Women Confronting Terror provides a much-needed explanation for two central questions about the quality of democracy, state-building, and institutional performance: What are the conditions under which states will construct institutions that address the needs of historically marginalized groups? What explains variation in the performance of these institutions that are charged with protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring their access to justice? I examine the creation and performance of specialized policing institutions for women as examples of these broader state-building efforts. I conduct a rich in-depth comparative analysis of Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, with additional attention to Honduras and El Salvador. 

Surprisingly, countries with the fewest resources such as Nicaragua have developed a wide network of policing institutions, while countries with more capacity such as Costa Rica have not. I explain that the history and strength of transnational advocacy networking determines the creation and performance of these new state institutions, as opposed to efforts located and initiated primarily within the state or within local civil society. Transnational advocacy networks help to solve the twin problems of lack of will within the state and lack of resources within civil society by providing external pressure and funding. 

To support this argument, I draw on fieldwork in Latin America and over 250 in-depth interviews with key actors in the state, civil society, and international organizations between 2007 and 2015. Women Confronting Terror makes a unique contribution to existing scholarship both in terms of its empirical contribution (it is the first on the topic of responsiveness to violence against women that focuses comparatively on Central American countries) as well as its theoretical contribution (advancing our theoretical understanding of how states build institutions to protect marginalized groups), and its use of narrative (revealing the voices and stories of those who created and are impacted by changes in the justice system). 

This book project began as a dissertation at the University of Notre Dame directed by Scott Mainwaring (Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame). The committee also included Michael Coppedge (Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame), Frances Hagopian (Jorge Paulo Lemann Senior Lecturer on Government, Department of Government, Harvard University), and Christina Wolbrecht (Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame). 

I honor the memory of Guillermo O'Donnell, who guided me through the dissertation proposal at the University of Notre Dame and encouraged me to follow my passion for this research area. 

Excerpt from Book Proposal

Earlier Project Title:
Engendering State Institutions: State Response to Violence Against Women in Latin America 

Photo by Shannon Drysdale Walsh (Fuente de Pescados, Iglesia La Merced, Antigua, Guatemala)