Maria Gómez
Associate Professor
Personal Profile
María Gómez is a Canadian-Colombian academic and human rights activist. In July 2016, she joined the department of criminology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax. Before her position at SMU, she taught at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, at Eugene Lang College in New York City and at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Dr. Gómez is a co- founder of the Red Latinoamericana de académicas/os del derecho (RED ALAS) and was its general coordinator (2012-2014). She was the Regional Program Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean at OutRight Action International (2013-2016). Her current research focuses on State’s responses to prejudice and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. She is interested in the politics of hate crime, gender and sexuality studies; political and criminological theories; socio-legal studies; and the intersection between criminology and cultural studies. Dr. Gómez teaches criminological theories, hate crimes and prejudice, and crime in global cinema. (María Gómez CV 2024 )
Education
May 2006 Ph.D. Political Science, (Major in Political Theory, minor in Comparative Politics) New School for Social Research.
May 1997 M.A. Gender Studies & Feminist Theory (with a concentration in Philosophy), New School for Social Research.
July 1995 Graduate Degree in Criminology and Criminal Law (Especialista en Instituciones Jurídico-Penales), Law School, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Oct. 1992 B.A. and Licentiatam in Philosophy, Magna cum Laude, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá-Colombia
Recent Publications:
2024. Kapoor, Ilan, Gavin Fridell, Maureen Sjoh, Pieter de Vries, Hasmet Ukuorta, Hannah Richter, Christian Caiconte and María Gómez. "Book Forum: Global Libidinal Economy." Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory 25 (1): 108-33
2021 “A propósito de las detenciones arbitrarias: prevención, discrecionalidad policial y prejuicio, [On Arbitrary Detentions: Prevention, Police Discretion and Prejudice] en Publicación Especial. Poder de Policía y Control Judicial. “A propósito del caso Fernández Prieto y Tumbeiro vs. Argentina de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos”, Ministerio Público de la Defensa. República Argentina, Pp.177-206. Available at: . https://www.mpd.gov.ar/pdf/publicaciones/LIBRO%20DE%20FERNANDEZ%20PRIETO%20FINAL%20Final.pdf
2021 “Masculinidad y violencia” [Masculinities and Violence] en Sexo, Violencia y Castigo, María Camila Correa e Isabel C. Jaramillo editoras, Buenos Aires: ediciones Didot, Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Derecho, Red Alas.
2019 in collaboration with María Ximena Dávila, “Activism and Human Rights in Latin America” in Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History. Edited by Howard Chiang. Farmington Hills. MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, January.
2019 “Problemática de la violencia contra personas con orientación sexual o identidad de género no normativas en Latinoamérica” [Issues related to violence based on non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity in Latin America] in Clínica Forense: una aproximación basada en enfoques diferenciales de atención, Nelson Téllez editor, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: Bogotá.
2013 “Prejudice-based Violence” in Gender and Sexuality in Latin America: Cases and Decisions, Cristina Motta & Macarena Sáez, eds., New York: Springer. Pp. 279-323.
As Regional Program Coordinator for OutRight Action International, Dr. Gómez co-authored the following human rights reports and documents:
- Mapping Trans Rights in Colombia. 2016. Program for equality and social inclusion (PAIIS) at Universidad de los Andes, Law School, Bogotá, Colombia and OutRight Action International. (English and Spanish versions available online at outrightinternational.org).
- Mapping Trans Rights in Costa Rica. 2016. Mulabi and OutRight Action International. (English and Spanish versions available online at outrightinternational.org)
- Mapping Trans Rights in Chile. 2016. OutRight Action International with collaborations from Andrés Rivera Duarte and Fundación TranSitar. (English and Spanish versions available online at outrightinternational.org)
- The situation of trans and intersex children in Chile. Submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on the occasion of its pre-sessional working group meeting to consider Chile’s joint Fourth and Fifth Periodic Report. Observatorio de Derechos Humanos y Legislación –Chile (Andrés Rivera Duarte) and OutRight Action International formerly International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Geneva.
- Shadow Report on the LGBT Community in Colombia. 2015. Presented to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) by Colombia Diversa and OutRight Action International, formerly International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
- Violence against Lesbians, Bisexual Women, and Trans People in Colombia. Submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Annual Communications Procedure. Colombia Diversa and International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
- Caribbean Media Training Manual. 2015. United & Strong and OutRight Action International with collaborations from GROUNDATION GRENADA, GUYANA RAINBOW FOUNDATION, J-FLAG, PETAL, AND UNITED BELIZE ADVOCACY MOVEMENT. Available at: outrightinternational.org
Blogs, Interviews and Online Talks
2021 Panel on “Violencias de género, violencias por prejuicio y estrategias de guerra” for La Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz -JEP- (Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace), with the support of Alianza Iniciativa de Mujeres Colombianas por la Paz, UN Women and the Sweden Embassy, Zoom Plattform, March 18. Available in Spanish at: https://youtu.be/hOPwSYd8tB4
2019 Expert Witness testimony, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 62th Extraordinary Sessions Period, Barranquilla, Colombia, August 27. Available at: https://vimeo.com/347339620 (starting at 2:54:00).
2016 An approach to prejudice, Virtual Classroom, Red Alas (Alas Network) , available at:
Blog on Same-sex adoption in Colombia at:
https://www.outrightinternational.org/content/se-abre-el-camino-para-la-adopcion-en-colombia
2015 Blog on Jamaican Pride at:
http://iglhrc.org/content/jamaica-week-courage-and-solidarity
http://iglhrc.org/content/ruling-limits-rights-adoption-same-sex-couples-colombia
http://iglhrc.org/content/ni%C3%B1ez-y-adolescencia-lgbti-un-reto-para-la-justicia-en-colombia
2015 Contribution to CNN at:
http://iglhrc.org/content/cnn-how-do-gay-rights-look-your-country
2015 Interview El Sofá, Canal Capital, Bogotá –Colombia on July 13.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWyrzP-DQEI&feature=youtu.be&a
2015 Interview, HuffPost Live: http://huff.lv/1BgoVEW aired on February 26, 2015
2015 HuffPost Blogs:
On the Civil Union Pact in Chile:
2013 Conceptos básicos sobre prejuicio, a virtual talk, USAID & Caribe Afirmativo available at: https://youtu.be/kyOLQ-2hMyc
2007 Interview on-line: CLAM: “Violencia por prejuicio” (en portugués y español) Published on 11/12/2007.
http://www.clam.org.br/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?infoid=3569&tpl=printerview&sid=43
2007 Prejudice, Violence and Democracy (in English and Spanish). Comments on democracy now for artist Carlos Motta: The Good Life/ La Buena Vida. www.la-buena-vida.info/pdf/gomez-en.pdf
Other Professional Activities:
- May 2024-present. Saint Mary's University Faculty Union Executive - Secretary
- May 2018-2019. Saint Mary's University Faculty Union Executive - Member at large
- 2004-present. Founder Member of Red de Académicas Latinoamericanas (RED ALAS) - A NGO dedicated to reforming legal curricula from gender and sexuality perspectives in Latin America
- 2016-2023. International Advisor, Astraea Foundation, New York City.
- 2007-2011. Board of Directors, Proyecto Colombia Diversa, an NGO that promotes human rights for the LGBT community in Colombia.
- 2003-2012. Advisory Board for the International Resource Network (Latin America), hosted by the Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY (CLAGS)
- 2001-2002 Student Advisor, Department of Political Science, Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research.
- 1999. Resident Advisor, The ELLA Program (Emerging Women Leaders in Latin America), Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June-August
- 2016-2022. Member of the Law and Society Association
- 2018-2022. Member of Latin American Studies Association
Networks:
Red Latinoamericana de Académicas/os del Derecho (ALAS Network)
https://redalas.net/
OutRight International (formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission –IGLHRC)
https://www.outrightinternational.org/
Proyecto Colombia Diversa
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice