Rebeca Marques Rocha

Rebeca is a doctoral candidate at the Central European University in Vienna. Her research interests center around young people, particularly those involved in party scenes and nightlife, and the meanings, responses and social networks they co-create to deal with matters connected to drug use and policy, harm reduction and illegal/pleasure. Rebeca is originally from Brazil, and brings extensive experience as a practitioner and consultant in the field. She has volunteered with the Human Rights NGO Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD), contributing to advocacy campaigns denouncing police violence and the gendered impacts of national drug legislation. Additionally, Rebeca has worked as a harm reduction technician with NGO Kosmicare in Lisbon, Portugal, and later as a Policy Coordinator at UNITE Global Parliamentarians Network. In this role, she led parliamentary advocacy efforts for drug policy reform in partnership with the Open Society Foundations. Rebeca remains an active member of the Portuguese Treatment Action Group (GAT) and the Citizens’ Initiative for Cannabis Regulation in Portugal. She is one of the co-founders and current directors of the CEU Student Think Tank. She became a member of the International Working Group of Youth RISE in August 2022, and in February 2023 she assumed the position of Youth RISE’s International Communications & Advocacy Officer.