The Aspen Institute

Claudia Díaz Olavarrieta is currently affiliated with the Research Division, Faculty of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the largest public campus in Latin America. As a professor and researcher she is part of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and works with undergraduate students and staff to document the prevalence and determinants of early unwanted pregnancy and its association with other types of gender based violence (GBV), including sexual harassment on campus by peers and faculty members. Before joining UNAM, she headed the Population Council’s Mexico office (2013-2018) where she supervised a wide portfolio of studies, ranging from measuring the sources, and consequences of GBV among women attending prenatal care in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to exploring the prevalence and characteristics of child marriage in Central America and Mexico. She worked in projects to build evidence that supported women’s rights to safe and legal abortion services in Mexico through participation in the National Pro-Choice Alliance. In 2013, the National Abortion Survey included a standardized module on abortion stigma. On that same year, she implemented the first girl empowerment project among rural Mayan girls living in Yucatan. Her research includes measuring abortion stigma; post-abortion contraceptive uptake and continuation among women in Mexico City; Mexican men’s views on abortion and their influence on the reproductive health choices of women. Dr. Diaz Olavarrieta would be an ideal candidate to attend because she would benefit greatly from the experience considering the breadth and depth of presentations convened by the Institute. Selected to participate in Ideas Festival Spotlight Health.