Bianka Rodríguez was forced to leave home after facing violence and abuse from family members from a young age.

As a teenager, Bianka Rodríguez was forced to leave home after facing violence and abuse from family members from a young age.

After dropping out of school she began volunteering for COMCAVIS Trans Association – a Salvadoran non-profit organisation that advocates for the rights of LGBT and HIV positive people – particularly those forcibly displaced by anti-LGBT discrimination.

The organisation provides access to humanitarian assistance, shelter, legal and psychosocial services.

In 2016, after her predecessor fled El Salvador due to death threats, Bianka took on her current role as executive director.

In El Salvador, one of the world’s most dangerous countries, LGBT people are at high risk of assault, murder, sexual violence, gang threats, intra-family violence and extortion. COMCAVIS Trans has documented more than 600 murders of LGBT people over the last 20 years and the killing of two trans rights activists.

Hundreds more have fled the country or are internally displaced.

For her commitment to these vulnerable groups, Bianka was named UNHCR’s 2019 Nansen Refugee Award regional winner for the Americas.

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