Directory of Research and Expertise

---

Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Civil Rights, Human rights, International Law, International Relations

Regions:

Caribbean, North America, South America, United Kingdom

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Victorie Knox is a Lecturer in Refugee Studies at the Refugee Law initiative and teaches on MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration, University of London. She has 15 years experience conducting research on displacement and human rights, both in academia and for NGOs and international organisations.

Research leadership and facilitation

Victorie has taught postgraduate research skills and research ethics for the forced displacement field for over ten years. She has taught the research module of MA Forced Migration and Refugee Protection since 2016, shaping this module into an effective programme to train postgraduate students in the research skills to conduct work in this field and to shape their research plans, as well as supervising students' dissertations. She also teaches  on a specialist short course for practitioners and doctoral students, and has examined PhD mini-viva. She has supported doctoral students, fellows and practitioners in identifying and mitigating ethical concerns in individual tutorials.  She also evaluated the ethical approaches of research fellows.. As Acting Chair of the Research Ethics Committee AY19/20, she led on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the development of guidance on remote research.

Since 2020, she has been Assistant Editor of the OUP Refugee Survey Quarterly journal, where sheensures the quality of debate and research on comtemporary practice in this field. She convenes the RLI Research Affiliate discussion group that helps shape research by facilitating a space for researchers to present their work-in-progress papers for peer discussion and develop them for publication. Previously, she worked with the Refugee Hub to develop a knowledge hub and regularly updated database to promote thought-leading research material on safe and legal pathways for asylum seekers and recognised refugees (resettlement, complementary pathways and family reunification) that spans academia, policy and practice, www.resettlement.plus.

Research and investigation

Victorie's specialist area of research is how gang violence, organised crime and corruption contribute to displacement and the broader human rights situation in Central America and Mexico, where she has carried out fieldwork since 2012. She has conducted research on organised crime and migration for over 12 years in academic and professional contexts, including her doctoral research. She works on the links between organised crime, corruption and forced displacement (including people-smuggling and human trafficking) in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, including working directly with people who have experienced forced displacement. Her forthcoming monograph contributes novel analysis and new understanding of three aspects of organised crime’s links with migration.

She worked as a senior research consultant for several years and conducted research for international NGos as well as for academic research centres. This included investigating internal displacement and forced migration caused by widespread violence in El Salvador and Honduras for the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, delivering studies on human trafficking affecting displaced Venezualans in Trinidad and Guayana for CARICOM and HIAS, and managing a desk research project for the University of Ottawa's Refugee Hub, leading eight remote researchers and producing six publications.. She has previously worked on equality and discrimination and on reproductive rights and access to abortion, with a particular focus on Latin America, and was a co-director of the Central America Woman's Network. Victorie also has considerable experience in communications and campaigns and has held senior roles in advocacy organisations including Amnesty International and International Alert.

Victorie was awarded PhD in Human Rights by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, from where she previously graduated with MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights. Her doctoral research explored the links between organised crime and migration in Mesoamerica, in the context of the emerging protection crisis in the region. Her thesis analysed how violent criminal groups drive migrations, are a threat during during migratory transit and control people smuggling operations. She also holds degrees from Queen Mary University of London and University of Brighton.

Legal and policy engagement

Victorie has used her research to inform asylum decision-making in the UK and Europe. Her research is cited extensively in the Home Office's Country Information Notes for El Salvador and Honduras and the European guidance on asylum claims from Honduras. She has written expert witness reports for over 100 asylum cases in the UK, on country conditions in El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. Drawing on her expertise and that of colleagues at the Refugee Law Centre, she developed expert witness training on how to write country reports for asylum claims that meet the requirements of the new Practice Directive and are useful to the Tribunal. It aims to improve the quality of expert reports and the quantity of country experts available by engaging researchers with relevant expertise in this work. The intensive course provides high-quality training in how to prepare expert witness reports for the UK Immigration and Asylum Tribunals and practical guidance on doing work in this field. It is aimed at researchers who have relevant expertise on the displacement dynamics and human rights and/or conflict situations in a specific country that cause people to flee. The training launched in June 2025 and is delivered on a quarterly basis.

Victorie has also contributed her research findings to shape the policy approaches and knowledge base of international organisations and United Nations mechanisms and to provide evidence for strategic litigation. She has contributed to submissions to various UN human rights committees, national human rights committees and legislative bodies, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She recently helped shape the North and Central American Task Force on Migration's recommendations on complementary pathways for people in need of international protection from Central America and submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons' Call for Inputs on ‘Internal Displacement in the Context of Organised Criminal Violence’.

Languages:

	Spoken	Written
French	Intermediate	Intermediate
Spanish	Fluent	Fluent
German	Intermediate	Intermediate

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
06-Feb-2026	Organised Crime and Migration. Criminal Groups, Corruption and the Displacement Crisis in Central America and Mexico Monographs
25-Oct-2025	'Internal displacement caused by violence outside of conflict', in The Oxford Handbook on Internal Displacement Chapters
27-Feb-2025	Internal displacement caused by violence perpetrated by organised criminal gangs and networks: Drivers and dynamics Articles
05-Oct-2019	Gang violence, GBV and hate crime in Central America: State response versus State responsibility Articles Significant displacement is caused in Central America by gang violence, gender-based violence and hate crimes against LGBT+ people but State responses have failed to address their root causes.
05-Mar-2019	Web of violence: crime, corruption and displacement in Honduras (2019) Articles
25-Sep-2018	An Atomised crisis Reframing displacement caused by crime and violence in El Salvador Articles Research reveals that criminal violence in El Salvador is highly targeted and individualised, and this defines displacement dynamics and protection needs. In the absence of coordinated state support, people rely on their own networks and often don’t report their situation for fear of reprisal. This means they have few safe options inside the country, which leads to repeated displacement, severe restrictions on freedom of movement and significant crossborder flight. The research also finds that, in attempting to combat extremely high levels of violence in El Salvador, repressive state security measures have triggered new displacement, as gangs target police and their families, and security forces target young people in gang-affected areas. The study draws on extensive desk research covering the academic literature and latest empirical reports, and qualitative data collected in 51 interviews with 80 experts in El Salvador and Mexico City during March and April 2018.
05-Oct-2017	Factors influencing decision making by people fleeing Central America Journal articles Interviews with people who have fled violence in Central America reveal the influences behind their decision making prior to and during flight.
01-Sep-2015	El Salvador in focus: The criminalisation of abortion
28-Sep-2012	Sonia Tábora and the risks of being poor and pregnant in El Salvador Articles
01-Sep-2012	Abortion in the Americas: Non-Discrimination and Equality as Tools for Advocacy and Litigation Journal articles This article explores to what extent International Human Rights Law (IHRL) can make a formal or substantive contribution to access to abortion, analyses aspects of dis-crimination caused by the criminalisation of abortion, and examines the benefits of using the rights to equality and non-discrimination in advocacy and litigation to secure access to safe abortion as a critical component of reproductive healthcare.

Consultancy reports:

Date	Details
2019	Web of Violence: Crime, corruption and displacement in Honduras Report and analysis for the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre on internal displacement caused by violence, organised crime and corruption in Honduras.
2018	An Atomised Crisis: Reframing internal displacement caused by crime and violence in El Salvador, Report and analysis for the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre on internal displacement caused by violence, gangs and organised crime in El Salvador

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
Forced displacement linked to corruptionand impunity in megaprojects: new aspects of development-induced displacement in Honduras and Mexico Funded with a BA/Leverhulme Small Grant

Available for doctoral supervision: Yes

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
	16th International Refugee Law Seminar Series - The Future of Refugee Law This seminar series brings together academics, barristers, practitioners and other experts to ask: With global shifts, emerging challenges and international protection in flux, what do these big trends mean for the future of the refugee framework, humanitarian responses and human rights law? The series comprises of six sessions - including a keynote speaker - and tackies some of the most pertinent current questions in refugee law. It is well attended by academics, practitioners, students, and the general public.
	Expert Witness Training Developed an intensive course for researchers who wish to act as expert witnesses to inform decision-making in asylum cases.

Consultancy & Media

Available for consultancy:

Yes

Media experience:

Yes

Back to top