Gabriela Mesquita Borges

Gabriela Mesquita Borges holds a PhD in Criminology (2023) from the University of Porto, Portugal. Her research explored the individual dimensions that allow access to the meanings, intersubjective constructions and perceptions of refugee women about their life trajectories in three moments and places (geographical and symbolic): in the country of origin, during the displacement journey; and in the country of asylum, through the analysis of the reception conditions and integration practices existing in the Portuguese asylum system, from a gender perspective.

Her work is intrinsically interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing criminology, victimology, feminist studies, sociology and law. It draws heavily from Middle Eastern, African and European contexts.

Her publications include book chapters for Springer and IGI Global press houses, as well as articles published in high-impact journals such as The Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology. Throughout her career, she has participated in several international and national scientific projects (e.g., Erasmus+, European Research Council (ERC), COST Action, Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), and Portuguese government), assuming a wide range of roles. Several of her research papers have been regularly presented at major conferences in the areas in which she conducts research. Her work has also led to productive connections with leading research groups in the field of Criminology.

In 2018, she joined the COST ACTION CA16111 – International Ethnic and Migrant Minorities’ Survey Data Network. In 2023, she was invited to join the Working Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. In 2018, Borges was invited to participate in the European Society of Criminology Working Group on Methodologies and Epistemologies of Qualitative Research and in 2023 she was appointed to become co-chair of this WG. From 2020 to 2023, she was a guest lecturer at the Department of Law of the University of Minho, teaching at undergraduate and master levels on topics such as criminology, sexual crimes, prison and correctional models, deviance and crime prevention, security and policing, sexual crime and qualitative methods. In 2023, she was invited to teach at the Lusíada Norte University, teaching at the Bachelor and Master levels on topics such as current victimology, clinical criminology and crime and gender discrimination.