Orcid ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5408-3329
Lidia Casas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and a Law degree from Diego Portales University (1999). She also holds an LLM from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Law from the University of Ottawa, Canada. She was a Ford Foundation Reproductive Health Fellow and received a research grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) through the Global Health Research Initiative.
Lidia is a full professor in the Department of Public Law at Diego Portales University, where she also serves as Director of the Human Rights Center and Co-Director of the Master’s Program in International Human Rights Law. She teaches courses on law and gender across Chile and Latin America and conducts training workshops for professionals within the judicial system.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards, including the 2001 Award from the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region, for her outstanding advocacy in family planning, and the 2017 International Women’s Day Award from ComunidadMujer in recognition of her work promoting and defending women’s human rights. She was a member of the Gender and Rights Advisory Group of the World Health Organization’s Department of Reproductive Health (2009–2010 and 2013–2015) and has served as a consultant for the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (CEJA) and the German cooperation agency GTZ. Since 2001, she has played an active role in the legal defense of emergency contraception in Chile.
Her research focuses on the justice system and gender, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive rights, and discrimination. She has led major research initiatives, including the "Multicenter Study on Student and Faculty Attitudes Toward Law 21.030" (2021), the project "Advancing Reproductive Rights in Chile" (2021), funded by the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and "Support and Legal Aid for Migrants and Refugees" (2021), funded by UNHCR.
Her recent publications include key works on women’s rights and gender justice in Chile, covering topics such as gendered perspectives on child support enforcement, the legalization of abortion in Chile, and the importance of psychosocial support during voluntary termination of pregnancy.
In 2024, Lidia was appointed by President Gabriel Boric Font as a member of the Monitoring Committee of the National Plan for the Search for Truth and Justice (PNB), a body established under Decree No. 98 of November 2023. She participates in this role as a scholar with a recognized trajectory in the defense, study, and promotion of human rights.
She is also a member of the Latin American Academic Network on Law, Gender, and Discriminated Sexualities (Red-ALAS)
Through her research and public engagement, Lidia has made significant contributions to academic and policy debates on equity and social justice in Chile, particularly in the fields of gender and reproductive rights.