Ester Blay Gil

Ester Blay Gil is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Law at the University of Girona, Spain, specializing in criminology with dual expertise in penology and policing studies. Her academic career spans over 15 years, including prior appointments as Visiting Professor (2009-2012) and Lecturer Professor (2012-2016) at Pompeu Fabra University, and she remains actively engaged with the Research Group on Seminars in Criminal and Criminological Sciences.

Her educational foundation includes a PhD in Public Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2006), a Law Degree from the University of Barcelona (2000), and a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics (1992). She further enhanced her academic credentials with a Postgraduate in University Teaching from the University of Girona (2008).

Dr. Blay's research synthesizes two critical domains: penology (focusing on alternative sanctions like community service, judicial application of penal systems, and risk assessment in offender supervision) and policing studies (examining police models, victim support mechanisms, and public order maintenance). Her work consistently centers gender violence analysis, particularly police responses to domestic violence from victims' perspectives, and explores protest policing dynamics in contemporary Spain. This dual focus bridges theoretical criminology with practical criminal justice applications through rigorous empirical investigation.

Analysis of her 2008-2015 publications reveals evolving trends: early work emphasized community sanctions implementation in Spain, while recent scholarship increasingly incorporates comparative European frameworks and qualitative victim-centered methodologies. Her research demonstrates growing international collaboration, particularly within COST Action networks, and shifts toward analyzing police-victim interactions in gender violence cases and protest contexts.

As a dedicated academic leader, Dr. Blay coordinated the interdisciplinary Master's in Criminology and Penal Execution (UPF, UAB, UdG, UOC) from 2011-2015 and served on UPF's Doctoral Program Academic Committee. Her research is sustained by significant grants including the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness project on community supervision (2013-2015) and the European COST Action on offender supervision (2012-2016), alongside multiple national projects examining desistance, reintegration, and gender-based victimization.

She actively contributes to the Research Group on Seminars in Criminal and Criminological Sciences at the University of Girona while maintaining professional affiliations with both the European Society of Criminology and the Spanish Society of Criminological Research, ensuring her work remains embedded in international scholarly networks.