Raguparan, Menaka

Selected Publications

Academic Article
- Diasporic Capital: Canadian Sex Workers of Color Hacking Sexual Racism. Gender & Society. 39:120-146. 2025-01-01
- Anu’s story: Unpacking the conflation of sex work and sex trafficking. Sexualities. 2024-04-01
- Resisting State Violence by Making Room for Police Officers’ Benevolence: Canadian Indoor Sex Workers of Colour Share Their Experiences. Feminist Legal Studies. 31:171-189. 2023-07-01
- ‘It’s a Puzzle You Have to Do Every Night’: Performing Creative Problem Solving at Work in the Indoor Canadian Sex Industry. Work, Employment and Society. 34:424-440. 2020-06-01
- “If I′m gonna hack capitalism”: Racialized and Indigenous Canadian sex workers'experiences within the Neo-liberal market economy. Women's Studies International Forum. 60:69-76. 2017-01-01
- (Il)legal Subjects? Contested Identities of Canadian Indoor Sex Workers. Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies. 3:328-350. 2014-02-01
Chapter
- “Looking White”: Sex Workers of Color Hacking White Supremacy -- Sex Work Today: Erotic Labor in the 21st Century. New York University Press. 108-118. 2023-10-01
- “Is It Because I'm Not Young and White with Blue Eyes?” -- White Supremacy, Racism and the Coloniality of Anti-Trafficking. Routledge. 170-186. 2023-07-01
- Victims of State Violence: Indigenous and Women-of- Color Sex Workers Interactions with Law Enforcement in Canada -- Gender Justice and the Law: Theoretical Practices of Intersectional Identity. The Rowman & Littlefield. 165-186. 2020-01-01
- "The Paradox?!": Racialized and Indigenous sex workers’ encounters within a capitalist market -- Red Light Labour: Sex Work Regulation, Agency, and Resistance. University of British Columbia (UBC) Press.. 189-202. 2018-01-01
Document
- Book Review: Sex and Stigma: Stories of Everyday Life In Nevada’s Legal Brothels by Sarah J. Blithe, Anna W. Wolfe, and Breanna Mohr. Gender & Society. 1002-1004. 2019-12-01
- Gopika Solanki: Adjudication in Religious Family Laws: Cultural Accommodation, Legal Pluralism, and Gender Equality in India.. Feminist Legal Studies. 2013-04-01
Report
- ‘Of course people will hire the white person’: Social and economic inclusion of migrant women in Vancouver, Canada. -- GAATW Publications. GAATW International Secretariat.. 2022-01-01
- A Global Scan of non-profit organizations serving Marginalized and Criminalized populations: Examining possibilities to better serve the different needs of sex workers of colour in Vancouver. SWAN Vancouver.. 2020-01-01
- Just Facts: Prevalence of Mental Disorder in the Criminal Justice System.. Ottawa: Government of Canada. 2013-01-01
- Representation of visible minorities in the Canadian criminal justice system.. Ottawa: Government of Canada.. 2013-01-01
- The Path to Justice in a Court-Based Drug Treatment Program.. Ottawa: Government of Canada.. 2013-01-01
- Extradition: An analysis of case processing time from request to outcome.. Ottawa: Government of Canada.. 2011-01-01
- Clandestine Laboratories and Marijuana Grow Operations: First Responders’ Views and Experiences.. Ottawa: Government of Canada.. 2010-01-01
- The Federal Victim Surcharge in Saskatchewan.. Internal Publication. Ottawa: Government of Canada.. 2010-01-01

Presentations

Presentation

Research Overview

Dr. Raguparan's current research program addresses the conflation of sex work and sex trafficking within the criminal legal system.

The first study examines the Human Trafficking Courts (HTCs) in the US. Drawing on ethnographic court observations and in-depth interviews with court officials, social workers and prostitution defendants from seven HTC, this qualitative study aims to (1) provide a deeper understanding of how the TVPA shapes moral and legal justifications for “victim-centered” responses within the theoretical and methodological framework of therapeutic jurisprudence, and (2) examine whether the conflation of sex work and sex trafficking, along with victim-centered initiatives in the criminal legal system, results in more intrusive and frequent sanctions for individuals involved in prostitution and its related offenses compared to pre- HTC practices.

The second project, an intersectional qualitative study, aims to investigate sex workers' and police officers' interactions—including the power dynamics and implications—in the pre-arrest diversion process. Namely, this study, which is in its early stages of data collection, explores officer and sex worker perceptions of pre-arrest diversion interactions where law enforcement uses alternative action to arrest—such as “lecture and release” or referral programs.

Supplementing her research program, Dr. Raguparan is also working on a project to explore issues of diversity and inclusivity within the Canadian Sex Workers' Rights Movement. Drawing on focus group interviews with activists within the Canadian sex workers' rights movement, the study comprehensively charts the evolution of the movement over the past 10 years to understand the strengths and challenges of the movement.

Investigator On

Understanding the process of pre-arrest diversion for prostitution and related offenses in the United States 2024-10-01 - 2025-06-01
Understanding the process of pre-arrest diversion for prostitution and related offenses in the United States 2024-08-01 - 2025-06-01
A Multi-Site Ethnographic Study Centering Victim Experiences of Human Trafficking Courts in the US 2022-05-01 - 2022-08-01
A Multi-Site Qualitative Study of Human Trafficking State Courts in the United States: Origins, Challenges, and Consequences 2022-05-01 - 2022-08-01
Ethnographic Court Observations of Human Trafficking Courts in the US 2022-05-01 - 2022-08-01
Process Evaluation of Rochester Human Trafficking Intervention Court, New York: Examining the Feasibility of Theraputic Approaches to Combat Human Trafficking 2022-01-01 - 2022-06-01
A Multi-Site Qualitative Study of Human Trafficking State Courts in the United States: Origins, Challenges, and Consequences 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-01
Qualitative Study of Canadian Indoor Sex Workers of Color 2012-09-01 - 2013-08-01

Teaching Overview

Dr. Raguparan regularly teaches the following courses

Undergraduate
CRM 105 - Introduction to Criminal Justice System
CRM/SOC 255 - Criminology
CRM 360 - Criminological Theory
CRM 370 - Racialization and the Criminal Justice System
CRM 495 – Race, Sexuality, and Social Control

Graduate
CRM/SOC 506 - Qualitative Data Analysis

Full Name

Menaka Raguparan

Raguparan, Menaka

positions

Publications

Selected Publications

Academic Article

Chapter

Document

Report

Presentations

Presentation

Research

Research Overview

Investigator On

Teaching

Teaching Overview

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