The IWA Graduate Student Research Award
The Indian Women’s Association’s broad interests are in promoting gender issues (including intersections with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and other differences) throughout the world. This award recognizes long time interest in and support of graduate students; it provides up to $1000.00 to help with the costs of research.
The IWA’s research grant award of $1,000 is to support research and analysis on issues of concern that are common to women globally. Scholarly activities may be directed towards areas that focus on, but not limited to, the following:
evaluating the prevailing norms and practices of violence and discrimination against women
creating social awareness about specific issues such as feminization of poverty and denial of basic education
advancing educational and rehabilitation training in areas of importance to women such as skills development for income generation; participation of women in entrepreneurship
policies that are beneficial to women in the short and long terms, locally and globally
evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of laws that protect and advance women's interests.
Eligibility: Graduate students in any discipline in the College of Liberal Arts, enrolled in the full-time programs at the Masters or PhD level are eligible to apply. Eligibility is not restricted by citizenship. The project may focus on any part of the world.
This years winner of the scholarship award is Maria Wundram Pimentel.She is a Ph.D candidate in Anthropology specializing in
Gender and Sexuality. She plans to graduate in 2018.
This is her research statement:
This project will examine how existing policy impacts the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes of sex worker populations
in Guatemala City, their lives, and their communities. By analyzing the way sex workers negotiate existing resources, and advocate
politically to improve their lives, this project will examine the intersections between the priorities set by transnational and
national policies, funding allocations, everyday experiences, and health. Through a comparative analysis of the experiences of both
transgender and cisgender women, I will examine how culturally constructed ideologies of gender and sexuality norms impact health
outcomes. Policy priorities can reflect these and other ideologies, and ultimately aggravate social suffering, not only for sex
workers, but also for low-income women in general. Finally, working closely with sex workers I will examine how experiences of
violence, discrimination, and inequality influence sex worker’s health literacy –the availability of skills to obtain, interpret,
and use health resources
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