Abril Rios Rivera

Abril Rios-Rivera

Co-Convener of Migration Oxford, DPhil Candidate in Migration Studies

Affiliation: School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, COMPAS, ODID
Expert in: Forced migration, Gender and sexuality in migration
Geographic focus: Mexico, Central America, USA, and 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 transwomen’s processes of decision-making and empowerment in the context of international migration in Mexico. She looks at these dynamics in two Mexican cities bordering Guatemala and the USA, and in the capital. She uses photovoice, interviews and survey data to explore her research topic and follows her interlocutors for at least six months.

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 migration and entrepreneurship 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.