María Corina Muskus Toro

Dissertation Title

Exploring alternatives to the criminal system for Venezuelan women who have experienced sexual violence

Dissertation Topic

This project plans to foster a critical examination of the criminal law in Venezuela through a feminist, anti-carceral and restorative lens. From the starting point that Venezuelan criminal law is ineffective to eradicate VAW and that the state has co-opted the feminist discourse, this project plans to construct anti-carceral alternatives to address violence against women using feminist participatory action research. This dissertation will offer the first feminist critique of the carceral state in Venezuela.

Education

Research LLM - Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto-Canada 2022

LLM in Gender and Human Rights - American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC USA, 2016

LLB - Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, Caracas-Venezuela, 2012 (Cum Laude)

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, Course: Legal Process, First Year Course for Law Students, 2022 - current, Osgoode Hall Law School

Research Assistant, Heidi Matthews, Winter seminar: Law in the #Metoo Era, 2022

Professor, Human Rights Law Clinic, 2015, Universidad Catolica Andres Bello

Awards
  • Mary Jane Mossman Graduate Scholarship, 2022
  • Peter Hogg Scholarship, 2022
  • Harley D. Hallett Scholarship, York University, 2021
  • Richard C. Holbrooke Award by Refugees International, 2020
  • Grossman Scholarship, American University Washington College of Law, 2016
Publications
Academic
  • Hartazgo: Understanding how #YoTeCreo emerged in Venezuela, December 2022. LLM Thesis
Articles
  • Co-Authored, Gender Policies in the criminal justice system: an outstanding debt, Ago 2021, Konrad Adenauer
  • Author of concepts of sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy in the Glossary of International Criminal Justice, May 2021, Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz)
  • Author of concepts of sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy in the Glossary of International Criminal Justice, May 2021, Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz)
Op-Ed Articles (in Spanish about feminism, women's issues, and migration)
  • What do we talk about when we refer to sexual consent?, June 2022, Efecto Cocuyo
  • Criminal law is no friend of women, February 2022, Efecto Cocuyo
  • Women, the protagonist of the defense of human rights, March 2021, Animal Político
  • Women and girls, rightsholders, March 2021, Multijuridica We (women) are the main leaders when discussing feminist issues, May 2020, Efecto Cocuyo
  • The right to family planning is pivotal for women August 2020, Efecto Cocuyo
Presentation
  • Online: Organizer and Speaker, Digital Feminist Activism and the Politics of Human Rights, The Institute for Feminist Legal Studies, November 2022
  • Online: Speaker, Gender, Displacement, and Violence: 70 years of the Refugee Convention, Parallel event of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 65th Session, Mar 2021
  • Speaker, International Standards on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Defiende Venezuela, Feb 2021
  • Speaker, The CEDAW Convention for the Protection of Women, Amnesty International Venezuela, Nov 2020
  • Speaker, The social and economical inclusion of Venezuelan migrants, International Organization for Migration forum “Re-imagining the role of migrants and human mobility for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”, Oct 2020
  • Speaker, Women in Detention Facilities, Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones, Aug 2020
  • Latin America and Caribbean Youth Representative to Civil Society, Global Forum for Migration and Development, Quito, Jan 2020