Hyderabad Campus,
Assistant Professor, School of Gender and Livelihoods
Coordinator, MA in Women’s Studies Programme
B.Sc. (Calcutta University),
M.A. (University of Allahabad),
Ph.D. in Modern History (University of Allahabad),
Ph.D. in Social Work (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
nilanjana.ray[at]tiss[dot]ac[dot]in
Email: nilanjana.ray@tiss.edu
Dr. Nilanjana Ray obtained her PhD in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, ranked in the top three Social Work Schools in the United States. The topic of her dissertation was Vulnerability to Human Trafficking.
Prior to joining TISS, Dr. Ray worked for five years in UNICEF India Country Office in the Child Protection Unit, joining in the anti-trafficking efforts.
She brings the combined strength of her field experience and research training in both India and United States to class.
Her core competencies are in Human Trafficking, Migration Studies, Child Protection, Qualitative Research Methods and Qualitative Impact Evaluation.
She has made 33 presentations in international and national academic forums.
She has international presence in academics as editorial board member and reviewer for high impact factor journals. She is on the Editorial Board of the journal Social Sciences and is a reviewer for Springer, Taylor and Francis, Routledge, Sage, MDPI Academic Publishers and Peter Lang Academic Publishers.
She has been associated with Field Action Projects and Research Projects that were funded by World Bank, UNICEF, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the State Government , London School of Economics, Plan International and World Vision.
She has supervised 38 MPhil and Masters dissertations.
Dr. Ray is a bibliophile who is especially fascinated by travel writing. Though no longer a frequent traveller as earlier, she has substituted actual travel with armchair travelling through books.
Human Trafficking
Child Protection
Migration by Women
Qualitative Research Methods
Qualitative Impact Evaluation
Select Journal Articles/Book Chapters
1. Ray, N. (2023). ‘We Look at Our Feet and Work’: Women Construction
Workers Negotiating Patriarchies in Kolkata, India, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies,
46:1, 39-54, DOI: 10.1080/00856401.2023.2138169 1. [Impact Factor: 0.9; Cite Score: 1.4]
2. Ray, N. (2021). Review of Roli Mishra (Ed.) Migration, Trafficking and Gender Construction: Women in Transition. New Delhi: Sage/Stree, 2020, ISBN 978-93-81345-47-4. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 28 (3): 473-476. DOI: 10.1177/09715215211030566. 1. [Impact Factor: 0.4]
3. Ray, N. (2019). Indian Women as Nurses and Domestic Workers in the Middle East: A feminist perspective. In S. Irudaya Rajan and Prem Saxena (eds.)Policies, Politic India’s Unskilled Migration to the Middle East: Policies and Challenges. Pp339-354. New Delhi: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-981-13-9223-8. [Listed in Web of Science and Scopus]
4. Ray, N. (2017).“Human Trafficking: A form of violence against women”. In Rashmi Jain
and Virendra Goswami (Eds.) Series on Gender. New Delhi: Studium Press, LLC. ISBN 978-93-85046-05-6
5. Ray, N. (2016). “Patriarchy and forbidden love”, The Book Review Journal (Special issue on Gender), August 2016. 1. [UGC Care List 2021: Arts and Humanities]
6. Ray, N. (2007). “Wither childhood? Child trafficking in India”. Social Development Issues, 29 (3), 72-83. ISSN 0147-1473.
7. Ray, N. (2006). “Looking at trafficking through a new lens”. Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, 12 (3), 909-927. ISSN 1074-5785.
Other Writings
1. Ray, N. (2016). “Short-term Relationship”, Development and Cooperation, July 2016.
2. Ray, N. (2014). “Aborted girls and trafficked brides: An Asian tragedy”. Development and Cooperation, 41 (4), April 2014.
Research/Organizational Reports
1. Gyanmudra and Ray, N. 2022. “Impact Assessment Study of Ujjawala Homes - Telangana”. Funded by Department of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana.
2. Gyanmudra and Ray, N. 2022. “Impact Evaluation Study of Swadhar Homes, Telangana”. Funded by Department of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana.
3. Gyanmudra and Ray, N. 2022. “Impact Evaluation of Sakhi One-Stop Centres in Telangana”. Funded by Department of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana.
4. Gyanmudra and Ray, N. 2021. “One-Stop Centre: Standard Operating Procedures”. Funded by Department of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana.
Conference Papers
International
1. Ray, N. 2023. “Women Convicted of Human Trafficking: Personal Profiles and Involvement in Crime.” APCORE-PIKSI International Conference 2023, Bandung, Indonesia, August 29, 2023.
2. Ray, N. 2023. “Domestic Violence and Vulnerability to Trafficking”. Second International Women Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 11, 2023.
3. Ray, N. and Sudha Upadhyula. 2023. “Exploring the pathway of women into trafficking”. Second International Women Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 11, 2023.
4. Ray, N. and Sudha Upadhyula. 2023. Exploring the Modus Operandi of Human Traffickers in India: Tactics, Networks, and Implications. The Serious and Organized Crime Conference, The Hume Institute, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 17, 2023.
5. Ray, N. 2017. “Speaking of the Unspeakable: The Debate on Sex Trafficking in Colonial India.” Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities, Hofstra University, New York, June 1-June 4, 2017.
6. Ray, N. 2013. Women Who Traffic Women into Sexual Slavery: What do we know about them? Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work Research, USA, San Diego, California, January 16-20, 2013.
7. Ray, N. 2011. Does Domestic violence make women more vulnerable to sex trafficking? Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work Research, USA, Tampa, Florida, January 12-16, 2011.
8. Ray, N. 2005. Re-conceptualizing Trafficking. Conference on Sexual Slavery: New Approaches to an Old Problem, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, New York City, NY.
National
9. Ray, N. 2023. “Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace: Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal”, Human Resource Development Centre, MANUU, February 22, 2023.
10. Ray, N. 2022. “Child Protection against Violence, Abuse and Exploitation”, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Hyderabad, December 13, 2022.
11. Ray, N. 2022. “Internships and Careers: Skills and Opportunities for students of Women’s Studies”, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Hyderabad, May 20, 2022.
12. Ray, N. 2021. “Child Rights and Child Protection: State Support Under Indian Laws”. Short-term course on Gender and Law, Human Resource Development Centre, University of Hyderabad, August 21, 2021.
13. Ray, N. 2020. “Child Trafficking and Abuse: Moving from Offline to Online”. National Seminar on Discourses of Trafficking, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, February 9, 2020.
14. Ray, N. 2020. “Risk Prevention and Mitigation of Gender -Based Violence in World Bank Projects”. Consultative Group Meeting on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Framework. World Bank Office, New Delhi, January 29, 2020.
15. Ray, N. 2020. “Use of Social Media in Child Trafficking”. Online Child Trafficking: Mapping the Landscape. CyberPeace Foundation and K.T. Somaiyya College, Mumbai. January 5, 2020.
16. Ray, N. 2019. “Gender based violence and women’s labour force participation.” Consultative Group Meeting on Women’s Economic Empowerment. World Bank Office, New Delhi, October 25, 2019.
17. Ray, N. 2019. “Women and Land Rights”. Consultative Group Meeting on Women’s Economic Empowerment. World Bank Office, New Delhi, May 8, 2019.
18. Ray, N. 2019. "Gender Equality and Empowerment: Prioritizing Industries and Prioritizing Themes". Global Roundtable on Benchmarking Ethical Business Practices. World Benchmarking Alliance and the Consulate of Netherlands. Mumbai, March 7, 2019.
19. Ray, N. 2019. “Gender and Migration”. Third Orientation Programme on Migration. TISS Patna Centre. February 26-27, 2019.
20. Ray, N. 2019. "Human Trafficking, Human Misery". Sensitization Workshop on Human Trafficking for Officers of the Indian Revenue Service. National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, Hyderabad Campus. February 19, 2019.
21. Ray, N. 2018. “Human Trafficking: The trade in human misery”. Short-term Programme on Gender Sensitization, Human Resource Development Centre, University of Hyderabad, August 31, 2018.
22. Ray, N. 2018. “Gender and Sustainable Forest Management”. Workshop on Forests and Climate Change: Opportunities and Challenges of Adaptation and Mitigation, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, August 29, 2018.
23. Ray, N. 2018. “Research with Children: Ethics, Methods and Challenges”. Workshop on Perceptions of Children about Abuse, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, August 16-17, 2018.
24. Ray, N. 2018. “Barriers to Economic Empowerment of Women: Lessons from the field”. International Conference on Women’s Economic Empowerment, World Bank Office, New Delhi, May 17, 2018.
25. Ray, N. 2017. “Exploring the lived experience of daily-commuting women construction workers: Vulnerabilities and resilience”. National Conference of the Indian Association of Women’s Studies, Chennai, January 22-25, 2017.
26. Ray, N. 2016. “Narrative Inquiry”. UGC Workshop for Young Faculty, St. Francis College, Hyderabad, September 20, 2016.
27. Ray N. 2016. “Exploring the anti -trafficking movement in India: A movement against gender based violence”. National Conference on Sociology of Social Movements: Trends and Directions in Contemporary India, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, June 12- 13, 2016.
28. Ray, N. 2016. “Adolescents in India: The context of vulnerability”. Strategic Consultation on Adolescents, Hotel Marigold, Hyderabad, May 12, 2016.
29. Ray N. 2016. “International Migration by Indian Women: Healthcare and Domestic Workers in the Middle East”. ICSSR Conference on Migration Studies, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, March 21-26, 2016.
30. Ray, N. 2014. Marriage Poems as Historical Sources – Mining cultural forms for women’s voices. Shifting Contours Widening Concerns: Women’s History, Historiography and the Politics of Historical Representation, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, 11 -13 February 2015.
As PI
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"Risk Communication and Community Engagement " - PI - Funded by UNICEF (2022-23) – Completed.
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“Knowledge Partner for State Resource Centre for Women, State Government of Telangana” – PI – Funded by State Government of Telangana (2022-2023) - Completed
- “Study on the effectiveness of child sponsorship in the lives of sponsored children and their families”. – PI - Funded by CESS and World Vision (2019) – Completed.
- "Study of the functioning of Observation Homes in Telangana”. PI - Funded by CESS, NALSAR and UNICEF (2019) – Completed
- "Perceptions about Child Abuse: An Exploratory Study in Two Districts of Andhra Pradesh". – PI - Funded by World Vision (2018) - Completed
As Co-PI
- “Strengthening State Responsiveness for Prevention of Gender -based Violence: Toward a State-Civil Society-Community Framework for the State of Kerala” – Co-PI - Funded by World Bank (2022-2023)– Completed
- “Knowledge Partner for Sakhi One-Stop Centres in Telangana”- Co-PI - Funded by Department of Woman Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana (2020-2023) - Completed.
- “Analysing the Factors associated with a decline in stunting in India: An analysis of exemplars in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State” – Co PI – Funded by IAVI (2022-2023) – Completed.
- "Developing Standard Operating Procedures for One-Stop Centres". – Co PI - Funded by Department of Woman Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana (2021)- Completed.
- "An Exploratory Study of the Conditional Cash Transfer Schemes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to Prevent Child Marriage" - Co PI - Funded by Plan India (2019) - Completed
- "Marriage or Trafficking? The Phenomenon of Sheikh Marriages in Hyderabad". – Co PI - Funded by London School of Economics (2015-2016) – Completed.
MA in Women's Studies
- Migration, Labour and Economy
- Women and the State: Engagement and Contestation
- Qualitative Research: Methods and Methodologies
- Project Management
- Qualitative Impact Evaluation for the Development Sector
- Experiential Learning
- Internship
- Research Proposal and Dissertation Guidance
PhD in Women's Studies
- Social Research Ethics
- Feminist Perspectives on Women, Gender and Society
- Dissertation Guidance of Five students
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
A. MA in Women’s Studies original curriculum
· Philosophy and Methods of Social research (2014)
· Introduction to Women’s Studies (2014)
· Experiential Learning (2014)
· Internship (2014)
· Project Management and Impact Evaluation (2014)
· State, Women’s Rights and Legal Advocacy (2014)
· Research Proposal (2014)
· Migration, Labour and Economy (2014)
· Dissertation (2014)
B. MA in Women’s Studies revised curriculum
· Project Management (2021)
· Qualitative Impact Evaluation for the Development Sector (2021)
· Women and the State: Engagement and Contestation (2021)
· Gender and Law: The Indian Perspective (2021)
C. MA in Livelihoods: Gender and Development curriculum
Internship
Gender and Migration
Qualitative Impact Evalustion
