by Brian Connors Manke
photo by Tim Collins
Having volunteered at and done research in conjunction with domestic violence shelters, Gender and Women’s Studies professor Cristina Alcalde has witnessed the journey of many women who have faced violence in their lives.
But, as she continued to intensively study domestic violence both in her homeland of Peru and in Texas where she was an assistant professor of anthropology at Southwestern University, Alcalde realized she needed to try and understand the complex issue as a whole.
“Women have told me that a man has done this or that and I’ve seen the marks on a women’s body, but I hadn’t talked to men. Ethically I couldn’t focus on men who were abusive and women who were battered at the same time,” Alcalde said.
Which has led her to her current research project - Violent and Non-