LGBTQI+ and Women’s Rights in The Face of Democratic Erosion

The rise of transnational conservative networks in Latin America and Europe forms a threat to LGBTQI+ and women’s rights. This event aims to discuss the challenges that arise in the LGBTQI+ and women’s rights movement in Latin America and Europe, as well as the role of civil society and academia in counteracting these challenges.

This event aims to portray the threat from transnational conservative networks as an intersectional issue to LGBTQI+ and women’s rights. With a panel of esteemed speakers, we will discuss contemporary LGBTQI+ and women’s rights in LATAM and Europe, the promotion of an anti-rights, especially anti-LGBTQI+ agenda by transnational conservative networks, some parallels in populist movements and the democratic erosion in LATAM and Europe.

About the speakers

Iván Chanis Barahona is a Human Rights lawyer from Panama and is the president of Fundación Iguales, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human rights, equality, and diversity in society. He has ample experience in national and international human rights advocacy, with a strong emphasis on LGBTQI+ rights as well as previous experience in the Supreme Court of Panama and the UN system. A former diplomat and legal counsellor, he has also served as an active member of the Advisory Council of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture.

Evi van den Dungen is senior advisor global advocacy at Rutgers (Dutch knowledge center on sexuality) where she advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights at the UN in New York and Geneva. She is involved in the programmatic work of Rutgers working with activists in Africa and Asia, to whom she provides support on global advocacy and human rights mechanisms. Before she worked in Dutch and European politics and completed an LLM in International Security.

Shamla Tsargand is international project manager at COC Netherlands.