Ester Borges Santos – Women Deliver

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2020

Ester Borges Santos

  • Age: 26
  •    |   She/her/hers

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The rights to freedom of expression and access to information are essential for achieving gender equity and for oppressed people in our society to fully achieve their political, educational, and sexual and reproductive rights. We must advocate to preserve these rights and expand them to everyone.

- Ester Borges Santos

Bio

Ester Borges Santos was born and raised in Brazil. She holds a BA in International Relations from the University of São Paulo and is Master of Science Student in Political Science at the the same University. In her master, Ester studies the influence of the media agenda on the political agenda on gender issues. As head of research at InternetLab, Ester is a digital rights activist and supports research in the area of information and politics, analyzing issues related to the impact of Internet communications on democratic practices in Brazil. In addition, Ester is part of Minas Programam, an institute that works with the participation of black women and girls in science and technology, promoting training courses and workshops.

What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?

My interest in gender equity started in 2014 when a girl who was studying at my high school was raped and the school board instructed her to be quiet. At that moment, all the girls at the school got together and started talking about the oppression they had already suffered. This made me realize that these stories should not be suppressed. I promised myself that in my professional career, I would help women tell their stories and offer tools so that they were all free.

Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.

After the publication of the "Brief Panorama on Legal Abortion and Transparency in Brazil," I had the opportunity to participate in the organization of an event with people who have worked for decades in sexual and reproductive rights in the city of São Paulo and launch the website Mapa Aborto Legal where women from all over Brazil can access which public hospitals perform this procedure.

Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?

In my spare time, I like going to the movies and reading fiction books.

Languages Spoken:

  • English (Advanced/Native)
  • Portuguese (Advanced/Native)
  • Spanish (Advanced/Native)

Speaks On:

  • Disinformation and misinformation in electoral context
  • Gender equality in science and technology
  • Digital safety

Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:

  • Investigative Journalism course by Revista CULT
  • Data Journalism course by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI)
  • Participation in the 1st Congress of Intersectionality Studies in Social Sciences at the University of São Paulo
  • Presentation at the II Congress of Scientific Initiation San Tiago Dantas
  • São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Scholarship for scientific initiation research