Healing and Leadership: Global Research on Gender-Based Violence at Seattle University

Gender-based violence is a global problem, influencing safety and well-being in ways that often last long after the immediate harm has ended.

According to UN Women, it remains one of the most widespread human rights violations globally, underscoring the need for human-centered counseling grounded in clinical skill and cultural responsiveness.

At Seattle University, this work is tied to an ongoing commitment to social justice and community well-being. Through the College of Education’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, students learn how to support people whose lives have been shaped by trauma and lived experience.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence

In 2017, Seattle University Clinical Mental Health Counseling faculty member Kristi Lee, who also coordinates Seattle U’s Central America Initiative, began a collaborative research project with colleagues at Universidad Rafael Landívar (URL), Guatemala’s Jesuit university.

Together, they aimed to better understand how victims of gender-based violence survive and move toward healing in their own lives.

The United Nations describes gender-based violence as one of the most widespread human rights violations, with lasting effects on mental health, relationships, and economic opportunity. These realities highlight the importance of counseling and support that focuses on the experiences of survivors.

Gender-Based Violence in Guatemala

Gender-based violence remains widespread in Guatemala, where failures to investigate and prosecute these crimes have contributed to ongoing impunity.

The research team focused its work here, where women face significant barriers when seeking safety or justice after experiencing violence. The country’s history of armed conflict and inequality has contributed to conditions that make recovery especially difficult for some survivors. Advocates continue to raise concerns about high levels of impunity and fear of retaliation, discouraging survivors or supporters from speaking out.

The inspiration for Lee and Seattle University Professor Serena Cosgrove’s research stems from a separate project they worked on earlier with NGO Asociación Generando in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, an organization working with victims of gender-based violence. In interviews with the shelter’s clients, the researchers began to notice a pattern.

Survivors often described a similar journey as they worked toward recovery, revealing insights that would later shape a larger collaborative study.

Collaborative Research on Gender-Based Violence

Seattle University's research in Guatemala grew from relationships developed through the Central America Initiative, which supports collaboration among faculty, students, and partner institutions across the region.

During a visit to URL's campus in Quetzaltenango, Lee and Cosgrove met Ana Marina Tzul Tzul, Director of Research, along with psychology professor Fabiola Hurtado. The conversation quickly revealed shared interest in community well-being and the experiences of women affected by violence.

“Serena and I traveled to URL’s campus in Quetzaltenango and met Director of Research Ana Marina Tzul Tzul and Fabiola Hurtado, a professor of psychology who is my Guatemalan counterpart,” Lee says.

“Fabiola also trains counseling students,” she continues. “Talking with them about our research on gender-based violence and healing, I felt an instant connection. The four of us agreed then and there to continue this research as a team.”

Community-Based Research in Guatemala

The new project was developed in partnership with Asociación Nuevos Horizontes (New Horizons), a Quetzaltenango-based organization that supports women and children affected by violence.

Working alongside community partners allowed the researchers to learn directly from women whose experiences could help shape future counseling interventions and support services.

Cosgrove and Tzul focused on how violence affects Indigenous women living in rural communities. Lee and Hurtado’s work examined how survivors move through the healing process and what helps them continue toward empowerment and leadership.

“Fabiola and I wanted to understand what victims of gender-based violence need to move forward in their healing process to the point of empowering other women in the fight against gender-based violence,” Lee explains. “What inputs do they need at these different stages? At what moments do they need them? How do they need to receive these inputs and from who?”

The researchers hoped the findings could eventually inform a formalized program that therapists in Guatemala can implement to help victims of gender-based violence move from healing to empowerment, and to train counseling students and professionals to provide culturally relevant services to Central American female clients who may have experienced abuse.

How Mental Health Counseling Supports Survivors of Violence

The team’s 2018 research emphasizes the importance of accessible mental health support throughout the survivor journey. Women described counseling as a space where they could start to understand their experiences and consider what life beyond violence could look like.

“I went to therapy and started to love myself,” one participant reflected.

Yet access to counseling often depends on whether services are accessible and affordable. In communities where financial resources are limited, even low costs can prevent someone from receiving the care they need.

“If I had to pay for services, I never would have been able to go,” one woman shared. “I would still live being beaten every day.”

The team’s research also highlighted the healing role of relationships between survivors. Group settings gave women opportunities to hear experiences that reflected their own. Through those conversations, some participants discovered new language for what they had endured.

“I learned from other women in the group that what I was experiencing was abuse,” one participant explained.

Peer support could also help women feel less isolated as they began making decisions about their safety. One survivor described how group members welcomed women who were beginning that process.

“When someone new comes to the group and is in bad shape, we support her, we tell her she isn’t alone, we share our stories,” they explained. “Little by little she gets stronger.”

The findings can help counselors better understand how access shapes recovery. They also reinforce the value of culturally responsive counseling practices that recognize the social conditions surrounding each survivor’s experience.

Understanding the Survivor Journey: Healing to Leadership

As women began to rebuild their lives, the research team saw another important need emerge: access to practical information that can help survivors make informed decisions and participate more fully in their communities.

Participants identified several forms of support that helped them move forward, including:

• Education about legal rights
• Information about available resources and services
• Guidance on managing political processes
• Opportunities to develop advocacy skills
• Leadership training grounded in community needs

For some women, learning about their rights changed how they understood the violence they had experienced.

“I now know I have the right not to be abused,” one participant shared.

For other participants, gaining this knowledge also shaped how they participated in community life.

“I am an elected member of the community council and I know I have the ability to make a difference.”

Lee returned to Quetzaltenango in 2019 with a second group of master’s students. They interviewed more women at the shelter, this time with a focus on identifying what survivors need to become leaders. The team also explored how leadership was understood within the community.

Their findings reflected a view of leadership grounded in relationships. Some women took on formal roles in local institutions, while others created spaces where survivors could ask questions about legal processes or connect with support.

“The women we interviewed in 2019 seemed to be finding their place in this work,” Lasalle says. “Being a leader can mean creating spaces within the community where women can go and feel safe, places where they can ask questions about everything from the legal process to healing. It’s starting conversations to change the narrative of women’s lives.”

This community-centered form of leadership grew from knowledge shared between women. Survivors who had learned about their rights could help others recognize abuse or understand where to turn for support.

Leadership may involve public advocacy, or it may show up in quieter acts of guidance that help another woman feel less alone and better equipped to make their own decisions.

How Students Participate in Global Counseling Research

Seattle University master’s students joined the research in Quetzaltenango in 2018, working alongside students from Universidad Rafael Landívar. Together, they interviewed women receiving services through Nuevos Horizontes and reviewed the recorded conversations for recurring themes.

This gave students direct experience with qualitative research, where careful listening is key to understanding how people describe their own lives. Their role required attention to the words participants used and the patterns that emerged across multiple interviews.

“I was moved by the willingness of many women to tell their stories so that others could learn,” says Lasalle. “They were ‘survivors.’ They recognized that the violence and abuse they’d endured is a problem and they were no longer willing to ignore it. Many of our conversations with these women focused on their hopes to help and encourage other women to get to this point.”

The experience asked students to think carefully about how research is conducted across cultural contexts. They learned from Guatemalan students and faculty who brought knowledge of the local community to every stage of the work.

Students also contributed to the analysis that followed the interviews, where their work helped the team identify similarities across participants’ experiences and consider how those findings could inform future counseling initiatives.

Participation in the project connected graduate counseling education with sustained community-based research. Students developed research experience while contributing to work shaped by the voices of survivors themselves.

Advancing Global Impact Through Research and Education

Support from Seattle University’s community helped the research continue beyond the initial trips to Guatemala. College of Education Development Director Peggy Fine introduced Lee to alumnus Chris Clements ’93, whose family had a personal connection to the country.

As Clements learned more about the systemic barriers facing women in Guatemala, he and his wife, Rebecca, decided to support the project.

“I knew that women and girls in Guatemala are marginalized in various ways and that it’s a systemic problem, but I didn’t know that until recently there were no laws protecting them from extreme violence and murder, which is often at the hands of men in their own families,” Clements explains. “I went home and told my wife about Kristi’s work to help empower Guatemalan women and we decided this is something we want to be involved with.”

The Clements made a three-year gift to support Lee’s research. A charitable giving program at Moz, where Rebecca served as chief people officer, matched their contribution.

That funding became especially important in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Lee from returning to Quetzaltenango with another group of student researchers. With the family’s approval, Lee used part of the gift to employ students who continued analyzing data from the 2018 and 2019 interviews.

Their work included research on internalized machismo, a form of internalized oppression that can influence how women view or treat other women. Students also contributed to the development of manuscripts based on the study’s findings.

The project shows how alumni support can sustain faculty research, creating meaningful opportunities for student participation. It also reflects the value of long-term partnerships between Jesuit institutions and work across cultural contexts.

Global Jesuit Initiatives Endowment

Seattle University established the Global Jesuit Initiatives Endowment in September of 2019 to support collaboration with Jesuit colleges and universities in different regions and hemispheres, strengthening the global engagement mission.

The fund was created to support work such as:

• Collaborative research
• Teaching partnerships
• Service initiatives
• Cultural exchange
• Information-sharing between institutions

These forms of support can help faculty members and students build relationships that continue beyond a single course or research trip. They also create space for academic work by shaping the knowledge of local partners.

Lee’s collaboration with Universidad Rafael Landívar offers a profound example of what sustained Jesuit partnership can make possible. Faculty members brought different areas of expertise to the research, while students learned across institutions and contributed to work grounded in the experiences of women in Guatemala.

Through relationships like these, Seattle University connects global education with research that addresses community priorities.

Preparing Students to Learn Through Service and Research

Lee’s research in Guatemala reflects an approach to graduate education grounded in connections and responsibility. Students contributed to a long-term research partnership while learning how careful listening can transform counseling practice.

The project also shows how education can extend beyond the classroom. Faculty members often work alongside community partners, allowing students to gain experience with research shaped by the people most closely connected to the issue.

Through opportunities like these, Seattle University prepares graduates to bring care and cultural awareness into the communities they serve.

To learn more about how we prepare educators for student-centered teaching, visit our Teacher Education Graduate Programs page or explore the College of Education.