Araceli (Arancha) García del Soto (Spain)

Dr. Araceli (Arancha) García del Soto is a Spanish psychologist and human rights expert currently engaged in projects on emotional safety and “holistic security” within human rights organizations. She holds a PhD in Sociology and began her career in 1993 accompanying refugee groups in the Balkans. Over the years, she has worked in West Africa, Sri Lanka, and Colombia, including with EQUITAS, providing forensic and psychosocial support to families of the missing since 2004.

Dr. García del Soto has collaborated with community-based initiatives, international NGOs, and institutions such as the International Criminal Court, the Colombian Truth Commission, and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. In the European Union, she has delivered migration workshops with OSCE-ODIHR, and she supports migrant women arriving on the Mediterranean coast as well as human rights defenders in Central America, Colombia, and Spain.

Alongside her fieldwork, she teaches in Master’s and PhD programs in Mexico, Colombia, the United States, and Spain, with a focus on psychosocial, psycho-legal, and trauma-informed approaches when working with victims of war and violence.