Pamela A Vargas-Gorena
Thesis title: Human Trafficking and Legal Culture in Latin America: A nested socio-legal comparative study
This research project will comprehensively address the nuances and interpretations of anti-trafficking provisions in Latin America from a regional and comparative perspective. Through the lens of legal culture, the project will identify patterns and trends in anti-trafficking laws, analysed in conjunction with meaning-making factors. To develop a contemporary contextual understanding of human trafficking in Latin America, this research project will address the core research question: How have legal cultures in Latin American countries shaped the understanding, domestication, and application of the anti-trafficking laws?
The project will employ a mixed methods nested analysis, operating on three scales: global, regional, and national. The project will be divided into three research streams representing these different scales, with learnings from each scale informing and reforming analysis across the others:
1. Global secondary data analysis will take advantage of new and established international quantitative datasets relevant to the domestication of the anti-trafficking prohibitions and potential explanatory factors linked to political, historical, economic, and cultural contexts related to the design and implementation of anti-trafficking laws.
2. Regional doctrinal and empirical analysis will consider the regional legal context of Latin America, interrogating the translation of international anti-trafficking norms in Inter-American human rights law.
3. The national case studies in two Latin American countries will identify and map meaning-making factors, characteristics, and underlying values and principles of the legal system to understand how they shape anti-trafficking laws. The outcomes of this project aim to translate directly into the research and advocacy work of the collaborating partner.
Biography
Pamela Vargas-Gorena is a former lecturer in Constitutional Law and Human Rights. Her academic journey started in Latin America and includes a first-class honour LLB Law degree, a LLM in Administrative Law in which she was awarded as ‘Best Overall Master Student’ and a LLM in Constitutional Law. As a recipient of a ‘Chevening Scholarship Award’, she subsequently pursued a MSc in Public Policy at the University of Bristol where she was awarded the ‘Kobra Ahmadi - Best International Student Award’.
Her research background includes comparative law and jurisprudence, along with the assessment of government law, policies, and capacities. Currently, her research focuses on mapping global anti-slavery legislation in order to understand trends, successes and failures and identify factors contributing to positive legislative change. Her dedication to this field of interest was the motivation for her to undertake a PhD program at the University of Nottingham as a full-time ESRC student.
Publications
Lott, N., Vargas-Gorena, P. and Schwarz, K., (2023) ‘Advancing a child rights informed approach to antislavery policy and practice’, Research to Action (RTA) Report, International Labor Organization and International Organization on Migration. Available here: ILO Report_Lott_Vargas-Gorena_Schwarz(2).pdf (ox.ac.uk)
Public Engagement
She was a former Chief Legal Adviser of the Cabinet Office in her home country, Bolivia. As a former Director of a Non-Profit working with vulnerable children and head of various government departments, she has contributed and advised on the development of laws, policies and programmes at central and local levels. Pamela had the opportunity to conduct research as part of UN-Habitat which contributed to the First National Urban Policy in Bolivia. Currently, she is working with stakeholders in Peru, mapping and costing policy interventions for the elimination of forced labour, as part of a research project being conducted by the University of Nottingham - Rights Lab and the International Labour Organization.
Other Research Interests
Human rights and children's rights in particular, poverty and social exclusion, devolution, international law, policy design and evaluation.
Political Science& International Relations
University of Nottingham
2023 Cohort, 1+3
pamela.vargasgorena1@nottingham.ac.uk
Supervisory Team
Dr Todd Landman
Dr Katarina Schwarz
Dr Anna Maria La Chimia
Collaborator
Walk Free Foundation