Pia Justesen is a Danish human rights lawyer and journalist
- and still a strong believer in the international legal order
Living in homelessness on the streets is stressful – especially because it’s difficult to find dry and safe places to stay overnight. Bans on sleeping rough are some of the most hostile pieces of exclusionary design and legislation as they interfere with a basic human need - sleep. Hence, Pia was happy when signs prohibiting overnight stays on the City Hall Square in Copenhagen were taken down in November 2023. A de-criminalization that Pia had argued for, and which seemed inevitable after the mayors of Copenhagen had signed the Homeless Bill of Rights earlier the same year.
Pia Justesen, Ph.d.
Pia is dedicated to working for genuine equality and specifically focus on the human rights of persons experiencing homelessness, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities. Her most recent work focuses on social exclusion in public urban spaces of people experiencing homelessness. Pia's extensive list of publications is centered around human rights, minority groups, and homelessness.
Pia has been engaged in social justice since her childhood in the small town of Brenderup. She has lived in Aarhus, Brussels, New York (NY), Madrid, New Haven (CT), Chicago (IL) and Copenhagen. She took the diverse cities to heart and continues to do so.
Pia is currently based in Copenhagen. She is the Danish Expert Advisor in the European Equality Law Network and is writing a book on the situation of people with spinal cord injuries - before and now. Most recently, Pia was doing a research project on homelessness and social exclusion with CREATE at the University of Aalborg. Pia also collaborated with the organisation Projekt Udenfor on the exhibition “The Exclusionary City”, which is shown at The Danish Welfare Museum until the end of April 2025. Previously, Pia worked as a corporate social responsibility advisor and as an attorney specializing in employment law. In Chicago, Pia taught disability rights at the University of Illinois and worked with the independent living organization Access Living.