One of the goals of Youth RISE is to work on intersectionality. Which is why this year we decided to organize a webinar series on issues affecting young LGTBQ+ who use drugs. 3 webinars in English, Spanish and Arabic languages were organized through the month of October:
- Historical Perspective of the LGBTQIA+ movement fighting for the rights of people who use drugs: Our speakers included: Barbara M. Arisi, an anthropologist and journalist, specializing in socio-environmental justice and creativity, gender/sexualities, indigenous and discard studies.; Liria Morales Ramírez, an anthropologist from the University of Costa Rica, with a diploma in Drug Policy, Human Rights and Health from CIDE Mexico; and Erwing Augsten Szokol a lawyer, researcher and human rights activist. He has studies in human rights education from the Universidad Autónoma de México.
- Mental health, drug use and young LGBTQIA+: Our speakers for this event included: Kareem Nasr, a Psychology graduate that is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. He will be talking about mental health, support, intervention and harm reduction; and Yusra Imad Abi Wardeh who is currently working as a counselor in Saint Georges Hospital University Medical Center in Beirut as she is mainly a clinical psychologist. She will talk about self-esteem, drug use and mental health.
- Chemsex and sexual education: The aim of this webinar was to integrate experiences from North and South America, analyzing consumption trends, talking about harm reduction in chemsex and talking about best practices, as well as dispelling common myths through a conversation with the speakers and the audience. The speakers included: Juan Camilo Carvajal, a biologist with six years of experience on drug related harm reduction, member of the Colombian harm reduction collective Échele Cabeza. He also creates strategies to tackle the issue of drug consumption with a focus on human rights and public health; Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard, a drugs journalist, peer harm reduction worker, and drug-user activist. Founding staff writer at Filter (filtermag.org), she has written for The Intercept, VICE, The Appeal, and more; and Rubén Diaz Conti, a social anthropologist specialized in health by the Sonora College. Adjunct Lecturer of the College of Public Health of the Arizona University and Southern Arizona Aids Foundation volunteer. Coordinator of the Harm Reduction Program of the Condesa Specialized Clinic.
