Abril Rios-Rivera

DPhil Candidate in Migration Studies

Affiliation: School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, COMPAS, ODID
Expert in: Forced migration, Gender and sexuality in migration, Irregular migration, Participatory methods
Geographic focus: Latin America, USA, Kenya

Abril (she/her/ella) is interested in the intersections of migration, gendered relations, power, and agency. She prioritises perspectives that move away from discourses centred on vulnerabilities to instead acknowledge the agentic capabilities of migrants within structures.

Her doctoral research focuses on women and gender-diverse migrants' processes of decision-making and empowerment. She looks at these dynamics in two Mexican cities bordering Guatemala and the USA, and in the capital. She uses creative and participatory methods as well as quantitative approaches to collaborate with her interlocutors.

As a consultant, Abril also supports a World Bank and UNHCR research program on displacement, poverty, and development in Kenya. She has more than seven years of experience working in the development sector on issues related to forced and irregular migration in Mexico and East African countries. Abril is a psychologist specialising in social and cultural psychology and gender studies and holds a master's degree in Migration and Intercultural Relations.