Ginna Anderson

Ginna Anderson, Associate Director, joined ABA CHR in 2012. She is responsible for supporting the Center’s work to advance the rights of human rights defenders and marginalized communities, including lawyers and journalists at risk, women and girls living with HIV, and LGBTI people. She is an expert in health and human rights, media freedom, freedom of expression, and fair trial rights. As Deputy Director of the Justice Defenders Program from 2013 to 2022, and Director since 2022, she has managed strategic litigation, fact-finding missions, and advocacy campaigns on behalf of human rights defenders facing retaliation for their work in every region of the world. As Senior Advisor to the joint ABA CHR-ROLI Justice Works Program, she has coordinated technical assistance to local LGBTI advocates combating bias-motivated violence in West Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Prior to joining the Center, she was a Georgetown Women in Law and Public Policy Fellow. She served as a legal fellow with the International Community of Women Living with HIV, where she advocated for the rights of women living with HIV and AIDS in global policy and practice. As a legal fellow at the DC-based Center for Health and Gender Equity, she analyzed U.S. foreign policy and legislation in the context of women’s reproductive health rights. Ginna clerked for the Honorable Thad Heartfield, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas. She received a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Law, Letters, and Society from the University of Chicago.

PUBLICATIONS

How can social media companies identify and respond to threats against human rights defenders? (ABA Journal, October 2019)