This study investigates the perceptions and experiences of U.S. urban poverty among Mexican immigrant women living in La Villita, a neighborhood in Chicago. La Villita is the largest Mexican and Mexican American neighborhood in the Midwest with a population of 77% Mexican and Mexican Americans, with women making up 43% of the population, and 34% of the population living below the poverty line. Although women are less than 50% of La Villita’s population, immigrant women are more likely to experience poverty and earn lower wages than immigrant men. Using qualitative methods and a demographic survey, this study explores the ways in which immigrant women perceive and experience living in a low-income neighborhood. This study addresses the following three questions: 1) How do citizenship status, migration experience, and gender inform the ways Mexican immigrant women experience and manage poverty in Chicago? 2) How do their pre-migration experiences in Mexico influence the women’s perceptions of U.S. poverty? And 3) How do Mexican immigrant women develop and/or find resources from in their low-income neighborhood in Chicago? This study applies a transnational feminist framework to thirty-five semi-structured interviews and demographic surveys. The findings demonstrate that women’s perceptions about poverty are constructed before migrating to the U.S. Once in the U.S., these perceptions begin to change because of their continued referencing to what used to be their living situations in Mexico. However, even though some of the women might not identify as poor after years living in the U.S., their perceptions of escaping poverty in the U.S. are based on attaining basic necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing. Based on the findings of this study, the women’s experiences of poverty informs us that the lack of social opportunities in the women’s lives hinders their full participation in society, an exclusion that perpetuates poverty. Thus, this study shifts the focus from material deprivation to social exclusion as an additional factor that sustains poverty. The last finding demonstrates how women manage living in poverty and how La Villita itself is a resource that offsets some of the material and social challenges they face in the U.S.

The Bharata-Natyam student in the United States (US) is challenged by how to effectively translate their dance into contemporary lived experiences. Research reveals that this dilemma is sometimes addressed by transplanting learnt choreographies into a new theme, sometimes adding verbal text to connect learnt choreography to contemporary issues, or sometimes simply giving up the dance form. Years of training in prevalent Bharata-Natyam education methods make students proficient in re-producing choreography but leave them without the tools to create. This is due to emphasis on guarding traditions and leaving interpretation for later stages that never arrive or get interrupted, because students leave their spaces of Indian-ness for college or a job. This work considers how Bharata-Natyam teachers in the US might support students in finding agency in their dance practice, using it to explore their lived experiences outside dance class, and engaging meaningfully with it beyond the Indian diaspora. The desire for agency is not a discarding of tradition; rather, it is a desire to dance better. This work reinforces the ancient Indian tradition of inquiry to seek knowledge by implementing the principles of Bharata-Nrityam, somatics and engaged pedagogy through the use of creative tools. This took place in three stages: (i) lessons in the Bharata-Nrityam studio, (ii) making Kriti with non-Bharata-Natyam dancers, and (iii) designing a collaborative action dance project between senior Bharata-Natyam students and community partners who are survivors of sexual/domestic violence.
The results, in each case, demonstrated that the use of creative tools based in the principles above enriched the teaching-learning process through deeper investigation and greater investment for both student and teacher. Students in the early stages of learning thrived, while senior students expressed that having these tools earlier would have been valuable to their practice. These results suggest that when Bharata-Natyam education in the US is refocused through the lenses of Bharata-Nrityam, somatics and engaged pedagogy, teachers can access tools to empower their students in their practice of Bharata-Natyam not only within the context of the Indian diaspora but also beyond.

In spite of numerous legal interventions and a fairly strong legal capacity compared to other neighboring countries, Zimbabwean law enforcement and judiciary have failed to overcome Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). This research examines the role of customary law in the continued prevalence of IPV among Zimbabwean women, particularly, the subtle ways in which customary law legitimates the ideals of patriarchal domination in the communal and legal handling of IPV cases. The study utilized qualitative methodology in the form of structured interviews as well as pre-interview questionnaires. Eighteen women who identified as IPV survivors or victims were recruited using snowball sampling method whereby each person interviewed was asked to suggest additional people who were either present victims or survivors of IPV. Five lawyers from Chinhoyi, ten lawyers from Harare, ten police officers from Chinhoyi and ten police officers from Harare were identified using judgement or purposive sampling where subjects are chosen due to availability. The research established that IPV is a way in which abusers exercise their assumed patriarchal rights over women. Likewise, police officers are also influenced by attitudes and mentalities acquired from customary law in the way they handle IPV cases which resultantly leads to secondary victimization of IPV victims. The research concluded that much work still needs to be done by the judiciary, law enforcement and the community to combat the prevalence of IPV in Zimbabwe.

Sexual assault at colleges and universities in the United States is a significant health and human rights issue that impacts somewhere between one-in-four and one-in-five students. Despite the alarmingly high burden, overall rates of disclosing to crisis, health, and victim services, and reporting to schools and law enforcement remain low. In order to buffer students from associated short- and long-term harm, and help them reestablish safety and pursue justice, empirically-supported, innovative, and trauma-informed secondary prevention strategies are needed. To address this pressing issue, the current study used a trauma-informed, feminist community research approach to develop and design a prototype of an internet-based decision aid specifically tailored to assist students at Arizona State University who experience sexual assault with making informed choices about reporting and seeking care, advocacy, and support on and off campus. Results from preliminary alpha testing of the tool showed that: 1. It is feasible to adapt decision aids for use with the target population, and 2. While aspects of the tool can be improved during the next phases of redrafting and redesign, members of the target population find it to be acceptable, comprehensible, and usable.

Suspect classification is a judicial process by which classes of people are determined as either suspect, quasi-suspect, or not suspect at all due to a combination of five factors: 1) minority status, 2) discrimination history, 3) political powerlessness, 4) an immutable trait, and 5) trait relevance as it relates to a discriminatory law in question. Laws that discriminate against a suspect class become immediately subject to strict scrutiny while most discriminatory laws only need to pass a rational basis test. Craig v. Boren (1976) established a precedent for the class of sex, which thereafter became subject to an intermediate level of scrutiny as a quasi-suspect class. With a more visible distinction between sex and gender today, this study seeks to determine whether gender rather than sex may become protected through heightened scrutiny by applying factors for suspect classification. In a call for heightened scrutiny for both gender and sex, this thesis argues that the suspect classification of both classes should include combinations of subclasses between gender, sex, and any other protected class. The central thesis employs a content analysis of case law, statutory law, and administrative law as it discriminates against classes of people with varying protection under the court system in the United States. In the question of whether courts should protect gender with suspect classification, the main argument calls for such action but if and only if an intersectional approach to protecting gender along with sex at a heightened level of judicial scrutiny is applied by individual judges on higher courts of review.

From physical assault to intimidation, domestic/intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) is a phenomenon that plagues partners around the world. With serious ramifications like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and homicide, among others, DV/IPV poses a threat to the health and well-being of individuals engaged in abusive relationships. It is for this reason that second wave feminists made it a part of their agenda fight for legislation that would protect battered women. Encouraged by the second wave feminists, researchers began studying DV/IPV and the most effective ways to address and combat violent relationships. With the help of research, activism, and landmark court cases, many states have decided upon mandatory arrest laws as the preferred method for handling situations of DV/IPV. While there is a great deal of research that has been conducted on DV/IPV and on mandatory arrest laws, this research seldom extends to DV/IPV in the LGBT+ community. Even more concerning, research on how mandatory arrest laws affect LGBT+ individuals locked in abusive relationships is practically non-existent. Using 25 different sources, I have conducted a literature review that examines the existing literature surrounding mandatory arrest laws, DV/IPV, and DV/IPV in the LGBT+ community. I furthermore utilized the theory of intersectionality, to lay out how DV/IPV in the LGBT+ community differs from DV/IPV among heterosexual couples. This literature review details the history of DV/IPV legislation, identifies the social and structural barriers facing LGBT+ individuals experiencing DV/IPV, and lays out ways that researchers, law enforcement, advocates, and political actors can better equip themselves to help LGBT+ victims of DV/IPV.

The major fulcrum of this research is to determine why the Zimbabwean law enforcement and judiciary system have struggled to overcome domestic violence (DV) in spite of numerous legal intervention structures and a fairly strong legal capacity compared to neighboring countries, as well as immense efforts from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to eradicate this form of violence. The research employs a novel approach by including an examination of the extent, influence and role of customary law (also known as traditional law) in the continued prevalence of DV among women in Zimbabwe. The study utilized qualitative methodologies in the form of structured interviews and quantitative methodologies through questionnaires. Fifteen women victims of domestic violence were identified using the snowball sampling technique. The research concluded that customary law is not the sole contributor of the high prevalence of domestic violence in Zimbabwe. Instead, I established that individual and community ways of thinking as well as attitudes acquired from customary law are the ones that condition men to perpetrate DV, influence women to remain silent about the abuse they face as well as accustom society to condone this form of violence.

This study explores the topic of the birth control use of college women, and the factors that influence their decision of whether or not to use contraception consistently. A literature review was performed on Academic Search Premier, SocIndex, Women's Studies International, Pubmed, CINAHL, and ICRW. Interviews were conducted with 7 participants recruited through convenience sampling. The results suggest that low perception of risk, lack of access, and alcohol use are all major influences on women's decisions regarding birth control. A review of current policy was also completed, and potential policy changes are suggested in order to improve college women's consistent contraceptive use.

This thesis is the culmination of the Barrett Honors Intercontinental Study Award. For this scholarship, I created a comparative legal study of the approaches to juvenile justice in Norway, Germany, Malawi, and Japan, focusing on their compliance with international norms of restorative justice practices advanced by the United Nations (UN) in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Before commencing my comparative study, I traveled to Switzerland and Belgium to speak with restorative justice theorists at the UN and the International Juvenile Justice Observatory about the enduring relevancy of the CRC and international juvenile justice efforts. In the process, I examined how these international norms of restorative justice come to be incorporated in domestic legal systems. From this, I gained an understanding of the reasons some countries successfully adapt international norms while others struggle to uphold even the most basic human rights. My goal throughout this process has been to cull best practices for international norm creation and domestic norm implementation from this research, and further study how best to promote restorative juvenile justice in countries that do not meet international standards, beginning with the United States. For the purpose of this thesis, I will focus my analysis on Norway and Malawi.

The purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) within police departments in Maricopa County, exactly who helps the families left behind after a domestic homicide occurs? 2) What kind of short-term resources are offered by the police to immediately help the family and any children affected? And 3) are long-term services provided to the family and children of domestic homicide victims, and if not, to where is the family referred? To answer these questions, employees from each of the 14 city police departments in Maricopa County were interviewed. Participants answered a serious of both open-ended and scale questions either via email or over the phone. This study found that all police departments in cities of Maricopa County (with the exception of Litchfield Park, which is covered by the Sherriff's Office) have what is referred to as a Victim Services Unit. This is a small team comprised of social workers and other employees specifically trained to provide a continuation of support to victims from the crisis period through the investigative and judicial processes. In terms of services provided, this study found that most of the services offered to victims through police departments in Maricopa County are short-term in nature and fall under one of the following categories: On-scene crisis intervention and initial needs-assessments, immediate basic needs and referrals, financial resources, counseling, family advocacy centers, legal advocacy and assistance with the criminal process, or Child Protective Services. Results also indicated a positive relationship between city size and the amount of resources provided to victims after a homicide. Finally, in regards to long-term resources, this study found in general, all long-term needs are handled by social service agencies and non-profits, which victims are connected to by police departments after a needs assessment has been conducted. Based on these findings, a number of recommendations were made to Purple Ribbon Council, a domestic abuse prevention and supportive care non-profit that were designed to help Purple Ribbon Council increase its reach and effectiveness.