Johanna Westeson joined the International Legal Program in 2011. She coordinates the work of the Europe team [1], focusing on the promotion of reproductive rights in Eastern and Central Europe by working through regional and international human rights mechanisms.
Prior to joining the Center, Johanna worked at the Swedish Foundation for Human Rights, where she was the Program Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean and also responsible for Human Rights Education. While there, Johanna ran the Foundation's support for regional Latin American human rights NGOs, supported human rights bodies working within the Inter-American System for Human Rights, and designed and implemented a pilot program for women's and LGBT rights in the Caribbean. Previously Johanna worked as a consultant to the World Health Organization's Sexual Health and Rights Project as the main researcher on Europe, producing a report that addressed a number of issues, with a core focus on reproductive rights. The report also analyzed laws and jurisprudence of European states, the E.U., and the European Court of Human Rights. She has also worked with the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sida, in La Paz, Bolivia, where she ran its human rights and civil society program, and has clerked at Uppsala District Court, Sweden. She received her J.D. from Uppsala University and her L.L.M. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.