Dr. Ran Hu is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. Through her research, Dr. Hu is dedicated to promoting the health, safety, and well-being of sex workers and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) by developing culturally responsive services and exploring non-carceral anti-violence policies. In previous practice, she has worked with migrant women in sex work and survivors of human trafficking in New York City, as well as with rural-to-urban migrant sex workers in Beijing. Before joining the College of Social Work, Dr. Hu earned her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. During her postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia, Center for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, she studied socio-structural factors impacting the occupational health and safety of migrant sex workers in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Informed by her transnational work, her current scholarship explores and addresses intersecting socio-structural and epistemic inequities that contribute to violence against sex workers, human trafficking, and GBV.
Education
PhD - University of Toronto, 2023 - Social Work
MA - John Jay College (CUNY) - International Crime and Justice
MSW - University of Michigan, 2011 - Social Work
BA - Nanjing University, 2009 - Social Work
Areas of Expertise
Sex work/sex trades
Human trafficking
Gender-based violence
Social service/program evaluation
Anti-carceral feminist perspectives
Areas of Interest for Mentoring PhD Students
Gender-based violence
Qualitative methodologies
Critical discourse analysis