ABOUT THE PROJECT
What the project does
ALEX-LUI brings together researchers in geography, sociology, urban studies, and gender studies to understand how gender-based violence, mobility, and human trafficking intersect. The project examines what happens in rural and small-town communities—places where girls and women often have no choice but to travel long distances, wait in unlit stations, hitchhike, or trust strangers.
Through case studies in Caracal and its rural surroundings, the team conducts interviews, mapping sessions, field observations, and statistical analyses. Each story collected and each map drawn helps reveal how spaces and systems can unintentionally create risks or, with the proper measures, become safer.
ALEX-LUI – Disposable Bodies:
The Story of Alexandra and Luiza
investigates how gendered vulnerabilities are constructed and exploited within Romania’s transportation infrastructure, especially in rural communities and small towns. The project examines complex dynamics: gender-based violence, daily mobility, the absence of safe infrastructure, interactions with institutions, and the functioning of human trafficking networks.
The central objective is to produce new, applicable knowledge that can be used by authorities, institutions, schools, police, NGOs, and local communities to reduce risks, prevent violence, and transform public transportation into a safe space for everyone.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
- Socio-cultural and institutional analysis of narratives surrounding gender-based violence and human trafficking.
- Identification of vulnerabilities generated by individual, community, and structural factors.
- Evaluation of the role of space and place in producing risk—mapping, GIS, and urban/rural analyses.
- Development of an analytical framework that can be replicated in other areas with similar vulnerabilities.
- Dissemination of results to the public, authorities, and the academic community.
THE TEAM
The project brings together specialists from three universities and three major academic fields: geography, sociology, and gender studies.
01.
Sorina Voiculescu
Project Manager – West University of Timișoara, Romania
Expertise in human geography, urban studies, gender studies, social representations, and public space.
02.
Margareta Lelea
Specialist in Gender Studies and Rural Geography – The German Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture – DITSL
Geographer, researcher, with international expertise in gender studies, particularly in rural spaces and agricultural production.
03.
Octavian Groza
Expert in Human and Economic Geography; Specialist in Cartography and Spatial Analysis; Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania – UAIC
Coordinates the cartographic material and spatial analysis throughout the entire research period.
04.
Alexandru Rusu
University lecturer, statistician & GIS Specialist at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania – UAIC
Conducts statistical analyses for the studied areas and contributes to identifying other spaces in Romania with similar criminogenic potential.
05.
Daniel Lucheș
Sociologist; Expert in Discourse Analysis and Survey Analysis – West University of Timișoara, Romania
Coordinates qualitative and quantitative sociological analysis for the entire duration of the project.
06.
Sebastian Jucu
Urbanist; Specialist in Dereliction Studies especially in post-communism – West University of Timișoara, Romania
Evaluates the degree of urban degradation in the analyzed area.
07.
Master’s Students
Support the entire research process
(interviews, surveys, fieldwork, interpretation).