Dr Nilanjana Ray | Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Dr Nilanjana Ray

Assistant Professor,
Hyderabad Campus, School of Gender Studies

Qualification

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)

Contact

nilanjana.ray[at]tiss[dot]edu

Email: nilanjana.ray@tiss.edu

She 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 primary research interest lies in the field of Human Trafficking, which is the disciplinary area for most of her publications in international journals. In addition, she is interested in issues of Gender-based Violence, Child Protection and Migration by Women.

She has presented several papers on trafficking in international conferences, notably at the annual conferences of the Society for Social Work Research, the association of research universities of the United States. She has made 28 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 that has a Cite Score of 3.4 and is a reviewer for Taylor and Francis, Routledge, Sage and MDPI academic publishers..

She is associated with Field Action Projects and Research Projects that are funded by World Bank, UNICEF, Gates Ventures and the State Government.

She has supervised 33 MPhil and Masters dissertations.

Human Trafficking

Gender-based Violence

Child Protection

Impact Evaluation

Migration by Women

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

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.

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.

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.

5. Ray, N. (2016). “Short-term Relationship”, Development and Cooperation, July 2016, 33- 34.

6. Ray, N. (2016). “Patriarchy and forbidden love”, The Book Review Journal (Special issue on Gender), August 2016.

7. Ray, N. (2014). “Aborted girls and trafficked brides: An Asian tragedy”. Development and Cooperation, 41 (4), April 2014, 156-158.

8. Ray, N. (2007). “Wither childhood? Child trafficking in India”. Social Development Issues, 29 (3), 72-83.

9. Ray, N. (2006). “Looking at trafficking through a new lens”. Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, 12 (3), 909-927.

Research/Organizational Reports

1. 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.

2. Gyanmudra and Ray, N. (2021). “One-Stop Centre: Standard Operating Procedures”. Funded by Department of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana.

3. Ray, N. (2019). “A Study on the effectiveness of sponsorship on the lives of sponsored children”. Funded by World Vision.

4. Ray, N. (2019). “A Study of the Observation Homes of Telangana”. Funded by UNICEF.

5. Ray, N. (2018). “Report on Children’s’ and Adults’ Perceptions about Child Safety and Abuse”. Funded by World Vision India.

6. Ray, N., U. Vindhya and U. Ponnaiah. (2018). “Conditional Cash Transfer Schemes and Child Marriages: An exploratory Study in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana”. Funded by Plan India.

7. U. Vindhya & Nilanjana Ray. (2016). Marriage or Trafficking: The phenomenon of Sheikh Marriages in Hyderabad. TISS_LSE project on Violence against Women.

8. Ray, N. & U. Vindhya. (2016). Thematic Paper on cross-cutting and emerging issues related to Adolescents in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. CESS-UNICEF.

Conference Papers

1. Ray, N. 2023. “Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace: Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal”, Human Resource Development Centre, MANUU, February 22, 2023.

2. Ray, N. 2022. “Child Protection against Violence, Abuse and Exploitation”, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Hyderabad, December 13, 2022.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Ray, N. 2020. ‘Offline to Online: Latest trend in human trafficking’. National Conference on Perspectives on Trafficking. University of Hyderabad and Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad, February 9, 2020.

9. 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.

10. Ray, N. 2019. ‘Women and Land Rights’. Consultative Group Meeting on Women’s Economic Empowerment. World Bank Office, New Delhi, May 8, 2019.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Ray, N. 2019. Consultative Group Meeting on Women’s Economic Empowerment. World Bank Office, New Delhi, January 31, 2019.

15.Ray, N. 2018. “Human Trafficking, Human Misery: The trade in human beings”. Short-term Programme on Gender Sensitization, Human Resource Development Centre, University of Hyderabad, August 31, 2018.

16. 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.

17. Ray, N. 2018. “Barriers to Economic Empowerment of Women: Lessons from the field”. Workshop on Women’s Economic Empowerment, World Bank Office, New Delhi, May 17, 2018.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. Ray, N. 2016. “Narrative Inquiry”. UGC Workshop for Young Faculty, St. Francis College, Hyderabad, September 20, 2016.

22.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.

23. Ray, N. 2016. “Adolescents in India: The context of vulnerability”. Strategic Consultation on Adolescents, Hotel Marigold, Hyderabad, May 12, 2016.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

Strengthening State Responsiveness for Prevention of Gender -based Violence: Toward a State-Civil Society-Community Framework for the State of Kerala – First co-PI [Funded by World Bank] - Ongoing
Sakhi One-Stop Centres - Co PI. [Funded by Department of Woman Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana] - Ongoing.
State Resource Centre for Women - Co PI. [ [Funded by Department of Woman Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana] - Ongoing.
"Developing Standard Operating Procedures for One-Stop Centres". Co PI[Funded by Department of Woman Development and Child Welfare, Government of Telangana] - Completed
"Marriage or Trafficking? The Phenomenon of Sheikh Marriages in Hyderabad". Co PI [Funded by London School of Economics] - Completed
"Perceptions about Child Abuse: An Exploratory Study in Two Districts of Andhra Pradesh". PI [ Funded by World Vision] - 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] - Completed
"Study of the functioning of Observation Homes in Telangana”. PI [Funded by CESS , NALSAR and UNICEF] - Completed
“Study on the effectiveness of child sponsorship in the lives of sponsored children and their families”. PI [Funded by CESS and World Vision] - Completed

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
Social Research Ethics

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. PG Diploma in Gender and Development

· Project Management (2023)

· Impact Evaluation (2023)

· Research Methods (2023)