Dr Laura Bower
Biography
Laura has been a Lecturer in Criminology and Victimology since October 2023, although she has taught criminological theory since 2020. She started working at the University of Portsmouth in August 2025.
Her main research interests centre around violence against women and girls, with a particular emphasis on identity, language intersectionality, and feminist disability studies pedagogy.
Her main methodological interests centre around conducting arts-based research, where her PhD focused on exploring the language choice made by people with lived experience of sexual violence and professionals who worked with service users.
Laura is also particularly interested in the #tradwife movement, especially from a Black feminist lens and exploring it through the implications for violence against women.
As a lecturer in criminology and victimology, Laura teaches on various school programmes, including criminological theory and research methods.
Laura is the module convenor for Victimology, Vulnerability and Risk; Victimology, Victimisation and the Criminal Justice System, and the co-convenor for Dangerous Offenders and Vulnerable Victims.
Before joining the department, Laura was a lecturer at the University of Durham and Edinburgh Napier. She has also previously worked as a Volunteer Panel Member with Durham County Council's Youth Offending Team and as a PhD tutor at The Brilliant Club, where she is very passionate about widening participation.
Laura is also a passionate feminist artist and author!
Research outputs
2025
A day in the life of a rubbish feminist
Bower, L. J.
10 Jun 2025, In: The Sociological Review
Research output: Article
Is ‘victim-survivor’ our imperfect alternative to describing people with lived experience of sexual violence? A feminist symbolic interactionist analysis, considering how ethnicity, gender, and disability interact with language choice
Bower, L. J.
30 Apr 2025, In: Violence Against Women
Research output: Article
The woman in black: a defense of trigger warnings in creating inclusive academic spaces for trauma-affected students through a feminist disability studies pedagogy
Bower, L. J.
2 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 36, 1, p. 1-18
Research output: Article
2024
The thorn in feminism’s side: black feminist reconceptualization and defence of #tradwives and the #tradwife movement
Bower, L. J.
3 Nov 2024, In: Journal of Gender Studies
Research output: Article