Researcher in the Spotlight: Maria Valoes Fontenele

Name: Maria V. Fontenele
Position in the Faculty of Law: Doctoral Researcher
Degrees: LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Fields of interest: Human Trafficking, Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, Human Rights, Transitional Justice, Criminology

Describe your career path. What led you to where you are today?

Where I am today is the result of choices made and chances taken. Shortly after starting law school I realized I didn’t want to be a lawyer at all. Faced with this reality I had to ask myself “so what do I want to be?” This question lingered on for a couple of semesters until I had the opportunity to join a research project about trafficking in persons.

The topic awakened a sense of indignation within me, it wasn’t until looking at police statistics that I realized human trafficking was a pressing reality and not some movie plot exaggeration or a scary story to tell unruly kids why they should not get out of their mother’s sight in a shopping mall. I was full of anger and questions and right then I saw what I wanted to be, namely, I wanted to be part of the solution and I guess that was when I became a researcher.

I tried to stray away from this research topic many times, for instance, I was a tutor for disciplines like civil and tax law, but it was like swimming against a tide of my own subconscious interest and I decided to accept that this heavy, hard to read and emotion filled subject was what I was meant to study. With that in mind, I decided to pursue a Masters abroad and ended up in Germany, where I wrote my thesis about the application of International Humanitarian Law to trafficking in persons in armed conflict. Despite the excellent grade I was not satisfied with the results because the law of war did not address the issue in it’s totality.

As family reasons brought me to Finland, I started looking for a doctoral supervisor and during this process I tried, once again, to change my research focus. During my search for a Professor whose interests aligned with my background, I was lucky enough to come across the profile of Professor Daniela Alaattinoglu, whom I contacted with the idea of writing a doctoral dissertation about gender and war.

Professor Daniela took a chance on me and gave me great directions on how to improve my research project, pointing out the importance of finding a research gap that I could fill with my work, which led me right back to the problem with my master thesis and the issue of finding an alternative framework for victims of trafficking in persons in armed conflicts to access justice where International Humanitarian Law does not apply.

I submitted the research project to the University of Turku during last year’s spring call and got accepted into the Faculty of Law’s doctoral program, as well as selected to be in my current role as a funded doctoral researcher. The next chapters of this story are still being written.

What projects are you currently working on?

My biggest project is my doctoral dissertation, at this stage I’m working on a case study to observe the experience of human trafficking survivors finding redress in an armed conflict setting, comparing the remedies available where the trafficking is also considered a violation of IHL and where it is classified as “common criminality.”

Have your interests evolved since finishing your studies?

I feel like my focus has switched from a State/Policy perspective to a more empirical approach that tries to capture the survivor’s point of view. I’m eager to hear how the issue develops in the fields and use my work to try to echo the voices of those most affected by the problem.

What would you be, if you were not a researcher?

Every time I ask myself this question I come up with a different answer. At the date I’m writing this down, I say I would be a Yoga teacher (or working on getting the necessary qualifications).

What inspires you?

People inspire me, I am lucky to be surrounded by so many people I admire and look up to and that inspires to be the best version of myself that I possibly can.

If you'd like, feel free to share how you've adapted to life in Finland and/or Turku, and/or the Calonia community.

I moved to Finland full of uncertainties about how I would adapt to the language, the weather and the life-style. Joining Calonia proved to me that most of my fears were unfounded, as I encountered a very open and supportive community and have felt very welcome by all colleagues since my first introduction.