Sofía Galván Puente is a Senior Advisor at University Network for Human Rights. Galván is an attorney and expert in human rights standards and practice and a specialist in the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. She has particular expertise in the rights of persons with disabilities and those deprived of liberty. Galván has researched, documented and written or co-written dozens of studies, reports and articles on human rights abuses.
Sofía Galván served for a decade as a human rights specialist in the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). At the IACHR, the most recent position Galván held was Coordinator of the Human Rights Monitoring Section that oversaw the rights of persons deprived of liberty, the rights of migrants and the rights of children. Galván also oversaw rights monitoring for 17 countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Prior to joining the staff at the IACHR, Galván was the Director for Mexico and Central America of Disability Rights International. In addition to establishing the regional office, she designed litigation and impact strategies at the national and international level to strengthen protections for persons with disabilities, and she helped to create the first organization run by persons with mental disabilities in Mexico, Colectivo Chuhcan. Galván served as a visiting professional with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.