Civil Society Resistance to Milei’s Anti-rights Agenda

When

9:30 - 10:30 AM EDT
Wednesday, 11 March 2026

Where

1666 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20009 or Virtual on Zoom

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Argentina has long been considered a regional leader in gender equality.  It was among the first countries in Latin America to adopt comprehensive legislation on violence against women. It legalized abortion in 2020. It had a Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity. Argentina built national policies on care, political parity, and access to justice. That institutional architecture did not emerge overnight. It was built over decades, across different administrations, through democratic debate and international commitments. Today, that architecture is being disassembled at unprecedented speed. Since President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, Argentina has experienced a systematic and institutional backsliding in gender equality policies. 

Delfina Schnenone Sienra of the Latin American Team for Justice and Gender (Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género –ELA) will present on the major changes affecting women’s rights under the Javier Milei administration. This includes the dismantling of institutions, budget cuts, and the getting rid of policies that protect women and girls and guarantee their access to justice. Delfina will discuss how ELA and the feminist movement are pushing back against Milei’s anti-rights agenda. 

ELA is an Argentine NGO dedicated to changing the reality of women and to influencing from Argentina throughout the region, with a focus on human rights, gender, and access to justice. Delfina Schenone Sienra is a sociologist specialized in gender studies with over ten years of experience in social research and consultancy projects on women’s rights and the rights of people of sexual and gender diversity, working with international organizations, government institutions, the private sector, and civil society.