Ariadna Beneventi: “Real political will and institutional mechanisms that recognize young people as strategic actors are needed.”

^{Photo: Courtesy of Ariadna Beneventi}

What are the main recommendations of Latin American youth today for advancing the rights and equality of women and girls, in the context of International Women’s Day 2026?  

From my perspective as a feminist activist in Chile, I firmly believe that advancing the rights and equality of women and girls in 2026 requires specific, powerful priorities within the current socio-political context at both the regional and global levels. Countries must follow and adopt international agreements, such as the Belém do Pará Convention (for those states that have ratified it), and advance comprehensive legislation that prevents, punishes, and eradicates gender-based violence against women and girls in all its forms.

This will ensure effective access to justice, especially for girls and young women who face violence and exclusion, through systems that do not revictimize them and respond promptly with a gender-based approach. Almost two years ago, Chile enacted Law No. 21675, which seeks to guarantee access to justice free from revictimization and bureaucratic processes. On the other hand, a preventive framework needs to be established in childhood from an educational perspective.  

This can be done by teaching comprehensive sexuality education starting in preschool, where children are taught about consent, boundaries, and autonomy. If we move forward with comprehensive sexuality education, we will ensure a significant reduction in cases of sexual, physical, and psychological violence. In the face of the current political scenario, marked by significant setbacks, we young people call for the defense of the human rights of women and girls without relativizing them, understanding that gender equality is essential for democracy and social justice both in the region and globally.

With CSW70 in mind, what are the main obstacles women and girls face in accessing justice, and what changes are young people proposing to overcome them?  

In the context of CSW70, one of the main obstacles women and girls face in accessing justice is the persistence of systemic barriers within judicial systems, such as revictimization, excessive response times, the lack of an intersectional approach, and inadequate gender training for those who deliver justice.  

Added to this is the precarious nature of access to free legal defense. In the case of the legal aid corporation system in Chile, there is a high turnover of practitioners (who often take on cases) and a lack of specialization in gender-based violence, which seriously affects the continuity of proceedings and weakens cases.

When access to justice depends on such unstable structures or insufficient oversight, justice becomes unequal, and mistrust in the system increases. Territorial (including peripheral and/or rural areas) and socioeconomic inequalities also persist, particularly affecting girls, adolescents, rural women, migrants, and indigenous women, who often lack clear information, adequate legal representation, and sufficient support networks.  

While regulatory advances such as Law No. 21675 in Chile represent an important step toward gender equality, their real impact depends on effective implementation, with sufficient resources and institutional continuity, to ensure that these commitments transcend governments and political circumstances. It is also essential to include feminist youth in the design and evaluation of public policies on access to justice, so that solutions respond to the real gaps we have experienced for decades. 

How can young people contribute to preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls in Latin America from within their communities and movements?

Young people play a critical role in preventing and eliminating gender-based violence. Historically, young people have been mobilizers of major systemic change and active members of organizations and movements that provide local support.  

Through sustained local work, such as workshops in educational institutions, citizen consultations, and working groups (such as those carried out by the NGO Intransigentes, an organization I founded in 2022), we can move toward more informed communities with tools that will enable them to identify situations of violence early on, promote relationships based on respect and consent, and activate support and prevention networks within the community itself.  

Understanding that the eradication of gender violence is not built solely from institutions, but also from daily and collective work in the territories. 

What is needed for young people’s recommendations to be translated into public policies and concrete actions by States?  

For young people’s recommendations to be translated into concrete public policies, formal mechanisms are required to incorporate proposals into the legislative and executive agenda, stable annual budgets allocated with a gender focus and concern for young people, and monitoring systems with clear indicators and defined deadlines. Additionally, real political will and institutional mechanisms that recognize young people as strategic actors are needed so that these recommendations can become part of state policies.  

These must establish permanent and binding spaces for youth participation, with effective influence on the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies, especially in the areas of gender equality and violence prevention. For example, mechanisms such as the Advisory Councils for Children, Adolescents, and Youth (CCNAJ) in Chile have contributed to the formulation of public policies, including the National Policy on Children and Adolescents.

However, as these are government policies rather than permanent legal frameworks, their continuity and impact depend on the political will of the government in power. This highlights the need to move towards legal instruments and mechanisms for youth participation that are enshrined in law, have clear powers and their own resources, and ensure that the voice of young people has a sustained impact beyond political cycles.  

On the other hand, the recent public debate in Chile over the continuity and financing of institutions such as the National Youth Institute (INJUV) highlights the fragility of organizations dedicated to youth participation when they lack robust legal frameworks and cross-party political consensus to ensure their long-term sustainability.  

This reinforces the importance of moving toward robust institutions with clear regulatory frameworks, stable funding, and governance mechanisms that ensure continuity and stability beyond political circumstances.

From your experience as a young leader, why is it important for young people’s voices to be part of International Women’s Day and CSW70?  

Young people need to be part of International Women’s Day and CSW70 because multilateral spaces often talk about us without us. Many of the decisions made in these forums directly impact girls and young women. However, historically our participation has been limited, symbolic, or mediated by adult voices, especially those of men who have never been victims or direct witnesses of what we experience.

The presence and participation of young people are matters of democratic legitimacy. If equality policies are to be transformative, they must be developed with those who are currently experiencing the most acute tensions. Otherwise, there is a risk of producing comfortable consensuses that do not alter the structures that sustain inequality. Being at CSW70 means challenging the way international commitments on women’s and girls’ rights are designed, implemented, and evaluated, especially now that we are at a critical juncture of setbacks across five continents.

How do you assess the work of UN Women in the LAC region, and in what areas do you consider its work to be important, or in what actions is its mandate most visible?  

I value the work of UN Women in the Latin American and Caribbean region for its role in generating regulatory frameworks, evidence, and international standards that have enabled progress in equality policies and in the recognition of violence against women and girls as a structural human rights issue. Its mandate has been made visible in concrete terms through technical support to States, institutional capacity-building, and coordination among governments, civil society, and feminist movements in contexts where progress faces resistance or setbacks.  

At the same time, I believe it is essential that UN Women continue to deepen its connections with local organizations and youth, strengthening spaces for substantive participation and supporting processes that translate international commitments into real change at the local level. In a region marked by deep inequalities due to rurality and centralization, its role as an agency is fundamental to sustaining progress, protecting rights, and ensuring that gender equality remains a political priority.