Based on a 2014 initiative promoted by the Bisexual Research Center in Boston, March has become the time of year when issues and topics related to the health and well-being of bisexual people are at the centre of the American LGBTAIQ+ activist debate.

With the aim of contributing to raising awareness of bisexual health, and the intention of bringing this initiative to the specific context of Portugal, we are inaugurating the seminar series “Between the letters: conversations about bisexualities and plurisexualities” in March in order to discuss the challenges that negatively impact the lives of bi+ people, particularly with regard to the sphere of intimacy. The proposal for this first session is to explore bisexual mental health, with a special emphasis on the experiences of binegativity within affective relationships.
 

Guest Speakers: Sara Malcato (Social Worker, Master in clinical and health psychology and clinical sexologist) and Mafalda Esteves (Social psychologist, researcher and PhD candidate).
Moderator: Mariacristina Migliore

Bio notes 

Sara Malcato holds a degree in Social Work from the Portuguese Catholic University and a master's degree in Clinical Psychology, specialising in clinical and health psychology. She is a clinical sexologist with the Portuguese Society of Clinical Sexology. She has postgraduate qualifications in Clinical Sexology, Couple Therapy, Fostering Children and Young People at Risk and Psychological Assessment. She is a Victim Support Technician and Scientific Coordinator of the Advanced Specialisation in Sexology and Positive Sexuality at the CRIAP Institute. She is an expert in LGBTI issues for the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality and has been a guest speaker at various initiatives organised by different organisations, namely in the areas of mental health, sexology and social work. She was the coordinator of services at the ILGA Portugal Association (LGBTI+ telephone helpline, LGBTI+ Victim Support Service, Psychological Support Service and Social Support Service). Activist, feminist and human rights defender.

Mafalda Esteves is a psychologist, a collaborating researcher at CES-UC and a PhD candidate in the Psychology programme at CIS/ISCTE-IUL, where she is developing a thesis entitled “Invisible sexualities: intimate citizenship and psychosocial well-being in bisexuality”. She has a Master's degree in Psychosocial Research and Intervention from the University of Barcelona. Over the years in her work she has been interested in critical approaches in social psychology, bi+ identities, sexual and gender diversity in childhood, community approaches to health and well-being, collective action and public participation. She is currently a coordinating member of the GPS-Sexualities Research Group and the SHARP Talks - Sexuality, Health and Human Rights at CES-UC and the Health for All Research Group (CIS-ISCTE-IUL). Her most recent publications in the field of bisexual studies are “Bisexual citizenship in Portugal” (2022) and “At the Fringes of Pride Politics: Experiences of Bisexual and LGBTQ+ Chronically Ill People in Portugal”, co-authored with Mara Pieri.

Mariacristina Migliore has a degree from Sapienza - Università di Roma and a Master's degree in European and Extra-European Languages and Cultures from the Università di Catania. Migliore is currently a PhD candidate in the Feminist Studies programme at the University of Coimbra (FLUC/CES), with a research project dedicated to the work of the Brazilian author Cassandra Rios, funded by the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology. 

Activity within the GPS-CES | Sexualities Research Group

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