Fiona de Hoog Cius

Qualifications:
• Ph.D. Modern Slavery & Gender Studies, Wilberforce Institute, University of Hull (2017)
• M.A. Modern Slavery Studies, Wilberforce Institute, University of Hull, (2010)
• B.A. French & Philosophy, University of Hull (2008)

Fiona de Hoog Cius is a researcher in Sheffield Hallam University's Helena Kennedy centre in the department of Law and Criminology where she conducts research in human rights, gender and modern slavery. In 2017, she completed a Ph.D at the University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute on the topic of child slavery in Haiti, establishing the links between the exploitation of children, gender-based violence and female complicity in child trafficking. This cutting-edge research took her to Haiti for 2 years, where she did a large-scale ethnographic gender analysis of modern Haitian society, interviewing women involved in the trafficking and enslaving of children as well as mothers, fathers and other key individuals. By focusing on the perpetrators, which were for the most part women, she was able to uncover the root causes of child trafficking which are based in gender inequality and violence in a way that has not been done anywhere else in the world. Her Ph.D. was highly praised in the field of modern slavery research and has been referred to as a ‘stellar thesis of its time’ by her external examiner.

Before and during her doctoral studies, Fiona also worked as a researcher on the Walk Free Global Slavery Index, as research assistant to Prof. Kevin Bales (leading modern slavery expert) and as a risk assessment coordinator on the Wilberforce Institute’s slavery in businesses ‘Risk Assessment and Training Service’. These experiences, which followed her M.A. in Modern Slavery Studies, have given her a global, in-depth understanding of modern slavery which she has been able to complement with an expertise on Gender through her further studies and professional research.

Fiona's work is interdisciplinary and her research interests and specialisms include: modern slavery and trafficking; child slavery; gender and development; post-colonialism race and gender discourse; trans-Atlantic colonial histories; feminist methodologies; cultural anthropology & ethnography.