Research
I am committed to scholarship and research, with current grants, and submitted (pending) grants.
My research interests can be understood in terms of:
Processes of vulnerability
How sex workers are constructed as vulnerably in policy, yet oftentimes simultaneously have that vulnerability erased upon contact with the criminal justice system
Holding conflicting and competing harms and needs in tension
Displacement of harm and risk
Sex industry and sexual exploitation
Violence against women and girls
Organised crime groups (OCGs)
Much of my work focuses on stigma and displaced and dispersed harms. I will continue to develop multidisciplinary responses with colleagues internationally.
I am a creative and innovative thinker, and am keen to work outside of traditional academic disciplinary boundaries and norms.
Sex worker oral health: understanding research priorities and the acceptability of oral health outreach with students
I have a current Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Participatory Research Funding grant (2025) with Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty, School of Dentistry: 'Sex worker oral health: understanding research priorities and the acceptability of oral health outreach with students' (£5000). We have also been awarded £1200 Inspire summer internships grant, and a £2000 grant from IAA Diverse Outputs competition 2025 ‘Oral health needs, experiences and research priorities of sex workers in Liverpool: Exploring the perspectives of sex workers and dental professionals’.
We have also submitted for £23,000 Harmonised IAA Impact Acceleration Account grant: ‘Sex workers bite back: understanding the oral health experiences and priorities of sex workers in England and ways to address them’.
This is innovative interdisciplinary work that will lead to significant impact. We have have a further grant submitted.
The analysis of solicitors’ records to contextualise events surrounding dog bites and attacks.
In Dec 2023 I was Co-I on a BBSRC Impact Acceleration Account grant for the amount of £22,985 with Dr John Tulloch: The analysis of solicitors’ records to contextualise events surrounding dog bites and attacks.
Deconstructing Cross-Border Bride Trafficking Networks in China: A Social Network Analysis Perspective
Globally, I have an interest in the potential of working with Chinese criminology, I recently delivered the keynote paper on sex work and the limitations of criminal law to an international delegation at University of Liverpool/ Association of Chinese Criminology and Criminal Justice in the US conference. This was seed-funded by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
I have an international visiting scholar from Hong Kong University: Fan Pan. Alongside my colleague Eddie Shuai Wei, we are concentrating on novel research bringing together Chinese bride trafficking, and situating this within the wider landscape of violence against women and girls, and using sex trafficking and sexual exploitation frameworks. Fan's research is Deconstructing Cross-Border Bride Trafficking Networks in China: A Social Network Analysis Perspective