Vero

@verognzlz

Assistant Professor w/ focus on institutional responses to gender-based violence, systemic barriers to survivor help-seeking, and policy frameworks shaping justice. Views my own.

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Vero@verognzlz· Jul 30

Sharing this infographic to accompany my new article, “Erasing Gendered Death: Bureaucracies of (Un)Knowing in #Criminology.” doi.org/10.1177/0964... It shows how refusal, incorporation, and displacement make gendered violence visible yet structurally unnamed. #AcademicSky #Femicide #GBV #Crim

Dark navy infographic for Veronica Valencia Gonzalez’s 2026 Social & Legal Studies article, “Erasing Gendered Death: Bureaucracies of (Un)Knowing in Criminology.” It argues that bureaucratic systems shape what becomes visible, countable, and authoritative as knowledge. Three mechanisms produce institutional unknowing: refusal, which excludes femicide as a structural category; incorporation, which absorbs feminist critique into manageable procedures; and displacement, which leaves advocates and families to document what the state declines to count. The infographic calls on criminologists to treat absence as evidence, read data as political artifacts, broaden what counts as evidence, and practice epistemic accountability. Key takeaway: “A dataset can be administratively complete and still be epistemically incomplete.” A DOI and QR code link to the article.

Vero@verognzlz· Jun 22

#AcademicSky sharing an infographic for my article, “Aesthetic Governance in Courts and Workplaces.” I theorize how appearance shapes not only how people are judged, but who gets watched, documented, and exposed to institutional scrutiny in the first place. doi.org/10.1177/0964...

Infographic titled “Aesthetic Governance: How appearance shapes scrutiny in courts and workplaces.” It explains that appearance does not only affect how people are judged; it shapes who is watched in the first place. The process moves from institutional baselines of professionalism and respectability, to aesthetic deviation, intensified scrutiny, greater visibility of minor conduct, and exposure inequality. Two key concepts are highlighted: proxy criminalization, where appearance lowers the threshold for suspicion, and anticipatory governance, where appearance is treated as a sign of possible future disorder or noncompliance. The infographic applies the argument to courts and workplaces and concludes that institutions organize visibility unequally, even when formal rules appear neutral.

Vero@verognzlz· Jun 12

I've been selected as a 2026 Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine. Looking forward to spending time in Washington, DC, learning more about science policy and public impact. #AcademicSky #SciencePolicy #PublicScholarship

Screenshot of an email titled “2026 Mirzayan Fellowship Final Selection Status.” The message congratulates Veronica on being selected as a 2026 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It states that she will be placed with the Social and Economic Systems unit and notes that the interview panel was impressed by her communication skills and understanding of how the fellowship would contribute to her professional development. The email concludes with: “Congratulations on your achievement!”

Vero@verognzlz· Jun 1

It was a pleasure to participate in #LSA2026 and present our work on the panel Contested Borders of Recognition: Immigration Law, Gender, and Migration. Grateful for the thoughtful discussion and engagement with these important issues at the intersection of law, gender, and migration.

Four panel participants stand together smiling in a conference room following a paper session at the 2026 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting. All are wearing conference badges. A podium and conference meeting space are visible in the background. The panel was titled “Contested Borders of Recognition: Immigration Law, Gender, and Migration” and focused on how immigration law shapes the recognition of gendered experiences and identities, including asylum claims, gender-based violence, LGBTQIA+ migrants, family relationships, labor, and belonging.

Vero@verognzlz· May 24

Book #22 of my book a week in 2026 goal: Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert. A sharp and unsettling look at how pop culture shaped girlhood, femininity, desire, and self-worth for a generation of women. Thought-provoking from start to finish. #BookSky #ReadingChallenge

Book cover for Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert. The cover features bold collage-style typography in red, pink, black, and cream tones, with partial images of women’s faces integrated into the design. Subtitle reads: “How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves.”

Vero@verognzlz· May 22

Book #21 of my “book a week in 2026” goal: just finished Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. A difficult, deeply personal memoir about survival, abuse, and the fight for justice. Heavy but important reading. #BookSky #ReadingChallenge

Book cover for Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The cover features a soft, faded portrait of a woman in the background with the title in large black serif text centered on a pale cream background. The subtitle appears in smaller peach-colored text beneath the title, with the author’s name at the bottom.

Vero@verognzlz· May 21

Sexual assault case-handling “best practices” are not implemented evenly across U.S. agencies. Local resources, leadership, and organizational culture shape whether survivor-centered reforms become meaningful practice. #AcademicSky #SexualAssault #GBV #Criminology #VictimAdvocacy

Infographic titled “Sexual Assault Case Handling Across U.S. Agencies.” It summarizes findings from Veronica Gonzalez’s research on variability in how law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies implement sexual assault case-handling best practices. The infographic highlights survey findings from 362 agencies, including 223 law enforcement agencies and 139 prosecutor offices. It compares reported use of victim advocates, specialized units, regular communication, and case reviews. It also summarizes interview findings from 25 agency representatives, showing that implementation is shaped by resource constraints, leadership priorities, organizational culture, and ambiguous guidance. The central takeaway is that best practices do not operate as uniform standards in the field but are filtered through local institutional conditions, producing fragmented responses. The infographic ends with implications for strengthening survivor-centered guidance, training, collaboration, and equitable responses nationwide.

Vero@verognzlz· May 18

Grassroots responses to femicide are often treated as symbolic or secondary. My BMC Public Health article argues the opposite: in high-impunity contexts, they are essential infrastructures of care, protection, and accountability. doi.org/10.1186/s128... #Femicide #GBV #Mexico #AcademicSky

Infographic titled “Femicide Response in Mexico: Two Competing Logics of Prevention.” It summarizes a qualitative comparative case study of femicide response in Mexico City and Michoacán, based on 64 in-depth interviews, participant observation, and fieldwork conducted from 2022 to 2024. The infographic contrasts two models of response. Formal institutions frame prevention through law, protocols, training, compliance, bureaucratic legitimacy, and measurable outputs. Grassroots and community actors frame prevention through urgent action, relational care, visibility, trust, survivor experience, memorials, accompaniment, and community mobilization. The infographic highlights three themes: institutional metrics versus embodied response, protection gaps and community survival, and epistemic tensions in collaboration. Policy implications call for recognizing grassroots actors as essential public health responders, shifting metrics toward survivor-defined safety and trust, funding community-led crisis response, building shared governance, and addressing femicide as a structural and intersectional crisis. The key takeaway is that grassroots responses are essential infrastructures of care, protection, and accountability where formal systems are distrusted, inaccessible, or absent.

Vero@verognzlz· May 11

Administrative processes shape unequal exposure to state harm. This infographic summarizes my article on how bureaucratic visibility and opacity shape unequal exposure to state harm. Read the full article: doi.org/10.1177/1462... #Punishment #Inequality #Criminology #ClassGovernance

Infographic titled “Punishment as Class Governance,” based on an article by Veronica Valencia Gonzalez. It explains how administrative systems make poor and marginalized populations more visible to the state while shielding affluent actors through opacity, mediation, and negotiated compliance. The graphic contrasts bureaucratic knowing and unknowing, shows a punishment gradient where surveillance and penal severity decrease as class position rises, compares pathways for marginalized versus affluent populations, and argues that reform must address classification, documentation, and administrative restraint, not only sentencing. Key takeaway: “The penal state begins not at conviction, but at classification.”

Vero@verognzlz· May 7

#AcademicSky sharing this #infographic for my article, “The Relational Interview,” which introduces a multi-stage qualitative method for studying shared memories. Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1177/1609... #memory #research #QualitativeMethods

Infographic titled “The Relational Interview: A Multi-Stage Qualitative Method for Capturing Relationally Produced Experience” by Veronica Valencia Gonzalez, PhD. It explains a qualitative method for studying experiences produced through relationships. The infographic outlines the methodological problem, defines the relational interview, and shows its three-stage sequence: initial individual interview, dyadic interview, and follow-up individual interview. It explains why sequencing matters, identifies conceptual foundations, describes what the method can capture, distinguishes it from typical dyadic or joint interviews, and summarizes analytic, ethical, and practical considerations. The takeaway states that meaning is often produced across relationships, revised through interaction, and clarified through reflection.

Vero@verognzlz· May 4

#AcademicSky My new #infographic summarizes “We Were Never Meant to Be Neutral,” an article on scholar-activism, #femicide #research, and the ethics of alignment. It asks what accountability looks like when neutrality protects institutions, not #survivors. Read: doi.org/10.1177/1557...

Infographic titled “We Were Never Meant to Be Neutral: Scholar-Activism and the Ethics of Alignment in Femicide Research” by Veronica Valencia Gonzalez. The design uses purple, cream, and pink tones with illustrations of feminist protest, institutional buildings, grassroots organizers, and a butterfly. It summarizes an article in Feminist Criminology based on 64 in-depth interviews and fieldwork in rural Michoacán and Mexico City. The infographic explains that the article critiques neutrality in femicide research, advances an ethics of alignment, centers grassroots epistemologies, offers co-produced conceptual frameworks, and calls for accountable feminist criminology. It presents three frameworks: the IPV Perception Gap, Localized Violence Realities, and Cultural Conflict of IPV Perception. It contrasts institutional logics, such as criminalization, evidence requirements, metrics, and compliance, with grassroots feminist logics, such as believing survivors, mutual aid, public protest, trust, and transformative justice. Two field quotes highlight tensions between grassroots organizers and institutional actors. The takeaway states that knowledge production is never neutral and that, in femicide research, scholar-activism is an ethical imperative rooted in solidarity, accountability, and the pursuit of justice.

Vero@verognzlz· May 1

New #infographic for my article on Latina immigrant survivors of #IPV, #SanctuaryPolicies, and why fear of #deportation can still shape help-seeking even where legal protections exist. Read the article: doi.org/10.1177/1077... #AcademicSky #Immigration

Infographic titled “Courage in Crisis: Latina Immigrant Survivors of IPV and the Quest for Help Amid Anti-Immigrant Sentiment.” It summarizes a 2026 Violence Against Women article by Veronica Valencia Gonzalez on how Latina immigrant survivors in Southern California understand sanctuary policies and decide whether to seek formal help. The infographic notes that the study is based on interviews with 12 immigrant IPV survivors and 14 service providers.

Key findings include limited knowledge of sanctuary policies, persistent fear of immigration exposure, distrust in institutions, cultural and structural barriers, and reliance on community and informal support. A central section contrasts the intent of sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, with survivors’ perceptions that contact with authorities may still put them at risk. Another section highlights factors shaping help-seeking, including fear of deportation, economic dependence, social stigma and shame, anti-immigrant climate, and legal precarity. Policy implications emphasize clear communication, community trust-building, reducing identification barriers, and culturally grounded survivor-centered support. The takeaway states that sanctuary policies can reduce fear only when survivors know they exist, understand how they work, and trust that they will be protected.

Vero@verognzlz· Apr 27

#AcademicSky sharing this #infographic summarizing my article, The Unascended Pyramid. It shows why #rural #IPV survivors in Michoacán may name harm but not move toward courts, and why justice must be understood beyond state-centered responses. Read more here: doi.org/10.1177/1557...

Infographic titled “The Unascended Pyramid: The Limits of State Response to IPV in Rural Michoacán” by Veronica Valencia Gonzalez, published in Feminist Criminology in 2026. The top shows a rural Michoacán landscape with mountains, homes, a church, agave, and a tree. An “At a Glance” section lists the research question, data from 64 qualitative interviews and embedded observation, centered analysis of 31 rural community member interviews, and focus on rural Michoacán, Mexico.

The infographic identifies three core findings: disjuncture in definitions of violence, legal disengagement as survival, and alternative pathways to justice. A central pyramid titled “Rethinking the Dispute Pyramid” shows four stages: naming, blaming, claiming, and adjudication. It explains that rural survivors often recognize harm but may not move upward toward formal legal action. Naming is shaped by intent, repetition, and disruption to family or community life. Blaming may be diffused across partners and extended kin. Claiming is often rejected or rerouted toward informal or kin-based responses. Adjudication rarely occurs and is seen as unsafe, slow, or ineffective.

The infographic lists alternatives including kinship mediation, silence, endurance or aguantar, spiritual coping, and avoidance. It explains why the pyramid remains unascended: institutional distrust, fear of retaliation and stigma, economic precarity, geographic isolation, extended-kin control, household power dynamics, and state frameworks that do not reflect local realities. The takeaway is that justice must be understood through survivor-defined, culturally grounded pathways to safety and dignity.

Vero@verognzlz· Apr 17

Book 16 of 52 in 2026: Your Data Will Be Used Against You. I stepped away from heavier books for a bit because life already felt heavy enough. Returning to them with this one. #ReadingList #Books #Reading

Book cover with a black background filled with vertical streams of red and blue code-like text. Large white title centered: “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” Subtitle below: “Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance.” Author name at the bottom: Andrew Guthrie Ferguson.

Vero@verognzlz· Feb 18

Book #7 in my attempt to read 52 books in 2026: The Broken Ladder by Keith Payne. A sharp, research-driven look at how inequality shapes how we think, behave, and even how long we live. #Books #ReadingList

Book cover of The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne. The title appears in large red capital letters on a white background. A tall ladder on the right side has several broken or missing rungs.

Vero@verognzlz· Feb 9

Book #6 of 52 for 2026: Necropolitics by Achille Mbembe. A sharp, unsettling meditation on sovereignty, violence, and who gets to live and who is left to die. #Books #ReadingList

Book cover with a textured light gray background. Large white text reads “NECRO-POLITICS” and dark red text below reads “ACHILLE MBEMBE.”

Vero@verognzlz· Feb 1

Just began book #5 of the year: On Critical Race Theory by Victor Ray. Hoping for insight, history, and a better language for talking about race, power, and institutions. #ReadingList #Books

Black-and-white book cover with the title “On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care” and the author name Victor Ray centered on the page.

Vero@verognzlz· Jan 19

Book #3 of 2026 is #Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win by Jessica Valenti. #Books #ReadingList #AcademicSky

Book cover on a beige background. The title reads “Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win.” The author’s name, Jessica Valenti, appears below.

Vero@verognzlz· Jan 17

Fentanyl, Inc. by Ben Westhoff has me thinking about unintended audiences of scholarship—drug dealers were scanning academic articles to identify their next products. #AcademicSky

Book cover of Fentanyl, Inc. by Ben Westhoff. An aerial view of a leafy residential neighborhood with rows of houses fills the background. Large white text reads “FENTANYL, INC.” with the author’s name at the top and the subtitle about rogue chemists and the opioid epidemic at the bottom.

Vero@verognzlz· Nov 30

Starting my next read: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Looking forward to diving into her powerful examination of the structures shaping American life. #Books #ReadingList

Cover of the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. The background is a black-and-white photo of a large crowd of people. The title and author’s name appear in large white text, along with notes about it being a #1 New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club selection.

Vero@verognzlz· Nov 15

Visual highlighting the two logics shaping femicide response in Mexico. Formal Institutions focus on metrics and protocols; Grassroots actors center urgency, visibility, and community care—often filling the gaps left by the state. Article: bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Infographic titled “Two Logics of Femicide Response in Mexico,” showing a side-by-side comparison of formal institutional actors and grassroots/community actors. The left column, in blue tones, lists institutional approaches: prevention defined as legal harmonization; strategies focused on trainings and benchmarks; long-term planning cycles; authority based on bureaucratic legitimacy; effectiveness measured through metrics; and low trust and accessibility due to bureaucracy. The right column, in gold tones, summarizes grassroots approaches: prevention defined through visibility, symbolic justice, and urgent action; strategies like vigils, murals, accompaniment, and memorials; immediate response driven by grief and risk; authority grounded in survivor experience and community trust; effectiveness measured through relational outcomes such as belonging and safety; and high accessibility rooted in local knowledge. Citation at bottom: Valencia González (2025), BMC Public Health.

Vero@verognzlz· Nov 7

Perks of academia: writing from the dog park. #AcademicSky #Dog

A laptop rests on someone’s lap beside a small black dog wearing a pink harness, lying on artificial grass with a pink toy near its mouth. A metal fence and sidewalk are visible in the background under bright sunlight.

Vero@verognzlz· Oct 8

I’m honored to be one of the contributing authors in Women Empowerment for Gender Equality, Vol. 2 (Vernon Press), a new collection highlighting diverse global perspectives on gender, justice, and empowerment. #GenderEquality #ImmigrantRights #IPV

Flyer for Women Empowerment for Gender Equality Volume 2: Diverse Initiatives from Across the World, edited by Anita Brandon and published by Vernon Press. The flyer summarizes the book’s themes and contributors.

Vero@verognzlz· Oct 8

Revisiting Beth Richie’s Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation. A foundational text on how structural violence and carceral systems shape Black women’s lives and survival. #Books #ReadingNow #BlackFeminism

Book cover of Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation by Beth E. Richie. The title is in large blue and white text. Below, an image shows a housing project with children playing outside against a city skyline backdrop.

Vero@verognzlz· Oct 2

Just finished The Dope by Benjamin T. Smith—an eye-opening dive into the history of the Mexican drug trade. Illuminating in how it weaves politics, violence, and survival, showing the deep roots behind what too often gets reduced to headlines. #Reading #Book

Black-and-white cover of The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith, narrated by John Curless. The image shows a person with braided hair standing in a poppy field, mountains visible in the background.

Vero@verognzlz· Aug 28

Planning to spend the weekend with Nobody Is Protected by Reece Jones. The book traces how the U.S. Border Patrol expanded its authority to become what Jones calls the most dangerous police force in the country. Looking forward to digging into its history and implications. #Books #Reading

Book cover of Nobody Is Protected: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States by Reece Jones.

Vero@verognzlz· Aug 26

Put this on my desk to entice students and colleagues to stop by my office. Come say hi (and grab a treat)! #AcademicSky

A clear glass jar with a lid, filled with assorted fun-size candies including Reese’s, KitKat, and other chocolate bars, sitting on a wooden desk.

Vero@verognzlz· Aug 20

Last book I’ll get to this year from my summer reading list: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. A slim but powerful read on history’s warnings for today. #books #SummerReads

Book cover of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. The design is minimalist with beige background, red vertical stripes on the sides, and black centered text.

Vero@verognzlz· Aug 20

The Dept. of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Juvenile Justice. Apps start getting reviewed Sept 26—come join us! uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/193... #AcademicJobs #Criminology #JuvenileJustice

Job ad flyer from the University of South Carolina’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. It announces a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Juvenile Justice. Text highlights: applicants should show promise in high-quality research, effective teaching, and potential for external funding. Review of applications begins September 26 and continues until filled. Includes link: https://uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/193159

Vero@verognzlz· Jul 19

Next on my summer reading list: Still Life with Bones by Alexa Hagerty, a powerful dive into #genocide, #forensics, and the stories behind what remains. Heavy, but important. #SummerReads #Books #Nonfiction #Anthropology