Description

The Australia Director at Human Rights Watch shares her experiences defending human rights from human trafficking in Nepal to the drug war in the Philippines to treatment of detainees in Papua New Guinea and in Australia offering an extremely involving personal account of how far weve come and how far weve got to go

Growing up in Perth Elaine Pearson always dreamt of the wider world Her British father and SingaporeanChinese mother meant that her family extended beyond our shores but it wasnt until later in life that she fully understood how her professional calling might have been influenced by personal history she learned that her beloved maternal grandmother had been sold to an opera troupe as a child to save the family from starvation

As soon as she could Elaine followed her interest in womens rights and peopletrafficking interviewing sexworkers and victims of trafficking on the streets of Bangkok and Amsterdams red light district Her experiences in Nepal and Nigeria profoundly shaped her understanding of how governments and NGOs need to protect the rights of victims as well as how poverty corruption and war drive trafficking in the first place

Elaines story takes us on a panoramic survey of human rights across the world into the UN committee rooms of New York and Geneva as well as to the frontlines of Sri Lankas search for those who disappeared in the countrys civil war examining death squad killings on the Philippines island of Mindanao and the detention of asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea And her work on the appalling treatment of prisoners many of whom are Aboriginal vividly demonstrates that human rights abuses are something that happens at home as well as out in that wider world

In exploring human rights abuses and governments failure to address them Chasing Wrongs and Rights sometimes shows humanity at its worst Just as often though we see people at their best compassionate resilient determined Deeply informative and inspiring Elaine Pearsons story will leave you understanding how much needs to change and how individuals can make a difference