I am a Doctoral Candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Turku. I obtained my Master’s degree in the Erasmus Mundus Master’s Program in Gender and Women’s Studies (GEMMA) at the University of Granada and the University of Utrecht; I graduated from Utrecht University with a thesis examining femi(ni)cide from a philosophical perspective and using a cutting-edge critical feminist methodology. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in Mexico City with a thesis on the concept of the body in Maurice Merleau-Ponty. I have done research visits at the Center for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies (Humboldt University), Louis D. Brandeis School (Louisville University) and the ITAM Law School (Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology). I am co-founder and co-coordinator of the independent project Feminizidmap, a database on femi(ni)cides in German territory.

In the modern world, human rights enjoy greater legitimacy, and the discourse of equality between sexes has acquired enough plausibility to be introduced in the form of institutionalized political practices. Even so, old and new forms of gender-based violence are occurring and even increasing worldwide. Gender-based violence occurs in all societies but many of its forms are still not explicitly addressed by European law and policy. This is the case with femi(ni)cide (femicide/feminicide), which I propose to use in this project as a concept for legal and political analysis―I argue that this concept is noteworthy to both feminist theory and activism. My main research question is: What is the performance of the concept of femi(ni)cide in the European political and legal sphere? I am focusing on Western Europe, this region—the birthplace of modernity—has a highly developed system of human rights, but the legal, political, and academic discussion on femi(ni)cide is still limited there. This research is informed by new feminist materialism and epistemologies of the South. I work with a case study: Femi(ni)cide in Germany. With this study I aim to filling the academic gap on femi(ni)cide in Western Europe, to encourage further research on this matter, and to provide useful information for organizations dedicated to combat gender-based violence.

I have taught degree courses on Feminist legal theory (Turku University), Qualitative research methods and Social philosophy (Mesoamerican University).