Speaker: Christian
Job title: Phd student
Company: Université Libre de Bruxelles / Fundación Pakta

About the spreaker
Christian Alexander Paula Aguirre is an Ecuadorian lawyer and a doctoral candidate at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, conducting research within the Centre de Recherche en Droits Pénal. His foundational legal training includes a Law degree from Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (2006-2011). He has augmented this with advanced degrees, notably a Specialist in Constitutional Law from Andean University Simon Bolivar (2012-2014), a Master in Human Rights and Democratization for Latin America and the Caribbean from National University of General de San Martín (2013-2014), and a subsequent Master in Constitutional Law from Andean University Simon Bolivar (2020-2022). As a scholar, Christian works as a full-time professor at the Central University of Ecuador. Additionally, his main fields of research have been Human Rights, LGBTIQ+ rights, and Transitional Justice. He has been developing many research projects, papers, and presentations regarding those topics. As an activist, Christian is a co-founder of Pakta Foundation. The organization is composed primarily of LGBTIQ+ lawyers, and isits goal of to pursue legal cases before Ecuadorian courts to defend the rights of LGBTIQ+ people. In 2019, Pakta Foundation achieved recognition of same-sex marriage in Ecuador before the country's Constitutional Court, thereby allowing same-sex couples to marry from that point forward. Additionally, they are sponsoring the first legal case seeking to recognize trans children's gender legal identity on their documents in Ecuador, which was achieved in March 2026 Finally, Christian, as part of Pakta Foundation, is also part of regional networks such as the Americas LGBTI Lawyers Network and the Sin Violencia Network.