Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

2024 Annual Report Update: Human Trafficking Research Cluster

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Research Cluster marked major milestones: launching a new book on sex worker health in Rhode Island, continuing collaborative research with Red Canary Song, and preparing to debut “Liberation Atlas,” a digital map of policing violence against Asian massage workers in NYC.

 HTRC Book Launch Event for Understanding Health and Care Among Sex Workers
Credit: Elena Shih

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Research Cluster (HTRC) celebrated the second book born out of its collaborative research with sex workers' rights and anti-trafficking organizations. Understanding Health and Care Amongst Sex Workers: Perspectives from Rhode Island (Palgrave Press 2023) by Claire Macon, Eden Tai and Sydney Lane, is based on unique research with sex workers conducted alongside Ocean State Advocacy, a grassroots sex workers' rights organization in Rhode Island. The book was commissioned by the Palgrave special series on New Advances in Sex Work, co-edited by HTRC Faculty Fellow Elena Shih, and includes an introduction by former undergraduate HTRC research fellow Julianna Brown ’19; Alpert Medical School ’24. In May 2024, the HTRC hosted a book launch for the event that included public comments by Lorelei Lee and Yin Q. The first HTRC book was White Supremacy, Racism, and the Coloniality of Anti-Trafficking, by Kamala Kempadoo and Elena Shih (Routledge 2022).

Separately, HTRC continued its ongoing collaborative research project with Red Canary Song, a grassroots coalition of migrant massage workers combating racist violence and human trafficking in New York City. HTRC undergraduate research fellows Arman Deendar ’25, Shravya Sompalli ’25, and Amy Xiao ’24 have built a digital map of policing violence against Asian massage work in New York City. The HTRC plans a Fall 2024 launch of the map, “Liberation Atlas.”

Elena Shih
Human Trafficking Research Cluster Faculty Fellow
Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies