Lisa Avalos

Biography

Professor Avalos joined the Law Center faculty in 2018.  Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of criminal law and procedure, with an emphasis on sexual offenses and gender-based violence.  She also teaches in the area of legal ethics.  Professor Avalos’s publications have appeared in the Brooklyn Law Review, Nevada Law Journal (forthcoming), Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, the Journal of Gender, Race and Justice, and the Fordham International Law Journal.

Professor Avalos previously taught at the University of Arkansas School of Law and was a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to entering academia, she worked as an associate at McDermott Will & Emery in New York City and at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg in Chicago. She earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She also holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology Northwestern University, and a B.A. in psychology from Northwestern University. Prior to attending law school, she taught sociology at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

Courses Taught

• Administration of Criminal Justice I
• Criminal Law
• Legal Profession
• Sex Crimes: Emerging Law & Policy Issues

Selected Publications

Articles

Reversing the Decriminalization of Sexual Violence, 21 Nev. L. J. 1 (2020).

The Chilling Effect:  the Politics of Charging Rape Complainants With False Reporting, 83 Brooklyn L. Rev. (June 2018) (lead article).

Policing Rape Complainants:  When Reporting Rape Becomes a Crime, 20 Iowa J. of Gender, Race and Justice 459 (2017) (invited symposium article).

Prosecuting Victims While Rapists Run Free: the Consequences of Police Failure to Investigate Sex Crimes in Britain and the United States,  23 Mich. J. Gender & L. 1 (2016).

Female Genital Mutilation and Designer Vaginas in Britain:  Crafting an Effective Legal and Policy Framework,  48 Vand. J. Transnat’l Law 621 (2015).

Ending Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage in Tanzania, co-authored with Naima Farrell, Rebecca Stellato, & Marc Werner, 38 Fordham Internat’l L. J. 639 (2015).

Abortion in the Web of Relationship:  Negotiating the Abortion Decision Through a Lens of Care, Internat’l J. for Human Caring. Vol. 7, No. 2 (2003).

Hindsight and the Abortion Experience:  What Abortion Means to Women Years Later, Gender Issues, 17(2):  35-57 (1999).

Book Chapters

Commentary on State v. Walden, 293 S.E.2d 780 (1982). Rewritten opinion by Professor Sarah Swan.  In Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Criminal Law Opinions (I. Bennett Capers, Sarah Deer, & Corey Rayburn Yung, Eds.) (Forthcoming 2021).

Law Enforcement Training Materials

Raped, Then Jailed:  The Risks of Prosecution for Falsely Reporting Sexual Assault, Training Bulletin, End Violence Against Women International (May 2019) (Joanne Archambault, Kimberly Lonsway & Lisa Avalos (contributing author)).

Victim Recantations:  Addressing Gender Bias in Sexual Response and Investigation, Training Bulletin, End Violence Against Women International (March 2018) (co-authored with Heather Huhtanen & Kimberly Lonsway).

Op-Eds

Female Genital Mutilation and Designer Vaginas in Britain: Crafting an Effective Legal and Policy Framework, Vand. J. Transnat’l L. Blog (June 21, 2015). 

This FGM Trial Should Never Have Happened, Guardian (U.K.), February 5, 2015.

Britain is Violating Rape Victims’ Human Rights, Guardian (U.K.), December 2, 2014.

With Lisa Longstaff, Michael Le Vell's Acquittal Is No Reason To Give Rape Defendants Anonymity, Guardian (U.K.), September 26, 2013.

In the Media

Louisiana Public Radio

Discussing the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and potential weekend violence at state capitols, The State We’re In, Jan. 15, 2021 (begins at 5:50 timestamp).

Daily Beast

Emily Shugerman, A Kansas Law School Student Reported a Rape. Then Police Arrested Her,  Nov. 11, 2019.  (commenting on how deficiencies in a police investigation can lead to false reporting charges against a crime victim).

Esquire

Gabrielle Bruney, Unbelievable Isn't the Only True Story of a Victim Who Was Charged for Reporting Their Rape (Sept. 14, 2019).  (discussing how deficiencies in a police investigation can lead to false reporting charges against a crime victim).

BBC Women’s Hour

Discussing the Jeffrey Epstein case with presenter Jenni Murray (Aug. 15, 2019), available here.

Sex On Trial

Hour-long documentary produced by Britain’s Channel 4 about the Nikki Yovino (Connecticut) sexual assault case.  Lisa Avalos appears in the documentary as an expert in sexual assault.  (Reviews are available in the Guardian,  Refinery, Financial Times, & INews).  (May 6, 2019).

Guardian

Hannah Summers,   Rape Victims to Be Spared Ordeal of Cross-examination in Court, Guardian (Mar. 19, 2017) (debunking various myths about false allegations of rape and explaining the problem of genuine rape victims being wrongly prosecuted for false reporting).

Sandra Laville, 109 Women Prosecuted for False Rape Claims in Five Years, Say Campaigners, Guardian, (December 1, 2014) (discussing comparative US-UK research on rape complainants who are prosecuted for allegedly false reports of rape).

BuzzFeed

Tyler Kingkade, Men's Rights Activists Say This College Student Is Why They Need A #MeToo Moment (July 7, 2018) (explaining the reasons why genuine sexual assault victims would agree to take a plea deal when charged with false reporting).

Katie J.M. Baker, Vulnerable Women Are Routinely Prosecuted – And Imprisoned – For False Rape Claims in the UK (June 29, 2018) (explaining rape investigation best practices and why it is not in the public interest to prosecuted suspected false reporters).

The Police Told Her to Report Her Rape, Then Arrested Her For Lying, BuzzFeed (Sept. 27, 2015) and Prachi Gupta, Police Told a Woman to Report Her Rape, Then Arrested Her  Cosmopolitan (Sept. 28, 2015) (explaining that police disbelief of sexual assault victims is a serious problem).

Time Magazine

Megan Gibson, The Problem With Prosecuting Women for False Rape Allegations, Time Magazine (December 3, 2014) (explaining why it is poor public policy for rape complainants to be prosecuted for allegedly false reports of rape).

Huffington Post

Jack Sommers, , The Big Risk In Britain's Hardline On Prosecuting Women for False Rape Claims, Huffington Post (December 3, 2014) (discussing comparative US-UK research on rape complainants who are prosecuted for allegedly false reports of rape).

Vice News

Sally Hayden, Campaigners Say British Authorities Must End “Aggressive Pursuit” of Women for False Rape Claims, Vice News (December 3, 2014) (discussing my research and explaining why it is poor public policy for rape complainants to be prosecuted for allegedly false reports of rape).

Cosmopolitan

Kate Russell, Women Who Cry Rape:  There Aren’t That Many of Them, Cosmopolitan, UK (December 2, 2014)  (quoted as stating that the British practice of charging rape complainants with false reporting violates human rights).

BBC Radio

BBC Today Show (BBC Radio Four, December 2, 2014) (discussing the fact that some women prosecuted for false allegations of rape are genuine rape victims).

Africa Wrap

Africa Wrap (Arise News Television, December 8, 2014) (discussing efforts to end female genital mutilation and child marriage in Tanzania).