Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta


Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta is an Argentine lawyer, professor and politician, currently serving as Minister of Women, Genders and Diversity since 10 December 2019. She is the first person to hold that office.
She rose to prominence in 2016 as the attorney of activist and social leader Milagro Sala.

Early life and career

Gómez Alcorta was born in San Isidro, in the suburbs of the Greater Buenos Aires, in 1982. She studied law at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1997 with honors; she is the first university graduate in her family. She is a member of the :es:Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales|Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, and worked in the Justice Ministry and the Council of Magistracy, where she became involved in judicial matters pertaining to victims of state-sponsored terrorism during the last military dictatorship. Additionally, she has been a faculty of the University of Buenos Aires School of Law, her alma mater.
She rose to prominence in 2016 as the defending attorney of activist and social leader Milagro Sala, who stands accused of embezzlement. According to Gómez Alcorta, Sala was "sentenced for being a woman", and the charges against her constitute a "witch-hunt never seen before in the democratic era"; she maintains Sala is a political prisoner.
Gómez Alcorta is a member of Mala Junta, a "feminist, popular, mixed and dissident" collective organized within the Patria Grande Front. She is a vocal supporter of the legalization of abortion in Argentina.

Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity

Ahead of the 2019 general election, then-presidential candidate Alberto Fernández announced his intention of creating of a new government ministry dedicated to overseeing public policies pertaining to women's issues, especially the issue of gender-based violence against women. Gómez Alcorta was touted by Fernández and vice-presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to head the new ministry ahead of the Frente de Todos ticket's victory in the 2019 election.
Under Gómez Alcorta's vision, the new ministry was subdivided into two secretariats, one dedicated to designing and implementing policies to mitigate gender-based violence against women, and another tasked with implementing policies related to equality and gender and sexual diversity. Gómez Alcorta has stated that the ministry's ultimate goal is "to mainstream and federalize gender policies across the Government's administration".