Mariana Ardila Trujillo

Mariana is an expert in women’s rights and litigation as a platform for social change. She was recently appointed as the Transitional Justice Director of the Ministry of Justice and Law in Colombia, after working nearly a decade for Women's Link Worldwide.

In Colombia, Mariana has successfully litigated various cases before the Constitutional Court. She was one of the leading plaintiffs in the historic case decriminalizing of abortion in Colombia up to 24^th week of pregnancy. She led the submission of the first and only report before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace about reproductive violence by the FARC rebel group, as well as reports to Colombia's Truth Commission on violence against black women in the context of the armed conflict in alliance with grass-roots black women organizations. She has advised several landmark cases on telemedicine for abortion, crimes committed during the Franco regime in Spain and contraceptives failures in Chile.

Mariana holds a law degree from the Externado University of Colombia and a Master’s Degree in International Legal Studies from New York University (NYU). She is a law professor at Externado University of Colombia, and has published academic articles and a book on The Human Right of Women to Contraception.

Sub-specialties:
Reproductive rights, transitional justice, gender-based violence, international gender crimes, gender justice.