Gema Varona Martínez

Gema Varona Martínez is Director of the Basque Institute of Criminology at the University of the Basque Country, Spain, where she researches and teaches victimology and criminal policy. She is the current President of the World Society of Victimology and co-director of the university’s master’s programme in Victimology. She is also Chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Society for Criminology (ISC-SIC), Paris.

Her scholarship connects victims’ experiences, restorative justice, human rights and the evaluation of public policies. She has published on victims of terrorism and sexual abuse, migration, women’s safety and the construction of legal truth. Her work combines conceptual analysis with attention to participation, recognition and the conditions for reparation.

Varona Martínez’s service includes victimological cooperation, educational leadership and ten years as President of the Basque Society of Victimology. She is a member of Jakiunde, the Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. In 1998, she received the International Society for Criminology’s Junior Scholar Competition Award for research on restorative justice. She organised the International Symposium of the World Society of Victimology in San Sebastian (2024).

As Co-chair of the WCC 2027 Scientific Committee, she connects the congress with international victimology and restorative justice networks. Her contribution strengthens attention to victims’ rights, inclusive institutions and responses to harm that combine research with ethical responsibility. She brings a perspective that links criminal justice, social justice, and the lived experiences of affected communities.