity or inequality should be privileged over others. This approach conceives that all these characteristics are intertwined and, simultaneously, shape experiences and opportunities, in particular the impact of traumatic experiences in daily life, in physical and emotional health, as well as in coping strategies and help-seeking behaviors. In order to address the idiosyncratic needs and the community contexts of violence, service providers and programs are challenged to take an intersectional approach informed by trauma and violence. Such approach requires a sustained commitment between professionals, organizations, the community and public policies. This research line aims to study, resorting to mixed methodologies, the intersection of several inequality axes (e.g., gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic level, migration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, poverty, discrimination, among others), regarding vulnerability towards victimization experiences of an interpersonal nature, aggression/offense experiences, and the impact of those experiences, as well as regarding the resources (e.g., resilience); the nature, dynamic effects and impact of structural and community violence; and the professional practices existing in victim protection and legal systems. In addition, it seeks to develop and empirically assess the effectiveness of primary prevention programs and trauma-focused psychological intervention programs.
R&D projects in progress:
IntersectVAW&DV. Exploring Intersectionality of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence: Needs, Impact and Services Effectiveness
Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Women and Girls from Third Countries: An Intersectional Approach
