Viviana Waisman

Viviana Waisman is the Founder and Director Emeritus of Women's Link Worldwide, an international non-profit organization that uses the power of the law to promote social change that advances the human rights of women and girls, especially those facing multiple inequalities.

Viviana is an expert in women’s rights and international human rights law. She has led the litigation strategy in numerous emblematic human rights cases before national, regional and international bodies. Historic decisions include the case of Ángela González before the CEDAW Committee, Beauty Solomon before the European Court of Human Rights and Rosalind Williams before the UN Human Rights Committee.

She holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, a Master’s in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

She has extensively worked as a researcher and authored various publications on migration; protection for victims of trafficking; women in armed conflict and transitional justice as well as sexual and reproductive rights. Viviana designed and led the first initiative to document gender and racial discrimination in Spain. She also authored the first report on the situation of migrant women in detention centers in Spain and the documented of trafficking routes and the experiences of women and girls trafficked from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe.

Between 2011-2015, she was part of the Third Group of Experts of the European Commission on Trafficking in Human Beings. She has organized numerous international conferences and meetings related to trafficking, sexual and reproductive rights, and international gender crimes. In 2016 Viviana was named as an Ashoka Fellow in recognition of her work and progress through Women's Link.

Follow Viviana on Twitter: @VivianaWaisman

Sub-specialties: Migrant women's rights, Sexual and reproductive rights, Safe abortion, International gender crimes, International human rights law, Gender stereotypes, Intersectional discrimination, Women in armed conflict