Giulia Garofalo Geymonat, (nominated by Teresa Degenhardt) is a sociologist in the field of gender and sexuality and works at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Her long-term commitment to feminist and queer activism in Italy and across European countries had led her to conduct research on sex work, domestic work, disability, migration, queer families and assisted reproduction, as well as social movements mobilizing around these issues.

Her research in collaboration with collectives of sex workers involving migrants and queer people highlights their lived experiences and the critique that they have developed around violence, stigmatization, disability, mental health, unionization, as well as the policies of sex work and migration in contexts such as Italy, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Britain, and the EU level.

Her research on sexual services for people with disabilities in Switzerland examines sex work related to caregiving and therapeutic practices and looks at the possibilities of alliances between disability rights and sex workers’ rights, reflecting on sexuality and access to it. Issues of access guide also Giulia’s interest in reproductive technologies and the politics of (in)fertility in today’s Europe, with a special attention to class, nationalism and sexual identity. 

Giulia has led a personal, political, and civil campaign advocating for the rights of ‘rainbow families’ linked to her own experiences, including a TEDx talk in Naples. The campaign has taken legal challenges up to the highest courts, including the Italian Supreme Court.