Angie Torres-Beltran

Summary

I am a third-year PhD student in the Government Department at Cornell University. My dissertation is primarily focused on the effects of gender-based violence on women's political participation in Central America. My research interests also include the local politics and impacts of refugee camps along the Central American border and sexual exploitation and abuse during UN peacekeeping missions.

Research Focus

My broad research interests include the comparative study of gender, violence, and political participation. More specifically, I am interested in how domestic violence affects women’s political participation. My research examines the formal and informal continuum of political participation of women who experience gender-based violence, at the micro-level, in Central America. I ask three central questions: (1) under what conditions do domestic violence lead to women’s political participation; (2) what kinds of domestic violence lead to different kinds of political mobilization and participation; and (3) when women choose to engage, how do they overcome barriers to domestic violence to organize politically?