Elaine Pearson is a writer and human rights activist. She is the Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, overseeing the work of the division in more than 20 countries. She has worked for Human Rights Watch since 2007 in New York and Sydney and conducted human rights investigations around the globe. She was Human Rights Watch’s inaugural Australia Director from 2013–2022. Elaine 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. Prior to Human Rights Watch, Elaine worked for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kathmandu and London.

She is an adjunct lecturer in law at the University of New South Wales, on the advisory committee of UNSW’s Australian Human Rights Institute and on the board of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women. Elaine 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 lives and works on Gadigal land in Sydney.