Dr. Menaka Raguparan

Menaka is feminist sociolegal scholar and a sex work activit. Her research and teaching interests includes sex work and women of colour’s experiences in the sex industry, Critical Race, Criminology and Criminal Justice System, intersections of racialization and sexuality, and South Asian diaspora. Menaka’s doctoral research examined the lived experiences of women of colour and Indigenous indoor sex workers in Canada, as they negotiated their intersectional identities against the backdrop of social, legal and political constructions of the “prostitute.” She has published this research in academic journal such as International Women’s Forum, Work Employment and Society. Menaka’s work also appears in E. M. Durisin, E. v. d. Meulen, & C. Bruckert (Eds.), Red Light Labour: Sex Work Regulation, Agency, and Resistance. Menaka is the founder and co-chair of “Sex, Work, Law and Society,” a collaborative research network (CRN 6) at the Law and Society Association (LSA). Her current research examines the racial impacts of state-led human trafficking initiatives in the United States.