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Research has shown that poverty disproportionately affects women across the world and is largely driven by gender-based violence. In 2022, nearly 89,000 women and girls throughout the globe were killed intentionally, the highest yearly number recorded in the past two years, according to the United Nations. This violence not only contributes to the loss of lives but also perpetuates poverty and curtails basic human rights.

Keough School of Global Affairs professor Abby Córdova has experienced violence firsthand and has dedicated her career to understanding and addressing its causes and consequences.

“As someone who grew up in El Salvador, a country historically marked by violence including civil war and organized crime, understanding how such environments increase women’s risk of gender-based violence and what can be done about it is a personal matter,” she said. “There is no doubt that the eradication of violence against women must be included in any poverty elimination strategy that seeks to place human dignity at the center.”

Córdova’s most recent research examines Mexico’s Gender Violence Alerts Program, an unprecedented strategy that relies on local knowledge and collaboration with faith-based and secular civil society groups to create and execute targeted interventions. Their project is funded by the Notre Dame Poverty Initiative, a University-wide effort to create a world intolerant of poverty by expanding knowledge about how to solve it.

Violence against women reinforces economic deprivation by reducing overall productivity and social capital, according to a World Bank report. In fact, the cost of intimate partner violence is about 27 times higher than the combined cost of terrorism, civil war, and international conflict, according to a report from the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

The project is led by three women: Córdova, co-principal investigator Sandra Ley, a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey Associate Professor, and collaborating faculty Celine Gonzalez, an affiliate professor at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE). Mariana Guevara and Helga Jauregui are also part of the research team, helping support data collection and analysis.

“I am fortunate to be doing this research in Mexico along with a fantastic team of women scholars who are also deeply committed to gender equality and advance research to protect human rights and improve the living conditions of disadvantaged populations,” Córdova said.

The research

The three-year project will evaluate Mexico’s Gender Violence Alerts Program, a unique, government-led initiative approved in 2007 and reformed in 2015.

Recent studies show rising violence against women in Mexico, with over 70 percent of women and girls aged 15 and older experiencing gender-based violence. Experts highlight underreporting as a major barrier to addressing the crisis.

Córdova explained that, unlike traditional programs that rely on survivors or witnesses to report violence, Mexico’s Gender Violence Alerts Program takes a proactive, community-based approach and is activated only at the request of human rights organizations. When violence escalates in a region, an expert coalition—the Interinstitutional and Multidisciplinary Group —investigates, gathering testimonies from victims, officials and civil society. Their findings shape tailored recommendations, which the State must implement.

What sets this program apart is its adaptability; each region's needs determine the response, Cordova said.

“In a country with 10 femicides daily, evaluating Gender Violence Alerts is crucial,” said González Schont. “A program like Gender Violence Alert, that aims at implementing various programs and public policies that prevent, address and eradicate violence against women in Mexico, is essential.”

Although the program operates in nearly 70 percent of Mexican states, with 35 percent of municipalities active in 2022, little is known about its effectiveness in reducing violence or improving economic opportunities for women. Research has mainly focused on its design and legal framework rather than measurable outcomes.

The researchers will examine three core questions:

• How does the Gender Violence Alerts Program impact rates of violence against women?

• What are the impacts on women’s economic empowerment?

• Which interventions could strengthen the program’s impact on reducing violence against women and poverty elimination?

Additionally, Cordova’s team will also assess public awareness campaigns and their influence on attitudes and behaviors, aiming to foster community support for women’s safety.

“Over the years, gender-based violence has become deeply intertwined with criminal and state violence,” said Ley. “This project will examine these complex dynamics and evaluate one of Mexico’s most significant policy efforts to combat gender violence,” said Ley. “This project will allow us to delve into such complex relationships and assess one of the most important policy approaches that the Mexican government has developed to address growing gender-based violence for over a decade.”

Córdova noted that previous studies on gender-based violence have often ignored its connections to other forms of violence, such as organized crime and militarized responses.

“Through our work, we plan to evaluate this program from beginning to end, starting with the process that leads to the establishment of a program, up to the evaluation of the impact and conditions under which the program can achieve better outcomes for violence reduction, more supportive social norms for women’s safety, and improved women’s economic empowerment,” Córdova said.

A personal mission

Growing up near San Salvador during El Salvador’s civil war, Córdova witnessed violence firsthand. Her parents were active in local social justice movements, and her mother’s activism led to her kidnapping by the Salvadoran government when Córdova was in high school—a traumatic event that deeply shaped her.

“My drive to engage in research and policy work on the eradication of violence against women emerged from my own personal experiences and the testimonies women shared during my field research in Latin American countries,” she said.

In her earlier work, Córdova focused on examining political causes and consequences of organized crime in general. But after hearing from women on the ground, living in impoverished communities, recounting their experiences with gender-based violence in the hands of both state and non-state armed actors, and their accounts about the networks of resistance and solidarity they had built to protect themselves from sexual abuse, Córdova’s research focus shifted.

“I became interested in understanding why violence against women happens and what effects it has in areas affected by organized crime and military presence,” she said. “My focus is on finding proven strategies to prevent and stop gender-based violence in these situations and how community organizations support survivors and push for justice for victims of all genders.”

Córdova, who leads the Kellogg Institute for International Studies’ Notre Dame Eliminating Violence against Women Lab, said this initiative will enable her to continue combating gender-based violence in Latin America while providing a blueprint for integrating gender equity into global poverty reduction strategies. It further positions Notre Dame as a leading academic institution in policy-relevant research on poverty elimination through a gender-focused lens.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on March 06, 2025.