Georgia Lavery Van Parijs

Georgia is a third-year undergraduate student studying English and Gender Studies at UCLA. Georgia has utilized her education to build upon her curiosity and desire to expand her understanding of different experiences, cultures, communities, and peoples; a passion which she has cultivated through an analytic, comparative skill-base. She is currently interested in improving policies surrounding reproductive justice, and sexual, gendered, and domestic
violence, with the goal of pursuing a career in law or academia. Georgia’s previous research consisted of a project called Legal Interpretations of the Comstock Act, which studied the revival of this act and the subsequent legal interference into the private domain. This project analyzed this dramatic and sudden departure from the long standing precedent of rational and scientific precedent for legal arguments relating to the gradual narrowing of how the law can be applied to contraception, abortion, and birth control. Outside of research, she is an intern at the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center where she focuses mainly on research, education, and outreach with the UCLA campus. She is also the Policy Director of IGNITE, a women’s empowerment club with a focus in reproductive justice, where she spearheads legislative initiatives. Her URSP project will focus on research regarding accessibility of medical facilities, support services and resources for victims/survivors on UCLA campus. This research will help understand the extent to which UCLA students can access relevant resources after experiencing sexual assault at UCLA-affiliated organizations and what their experiences are. Georgia also hopes to provide a foundation for developing policy recommendations to how the UCLA-affiliated organization might enhance the services they provide to meet the critical needs of survivors.