Intracommunity Social Capital Systems Of Class And Caste In South Asian Intimate-Partner Violence Survivor Outcomes, Vriddhi Vinay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study theorizes how caste and class function as transnational forms of social capital that structure intimate partner violence (IPV) outcomes among South Asian diasporic women in the New York City metropolitan area. While existing IPV scholarship foregrounds migration status, gender, and legal precarity, it often treats South Asian communities as internally homogeneous and overlooks how intracommunity hierarchies mediate access to support. Drawing on social capital theory and postcolonial feminist frameworks, this research positions caste and class stratification as underexamined axes of stratification within United States-based IPV analysis. Using survey data from 24 South Asian woman-identifying IPV survivors in New …

Race, Sex, And Age Disparities In Homicide Clearance Rates In Tennessee: An Intersectional Approach, Teliyah Cobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Demographic factors can influence homicide solvability. This study examines the relationship between victim characteristics and homicide clearance rates in Tennessee from 2001 to 2023. Using an intersectional approach, it assesses whether victim characteristics both individually and in combination are related to case solvability. Variables of interest include: (1) victim race, age range, and sex; (2) year the case was reported; (3) crime type; (4) whether the case was cleared; and (5) the circumstances leading to clearance. A total of 11,534 homicide cases from the Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System were analyzed.

Findings indicate that individual victim characteristics do not significantly predict …

Impunity: A Case Study Of Sex Trafficking In Nevada Brothel Prostitution, Christen Price

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

It is well-documented that legalization and other forms of official protection for prostitution lead to an increase in sex trafficking, including by encouraging demand for prostitution. This paper will consider the relationship between official protection, organized crime, and sex trafficking in pro-prostitution legal regimes, both historical and contemporary. Prostitution is legal in rural counties in Nevada that have fewer than 700,000 residents, if prostitution occurs within a brothel. There is significant overlap between sex trafficking and legal brothel prostitution in Nevada, as well as a nexus to corruption and organized crime, illustrating the normalization of coercion that occurs within legalized …

Disrupting The Bonded Economy Of Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organised Crime Through Policy Change, Dellene Clark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Emerging criminological research underscores how the economic drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation reinforce organised criminal markets while reproducing the structural vulnerabilities of those in prostitution. Using South Africa as a case study, this article argues that evidence-based legislative reform is necessary to confront the systemic conditions that enable exploitation. It contends that achieving substantive equality requires recognising the criminogenic role of sex‑buyer demand in sustaining trafficking pipelines and criminal profitability. The Swedish/Nordic demand‑reduction model illustrates how asymmetrical criminalisation can suppress demand, reduce reliance on trafficked persons, and diminish the financial incentives that underpin organised crime. Such an approach reorients …

Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This study investigates the extent to which online sex buyer communities in the United States function as organized criminal networks pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s definition of organized criminal groups. Drawing from theories of organized crime, social network analysis, and digital ecosystems, we conceptualize sex buyers not as isolated actors but as participants in coordinated, mutually reinforcing networks that share information to facilitate exploitation, mitigate risk, and sustain criminal behavior. To test this framework, we scraped over 1.2 million posts from a publicly accessible sex buyer forum, comprising 72,974 unique users and nearly 800,000 direct …

An Analysis Of Gender-Inclusive Dimensions In Climate Change Policy Frameworks In Zambia, Mwelwa Kunda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Effective climate policy must recognise how men and women differently contribute to, and benefit from, resilience efforts, as this strengthens gender equity and the sustainability of adaptation measures. This study examines the extent to which Zambia’s climate change policy framework integrates gender considerations and translates them into actionable commitments. Using the Vulnerability-to-Resilience framework, it conducts qualitative content analysis of 14 national policies, plans, and strategies spanning climate change, gender, energy, agriculture, forestry, water, and disaster management. A structured coding framework assesses gender inclusion, implementation and enforcement mechanisms, recognition of gendered climate impacts, and identified challenges and opportunities. Code frequencies and …

The Unspoken And The Unseen: An Analysis Of Victim Gender And Linguistic Framing Of Sexual Assault In Judicial Discourse, Sarnika Ali

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Sexual assault is a profound legal and social crisis. However, it is also fundamentally a linguistic one. The words used, or conspicuously not used, to describe victims, perpetrators, and their actions are not neutral arbiters of fact. They are powerful mechanisms that shape perceptions of harm, attributions of blame, and assignments of credibility. The central battleground for survivors is credibility, and while a “credibility discount” is often applied to female victims, the male victim is rendered nearly invisible. This research is therefore guided by one central, overarching question: how does a sexual assault victim’s gender influence the judicial language used, …

The Case For The Exclusion Of Exclusion: Intellectual Property, Masculine Legal Reason, And The Ethics Of Care, Ragya Shoukry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that current legal ideals of objectivity and neutrality are historically gendered and inseparable from the development of capitalist property relations and imperial expansion. It traces origins that begin with early modern witch hunts and Francis Bacon’s empiricism, where a new “scientific rationality” emerges alongside intensified patriarchal violence. The thesis then examines John Locke’s labour-based justification of property and the figure of the rational individual, showing how this framework legitimizes enclosure, dispossession and colonial appropriation under the guise of improvement and development. Building on this foundation, the analysis turns to moral psychology and how its allegedly universal stage …

Policing Sex Trafficking: 'They’Re Never Taught, You Know', Anila S. Duro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research shows that victims of sex trafficking are most likely to first come in contact with the police (Baldwin et al, 2011; Twigg, 2017) and at times police have not been able to categorize cases of prostitution as trafficking even when trafficking elements were very clear (Dank et al, 2017; Dempsey, 2017; Farrell & Cronin, 2015). Despite the legal definition of trafficking, the terms prostitution, sex work, and sex trafficking are sometimes used interchangeably by law enforcement, whereas at other times, these words refer to different sets of circumstances and have different criminalization outcomes.  Research in this area is limited …

The Shadow Corroboration Doctrine In Sexual Violence Cases, Chris Cox

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Consequences Of Dobbs V. Jackson Women’S Health Organization, Kimber Garcia

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization came into effect in 2022, and the right to get an abortion was withdrawn for many birthing people; abortion care was no longer protected federally, and states could make their own legislation. This work reviews abortion care procedures, abortion legislation history in the United States, how religion and sexism influence legislation, and the negative effects of antiabortion legislation. The research finds that antiabortion legislation that makes it difficult or illegal to get abortion care inflicts health risks upon birthing people as well as a fear of prosecution. This fear extends to medical professionals, burdening …

Beyond The Ban: Chhaupadi Abolition And The Governance Of Menstrual Autonomy In Western Nepal, Nikita Paudel

Master in Public Policy Theses

This thesis examines how two decades of efforts to abolish chhaupadi have shaped the everyday conditions under which women and girls experience menstruation in western Nepal. Chhaupadi, commonly understood as menstrual seclusion, has been addressed through Supreme Court directives, national policy, criminal law, municipal implementation instruments, hut demolition campaigns, public health programming, and rights-based advocacy. Yet the practice has persisted, adapted, and in some cases moved into less visible spaces. Rather than treating this as a simple gap between law and practice, this thesis asks how abolition efforts themselves have become part of the regulatory regime through which menstruation is …

Adaptability From Tv & Film Into Theatre | The Subversion Inspiration In Celia’S Identity Versatility Throughout William Shakespeare’S As You Like It, Emani White

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the inspiration of adaptability skills, pivoting from television and film into theatre, and the potential of unconventional pathways as a catalyst for reconciling anti-traditionalism within the mediums. It offers insight into the obstacles, segues, and adversities faced during the journey of a former athlete turned television and film actor, and into a theatre actor. It illuminates agency as a subversive identity (the disguise), the sacrifice of status, and the need for an emotional anchor of resilience—acknowledging the systemic transitional barriers in performance, career, and education. The paper also discusses the understandings gained from my journey as an …

Analyzing Social Implications Of The Gender Wage Gap, Jessie A. Clarke

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The researcher seeks to understand the gender wage gap in the United States. The research question studied is “Why do women in the United States on average earn less income than men?” Women gain less power and resources as they earn less income than men. The researcher explores the phenomenon in this paper. This research proposal utilizes qualitative methods via interviews, and analysis through coding. In previous research, there is a lack of inclusion on the gender wage gap regarding various identities such as sexual orientation, other gender identities, and race/ethnicity. The researcher hopes to fill in these gaps in …

The Political Transformation Of Corporate America, 2001–2022, Reilly S. Steel

Faculty Scholarship

This article reconciles conflicting views about the political landscape of corporate America with new data on the revealed political preferences of 97,469 corporate directors and executives at 9,005 different U.S. companies. Driven largely by turnover, I find that average observed ideology for directors and executives has shifted meaningfully to the left over time, changing from modestly conservative in 2001 to roughly centrist by 2022. This finding supports a middle-ground position between conventional wisdom casting “big business” as a conservative stronghold and revisionist views holding the opposite. Counterfactual simulations and a difference-in-differences design suggest multifaceted reasons for these changes, and hand-collected …

Female Genital Cutting In American Foreign Policy – Proposal For Harm Reduction, Charlotte Racine

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGC/M) has gained international attention as an issue of human rights and violence against women and girls. The United States, as a leading world power, has openly opposed its practice and actively condemns it in communities and countries of the Global South, yet it fails to oppose or condemn as staunchly identical procedures within its borders. The simultaneous condemnation of FGC when it occurs in “undeveloped” countries and acceptance of American procedures like cosmetic genital modification surgeries, male circumcision, and “corrective” surgeries on intersex infants produces a narrative of cultural superiority and imperialism that harms the international …

How Gender Impacts Mock Jurors’ Receptiveness To Aggravating And Mitigating Evidence In Capital Trials, Jolie E. Parker

Undergraduate Theses

This study examines how gender influences mock jurors’ receptiveness to aggravating and mitigating evidence in capital trials. Drawing on prior research that highlights the critical role of mitigation in reducing death sentences and persistent gender differences in death penalty attitudes, this study addresses a gap in the literature by analyzing how gender shapes responses to specific types of evidence rather than general support for capital punishment. Using a quantitative survey of 209 participants, the research analyzes Likert-scale responses measuring how various aggravating and mitigating factors impact sentencing preferences. Results indicate a weak but consistent relationship between gender and receptivity to …

Gender And Emotional Expression In The Courtroom: Mock Juror Perceptions Of Attorney Effectiveness, Emma Cantrell

Undergraduate Theses

This quantitative study examines how gender and emotional expression influence mock jurors' perceptions of an attorney's courtroom effectiveness. Using mock jurors, this study extends previous research suggesting that assertiveness and emotional displays are evaluated differently by gender. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of four closing statements in a mock burglary trial. The videos were of either a male or a female attorney delivering a passive or an aggressive argument. Participants then evaluated the attorney’s effectiveness across four categories: competence, persuasiveness, ability to instill confidence, and emotionality. Male participants generally rated female attorneys as less effective than female participants …

Gender-Based Violence And Botswana's Constitutional Failure To Protect Women's Rights, Cameron Mcdonald

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

Gender-based violence (“GBV”) remains a pervasive human rights issue throughout Botswana. When it comes to gender equality, Botswana’s dual constitutional and customary legal system is a paradox. Despite its commitment to equality and nondiscrimination, Botswana’s Constitution allows customary courts to discriminate freely to preserve traditional practices that disadvantage women. These traditional practices affect women’s right to property, inheritance, marriage, legal representation, and personal safety. Customary law continues to constrain women’s right to economic autonomy and access to justice, leaving many women dependent on the men who abuse them. As a result, many Batswana women experience structural discrimination in both their …

Voices Of Motherhood: A Comparative Analysis Of Feminist Commentary On Law In Margaret Atwood’S The Handmaid’S Tale And Celeste Ng’S Little Fires Everywhere, Addison Elaine Scott

Senior Theses

This South Carolina Honors College senior thesis provides a detailed comparative literary analysis of the depiction of motherhood and the legal system in two selected novels: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere (2017). Feminist women writers have used narratives to articulate and represent marginalized experiences suppressed by systems of power. By reading these narratives, readers can emotionally connect with the perspectives shared while engaging with the underlying feminist commentary. This explores how Atwood and Ng illustrate the failure of American legal and social systems to understand or fully protect motherhood and fertility—complicating, confounding, and …

Three Paths To Justice: Comparing Feminist Strategies Against Gender-Based Violence In East Asia, Ashley Chon

The Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Bodies At Risk When Choice Is A Privilege: Women’S Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility And Health Outcomes Since The Dobbs (2022) Ruling, Dallas Bonnet

Undergraduate Theses

Existing literature has well-documented the disproportionate effects of abortion restrictions upon socioeconomically disadvantaged women and women of color. This thesis builds on that work by exploring the relationship between state-level abortion restrictions and women’s self-reported health, as well as state-level infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates. This project breaks these relationships down into three separate studies: Study 1 investigates the effect that abortion restrictions have on women’s self perceptions of health. Study 2 assesses the impact of abortion restrictions on infant mortality rates. Study 3 inspects the impact of abortion restrictions on maternal mortality rates. The primary independent variable …

Under The Guardianship: Experiences Of Mothers In Egypt’S El Nayaba El Hesbaya, Hana Khayry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersectional lived experience of El Nayaba El Hesbaya in Egypt. El Nayaba El Hesbaya, operating under Law 119/1952, is the administrative and judicial body responsible for overseeing the financial and legal affairs of minors whose father or mother had passed. Hundreds of thousands of mothers in Egypt have (had) children under the guardianship of El Nayaba El Hesbaya. This research delves into the experience of mothers whose children are or were under the guardianship of El Nayaba El Hesbaya, examining how it shape(s/d) their everyday life as women, mothers, widows or ex-wives, citizens, and legal subjects. …

Legal Reform And Cultural Resistance: Examining The Role Of Law And Custom In Ending Fgm In Egypt, Souhaila Hafez Abo Seada

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the persistent gap between legal reform and social practice in efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. Although FGM has been criminalized since 2008, with stronger penalties introduced in 2016 and 2021, the practice continues, revealing the limits of law when it operates alongside powerful social, religious, familial, and medical norms. Using a qualitative case-based approach grounded in legal pluralism and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, the study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with participants from civil society, religious institutions, the legal profession, the medical sector, and communities where FGM persists, alongside legislative, demographic, and documentary …

Creating An Abortion Safe Harbor Using The Doctrine Of Double Effect, Evelyn M. Tenenbaum

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

[INTRODUCTION] In the three years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs) holding that women no longer have a constitutional right to an abortion, many family physicians, obstetricians, and gynecologists have refrained from—or delayed—providing abortion services to pregnant women, even when that restraint created a substantial risk of causing serious injury or death. This reluctance to provide care is labeled physician hesitancy, which is defined as physicians acting in their own professional or personal interest to deny or delay care that would otherwise be provided under the prevailing standard of care.

It …

Civil Rights In Theory, Health Disparities In Practice: Affordable Care Act Section 1557 And The Maternal Mortality Crisis, Grace Hall

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

[INTRODUCTION] On a hot Fourth of July in 2021, Harmony Ball-Stribling spent her final day laughing with her husband, hours before preeclampsia killed her. Harmony was eight months pregnant and living in Belzoni, Mississippi, where she celebrated the holiday with her church congregation. Her congregation prayed over her and her baby for a safe delivery, as she was scheduled to have a cesarean section in five days.

Later that evening, Harmony woke in agony, vomited, and complained of chest pain to her husband, Mr. Stribling. Harmony’s husband put his wifein their car and began the more than thirty-mile drive to …

Male Disposability, Law, And Feminism, Edward Cantu

Faculty Works

This article explores scientific evidence that societies care more about the welfare and safety of females than that of males, and that this dynamic of "male disposability" is deeply entrenched in culture, and thus in law. The recognition and integration of male disposability theory would mean an evolutionary leap in modern theorizing about gender and the law, but it is ignored. Why? Feminist theory dominates current academic gender discourse. Far from appreciating the explanatory power of male disposability theory, feminist theorists are often invested in theorizing gendered problems in ways that mischannel compassion away from men and toward women. The …

Toward Interspecies Reproductive Justice, Asha A. Ramakumar

Animal Law Review

Reproductive justice discourse has largely overlooked non-human animals, despite the parallel forms of biopolitical control exercised over human women and female animals’ reproductive labor. By examining the shared logics underlying the subordina-tion of both human women and dairy cows, this Article argues that any genuine conception of reproductive justice must inter-rogate reproductive exploitation beyond the human experience. Drawing from Michel Foucault’s theory of biopower and Carol J. Adams’ framework of the “absent referent,” this Article elucidates how powerful institutions control those with the capacity for preg-nancy by perpetuating narratives of biological essentialism and obligation.

Part II examines several examples of …

The Victimization Of Immigrant Adolescents, Stephanie Vargas

Theses and Dissertations

Immigrant adolescents may experience social and structural challenges that increase their vulnerability to victimization and influence long-term developmental outcomes. However, there is little longitudinal research has examined whether immigration generation is associated with adolescent victimization and adult behavioral outcomes using nationally representative data. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the relationships among immigration generation, adolescent victimization, and adult criminal justice, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether first- and second-generation immigrants differed from third-generation respondents after controlling for race/ethnicity, family structure, …

The Un-Bridged Pipeline: Leading And Preparing Women Of Color To Senior-Level Higher Education Administration, Jacqueline D. Slater

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased educational attainment among Black women, representation in senior‑level leadership positions within higher education remains limited. This qualitative study examines the experiences of Black women who serve or have served in senior‑level academic administrative roles and explores how those experiences inform guidance, preparation, and decision‑making for future Black women leaders. The study focuses on practical barriers, workplace realities, and strategies that shape leadership entry, advancement, and retention.

Using a descriptive case study design, five Black women with professional experience as presidents, provosts, vice provosts, and academic deans participated in semi‑structured interviews lasting 45 to 75 minutes. Purposeful sampling ensured …