Dr. Wendy Aujla (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice at Athabasca University.
She grew up in and currently lives with her family in Treaty 6 territory in Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan, also called Edmonton, Alberta.
As an applied sociologist, she collaborates with community partners to create meaningful social change. Her community-engaged, policy-relevant research bridges the gap between academia and the real world.
Her research focuses on gender-based violence, “honour-based” crimes, forced marriages, and the (re)victimization of marginalized populations, particularly South Asian and immigrant women who report abuse to both informal and formal supports. She also explores the perspectives of service providers, including police, in addressing these issues. Her work is informed by critical race feminism and intersectionality, and she specializes in community-based research, work-integrated learning, and creative knowledge mobilization.
She has collaborated on national and international research projects exploring the complexities of mothering in the context of family violence, intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and service providers’ experiences supporting trans and immigrant women impacted by intimate partner violence. Her research has been published in journals such as Crime and Delinquency, Critical Criminology, Family Violence, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, and Victims and Offenders, among others. Most recently, she co-authored a chapter in the co-edited Routledge International Handbook of Femicide and Feminicide.
Dr. Aujla proudly serves on the expert advisory panel for the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability and the Immigrant Family Violence Prevention Committee. She is deeply committed to building safer, violence-free communities. She founded an annual gift card campaign to support immigrant and refugee women and their children who are fleeing family violence. She has been recognized with several awards for her efforts in preventing and ending family violence, including the Government of Alberta Inspiration Award for Leadership in Family Violence and the Peace in Families Award.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Aujla's current research program or are looking for hands-on research experience, please feel free to email her at waujla@athabascau.ca.
Research interests
Gender-based violence
Victimization
Policing of racialized communities
Critical race feminism, anti-racism, and intersectionality
Grounded (constructivist) theory and qualitative research methods
Community-based research
Work-integrated learning
Knowledge mobilization
Educational credentials
PhD, Sociology, University of Alberta (Specialization: Community-Engaged Pedagogies and Community Engagement)
MA, Sociology, University of Alberta (Embedded Graduate Certificate in Community-Based Research and Evaluation)
Pre-Masters, Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba
BA, Sociology and Education, Concordia University of Edmonton
Professional affiliations
Canadian Sociological Association
Western Society of Criminology
Canadian Society of Evidence Based Policing
Community Campus Engage Canada
Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL)
Slakoff, C.D., Aujla, W., Moton, L., & Merken, S. (2024). “‘There are Not Enough Lawyers, and There are Not Enough Financial Resources’: Canadian and American Intimate Partner Violence Service Providers’ Perspectives for Better Supporting Immigrant Women Survivors.” Crime and Delinquency, 0(0). Special Issue on Gender-Based Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287241248103
Moton, L.N, Merken, S., Slakoff, C.D., Aujla, W. (2024). “Trans-Neutrality in Intimate Partner Violence Service Provision in the USA and Canada.” Critical Criminology 31, 1007-1023. Special Issue: Queer Victimology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-024-09748-6
Grekul, J., *Robinson, J., Aujla, W. (2023). “Adapting Criminology Field Placements during a Global Pandemic: Communication, Flexibility, and Contingency Plans in Experiential Learning.” Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2023.2231062
Merken, S., Slakoff, C. D., Aujla, W., & *Moton, L. (2023). “Navigating Biases and Distrust of Systems: American and Canadian Intimate Partner Violence Service Providers’ Experiences with Trans and Immigrant Women Clients.” Victims & Offenders: An International Journal of Evidence-Based Research, Policy, and Practice, 18(1), 141-168. Special Issue: Vulnerable Victimizations. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2022.2136319
Aujla, W. (2021). “Policing Perspectives Concerning Confusion and Uncertainty in Policing Practices with “Honour”-Based Crimes and Forced Marriages.” Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, 10(2), 1-39. https://www.qualitativecriminology.com/pub/v10i2-p1/release/1
Aujla, W. (2021). “‘It Was Like Sugar-Coated Words’: Revictimization When South Asian Immigrant Women Disclose Domestic Violence.” Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 36(2), 182–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920916038
Aujla, W. (2021). Police Understandings of and Responses to a Complex Vignette of “Honour”-Based Crime and Forced Marriage. International Journal of Child, Youth, and Family Studies, 12(1), 93–123. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs121202120085
Aujla, W. (2020). Using a Vignette in Qualitative Research to Explore Police Perspectives of a Sensitive Topic: “Honor”-Based Crimes and Forced Marriages. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919898352
Moffitt, P., Aujla, W., Giesbrecht, J. C., Grant, I., Straatman, Anna-Lee. (2020). Commentary: Intimate Partner Violence and COVID-19 in Rural, Remote, and Northern Canada: Relationship, Vulnerability and Risk. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00212-x
Slakoff, D.C., Aujla, W., & PenzeyMoog, E. (2020). The Role of Service Providers, Technology, and Mass Media When Home Isn’t Safe for Intimate Partner Violence Victims: Best Practices and Recommendations in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49, 2779–2788. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01820-w
Aujla, W., & Hamm, Z. (2018). “Establishing the Roots of Community Service-Learning in Canada: Advocating for a Community First Approach” in Special Issue, Engaged Scholar Journal, 4(1), 19-37. https://esj.usask.ca/index.php/esj/article/view/61581
Grekul, J., Aujla, W., Aylsworth, L., Eklics, G., Manca, T., and York A. E. (2018). “Community Service Learning in a Large Sociology Class: Reflections on the Instructional Experience” in Special Issue, Engaged Scholar Journal, 4(1), 61-78. https://esj.usask.ca/index.php/esj/article/view/61583