A team from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UW-Eau Claire) is advancing a project that uses technology to support victims of sexual violence in Latin America. The initiative, which began several years ago but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest, aims to develop a mobile application that allows users to document incidents for legal or personal use.
Avery Dresel, a senior majoring in Latin American and Latinx studies with a minor in geography, participated in the 2025 summer research collaboration in Argentina. She presented her findings to the Council on Internationalization and Global Engagement this fall and will present again at UW-Eau Claire’s Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity next April.
Dresel described her involvement as an opportunity that combined many of her interests. “I felt very grateful to be offered the opportunity to join the project. It’s a project that combines a lot of my interests, and traveling to Argentina to work on this project provided an incredible out-of-classroom opportunity to observe and practice so much of what I’ve learned in the classroom at UWEC. It was an amazing eye-opening experience that kicked off my final year as an undergraduate,” she said.
The original idea for the app came from Dr. Jeff DeGrave, who worked with Noelia Corrales, a partner from Nicaragua, after learning about high rates of sexual violence against women in parts of Latin America. The concept was to use geospatial technology through smartphones to help victims record details such as location, date, time, videos or photos—information potentially useful for legal cases or personal healing.
DeGrave noted Dresel’s contribution: “It’s amazing to see where she has taken the efforts we started years ago.”
The recent phase included beta testing with partners at Universidad de Congreso in Mendoza, Argentina. Focus groups tested prototypes on smartphones and computers while providing feedback on design elements and technical issues.
Dresel emphasized community input: “We prioritized their voices, opinions and critiques because that was the most important part on a project such as this.”
The next stage involves transforming the prototype into a fully functioning app. To do this, DeGrave sought expertise from UW-Eau Claire’s computer science department. Dr. Rahul Gomes and Dr. Benjamin Fine proposed integrating development into a spring capstone course for computer science students.
Gomes explained: “This collaboration highlights the interdisciplinary strength of UW-Eau Claire’s approach to research and teaching.” He added that students from various disciplines—including computer science, biomedical engineering, Spanish/Latin American and Latinx studies—would contribute perspectives ranging from technical implementation to cross-cultural communication.
Rosana Fernandez Vila, a junior biomedical engineering major from Spain who recently joined as another primary student researcher, is helping analyze coding needs and translate content into Spanish.
Fernandez Vila said: “Coming from another country, it makes me happy to see how this kind of project can have an impact on people all over the world.” She continued: “The idea that this app could help someone communicate important information or report a sensitive situation, like sexual abuse, makes the work feel very meaningful.”
Gomes echoed these sentiments: “It is a powerful example of how Blugolds learn to turn their technical and cultural knowledge into tools for a meaningful global impact.”
DeGrave reflected on seeing progress toward completion: “An idea about a way to help people that was pulled through immersion programming in four Latin American countries and is now making its way to an interdisciplinary technological reality on this campus — it’s a great research success story for our students and for our international partners.”
