University of Oregon faculty Erin Beck and Lynn Stephen have co-authored a new book, Seeking Justice for Gendered Violence: Courts, Communities, and Care in Guatemala, forthcoming from Duke University Press on September 29, 2026.
Drawing on ten years of ethnographic research conducted with an Indigenous research team, Beck and Stephen examine how Guatemala’s efforts to address violence against women and girls operate in practice. Despite significant legal reforms, including specialized courts and public prosecutors, Indigenous women continue to encounter substantial barriers when seeking justice.
The book explores both the possibilities and limitations of these reforms while highlighting how Indigenous women draw on grassroots knowledge, community networks, and systems of care to survive and resist violence and support one another.
Seeking Justice for Gendered Violence will be released September 29, 2026, by Duke University Press.