During her career Elaine has confronted issues from human trafficking in Nepal, to the ‘drug war’ in the Philippines and the treatment of detainees in Papua New Guinea and Australia. With Steve’s insight guiding the conversation Elaine will give us a panoramic survey of human rights across the world… Highlighting that human rights abuses are something that happens at home, as well as out in the wider world.

Whilst we will explore the persistence of human rights abuses and the failures of governments to address them, this is also an opportunity to celebrate the resilience and compassion of those fighting for change and discover how we can all make a difference.

Copies of Elaine’s new book “Chasing Wrongs and Rights” will be available to purchase following the talk – and Elaine will be ready to sign them!

Speakers:

Elaine Pearson is director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, overseeing the work of the division in more than 20 countries. She joined Human Rights Watch in 2007 and was formerly the Asia Deputy Director and Australia Director. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Pearson worked for the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, and London. She has conducted numerous human rights investigations in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Pearson writes frequently for a range of publications and her articles have appeared in the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Post. She is an adjunct lecturer in law at the University of New South Wales and on the board of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women. Pearson holds degrees in law and arts from Murdoch University and obtained her master’s degree in public policy at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She is the author of Chasing Wrongs and Rights, a human rights travelogue, published by Simon and Schuster in September 2022.

Steve Crawshaw is writing Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice (Bridge Street Press, 2025). Until 2023, he was policy and advocacy director at Freedom from Torture. Before that he worked for Human Rights Watch as UK director and UN advocacy director and Amnesty International as international advocacy director and Director of the Office of the Secretary General. He joined the Independent at launch including as Russia and East Europe Editor, covering  the east European revolutions and Balkan wars. His previous books are Goodbye to the USSR (1992), Easier Fatherland: Germany and the Twenty-First Century (2004), Small Acts of Resistance (with John Jackson, foreword by Václav Havel, 2010) and Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief (foreword by Ai Weiwei, 2017).

Attendance is restricted to Conduit members

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