Women’s Rights and Constitutional Reform in the Americas

Join the Pozen Center and the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School for “Making Gender Equality a Reality: Women’s Rights and Constitutional Reform in the Americas.” This daylong virtual conference will bring together leaders on women’s equality in the Americas to discuss the impact of constitutional reform on women’s rights and insights for the future of gender equality.

Simultaneous translation in English and Spanish will be provided.

Esta conferencia virtual, que durará un día entero, reunirá a líderes en materia de igualdad de género en América para discutir el impacto del cambio constitucional en los derechos de la mujer y las perspectivas para el futuro de la igualdad de género. 

Habrá traducción simultánea del inglés al español y viceversa.

Conference Agenda:

9:15 a.m. CT (GMT-5)

Welcome and Overview

Claudia Flores, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Global Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School (U.S.); and Co-Presenters

9:40–10:15 a.m. CT (GMT-5)

Keynote Speaker

Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, Co-Chair of the White House Gender Policy Council and Chief of Staff to the First Lady

10:30–11:45 a.m. CT (GMT-5)

Panel I: Gender in Governance: Parity and Representation

María del Carmen Alanís Figueroa, Chairperson of the Gender, Equality, and Inclusion Committee, International Women’s Forum Mexico; former Chief Justice of Electoral Tribunal for the Federal Judicial Branch (Mexico)

Vilma Romero, Independent Human Rights Consultant; former Head of the Anti-Discrimination Unit, UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights Bolivia (Bolivia)

Nidya Pesántez, Head of Office, UN Women Bolivia; former Programme Specialist, UN Women Ecuador (Ecuador and Bolivia)

12–1:15 p.m. CT (GMT-5)

Panel II: Advocates for Responsive Change: Diversity, Inclusion, and Transformation

Norma Guillard, President of the Section for Investigation of Identities and Diversity (Seres) (Cuba)

Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, Senator of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)

Tania Pariona Tarqui, Indigenous Activist; former Congresswomen of the Republic of Peru (Peru)

1:30–2:45 p.m. CT (GMT-5)

Panel III:  Equality in the Private Sphere: Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Gender-Based Violence

Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic, University of Miami Law School (U.S.)

Catherine Pineda Eris, Professor of Law, José Cecilio del Valle University; Lawyer, the Legal Team for Human Rights (Honduras)

Vanina Escales, Coordinator of the Feminist Agenda, Center for Legal and Social Studies Argentina (Argentina)

3–4:15 p.m. CT (GMT-5)

Panel IV: Equal Protection Provisions: The Promise, The Reality, and Ways Forward

Julie Suk, Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law, Yale University; Author of We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the ERA (U.S.)

Tom Ginsburg, Leo Spitz Professor of International Law and Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago Law School (U.S.) 

María Inés Salamanca, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Specialist, UN Women Americas and the Caribbean; former Country Programme Coordinator, UN Women Chile (Chile and the Americas)

4:30–5 p.m. CT (GMT-5)

Concluding Remarks

Claudia Flores, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Global Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School (U.S.)