Richard Pearshouse
Richard Pearshouse is the director of Environment and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. From 2018 to 2022, he was Head of Crisis and the Environment at Amnesty International, where he oversaw a diverse and multi-disciplinary team implementing demanding environmental research, advocacy, and campaigns in crisis- and conflict-affected countries. In locations including Brazil, Iraq, Mozambique, Cambodia, and West Papua, he led innovative and impactful work protecting communities at risk in resource-driven conflicts and strengthening legal protections for the environment during armed conflicts.
Richard previously worked at Human Rights Watch from 2008 to 2018, where he helped found HRW’s environment program and develop its main pillars of work as its associate director. His research and advocacy focused on threats against environmental defenders and their communities, and environmental health issues caused by exposure to toxic substances, including highly hazardous pesticides, arsenic, lead, mercury, and industrial chemicals. He has undertaken high-level advocacy on environmental issues with national governments, the UN, and multilateral and bilateral aid donors. He has also worked for non-governmental organisations in Canada, East Timor, and Guatemala. He is a lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia.
Articles Authored
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October 19, 2017
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September 25, 2017
Canada Has a Toxic Mercury Blind Spot
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March 16, 2017
The Politics of Arsenic-free Water
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October 25, 2016
Vietnamese Drug Users Make A Break For Freedom
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April 19, 2016
Why Asia’s Drug Detention Centers Need to be Shuttered
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March 21, 2016
Dispatches: For Water ‘Have Nots,’ Rights Matter
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September 24, 2015
Why Healthy Development Requires Accountability
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Reports Authored
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Nepotism and Neglect
The Failing Response to Arsenic in the Drinking Water of Bangladesh’s Rural Poor
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