María José Ventura Alfaro is an ESRC-funded PhD student in the field of Development Studies, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath. Her research offers a feminist analysis of the contemporary violence against women or Feminicide and social movements’ action in contemporary Mexico. The PhD project attempts to understand the interaction between changes in public policy and the demand of social movements, particularly focusing on the potential benefits of a ‘co-construction of policy’ between social communities and political organisations. This project attempts to bridge the reality of violence against women and policy design by bringing in the voices of the social movement activists into policy development. The methodology of this thesis will be informed by a community-based participatory action research (PAR) approach, with the specific objective of integrating the participation by community activists, policymakers and the researcher in all aspects of the research process. 

Prior to commencing her PhD, Maria completed an MRes in International Development at the University of Bath. Her Master's dissertation pave the way to her current research focus, exploring the extent to which the implementation of a gender-based quota system in the Mexican governments affected the development of gender-sensitive policy. Maria graduated with a BSc in Sociology at Bath Spa University in 2015. 

Maria is also a founding member of the Bath-Bristol Standing Seminar in Critical Theory.