The University of Hong Kong 
Dr Julie Ham
Assistant Professor
jham@hku.hk
+852 3917 2057
Biography
Julie’s recent research explores the regulation of sex work and migration and its impact on sex workers’ security, mobility and agency. She has published on sex work, anti-trafficking, gender and migration, feminist participatory action research, and activist efforts by trafficking survivors, sex workers and domestic workers.
Prior to joining the Department of Sociology, Julie worked with the Border Crossing Observatory (Monash University), the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) and with community-based research projects and organizations in Canada, working with sex workers, immigrant and refugee communities, women substance users, low-income urban communities, and anti-violence organisations.
Courses taught
Recent news
Education
PhD
Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)
MSW
University of Toronto
BSW
University of Victoria
BA Psychology
University of British Columbia
Research interests
Gender and migration
Sex work
Trafficking
Intersectionality
Domestic work
Civil society
Social justice
Current research
The lives of migrant remittances: An Asian comparative study (Collaborator). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC, Canada), 2017-2021.
Sustainable Sunday couture: Domestic workers and upcycling designers (Project Coordinator). Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Project Scheme, 2017-2018
Visualizing the voices of women migrant workers, with Vivian Wenli Lin. Interdisciplinary Knowledge Exchange (KE) Project Fund, 2016-2017.
Globalized labour knowledges between the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East (Principal Investigator). Seed Funding, 2016-2018.
Non-Chinese sex workers in Hong Kong and emerging sex work spaces (Principal Investigator). General Research Fund/Early Career Scheme, 2016-2019.
Honours and recognitions
British Journal of Criminology Radzinowicz Memorial Prize 2014 for ‘Hot pants at the border: Sorting sex work from trafficking’, British Journal of Criminology, 54(1): 2-19.
Selected publications
Books:
Ham, J. (2016). Sex work, Immigration and Social Difference. London: Routledge.
Pickering, S. & Ham, J. (2014). The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration. London: Routledge.
Journal articles:
Vecchio, F. & Ham, J. (2017). From subsistence to resistance: Asylum-seekers and the other ‘Occupy’ in Hong Kong. Critical Social Policy, 37(3): 1-21.
Ham, J. & Gilmour, F. (2016). ‘We all have one’: Exit plans as a professional strategy in sex work. Work, Employment & Society, online first doi:10.1177/0950017016666198
Ham, J., Jung, K. & Jang, H. (2016)Silence, mobility and ‘national values’: South Korean sex workers in Australia. Sexualities, 19(4): 432-448.
Clancey, A., Khushrushahi, N. & Ham, J. (2014). Do evidence-based approaches alienate Canadian anti-trafficking funders? Anti-Trafficking Review, 3, 87-108.
Ham, J. & Gerard, A. (2014). Strategic in/visibility: Does agency make sex workers invisible? Criminology and Criminal Justice, 14(3): 298-313.
Pickering, S. & Ham, J. (2014). Hot pants at the border: Sorting sex work from trafficking. British Journal of Criminology, 54(1): 2-19.
Ham, J., Segrave, M. & Pickering, S. (2013). In the eyes of the beholder: Gender and suspect travelers at the border and within the nation. Anti-Trafficking Review, 2: 51-56.
Book chapters:
Ham, J. (2014). Intuiting illegality in sex work. In S. Pickering & J. Ham (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration (pp. 206-219). London: Routledge.
Ham, J. & Dewar, F. (2014). Shifting public anti-trafficking discourses through arts and media. In S. Yea (Ed.) Human Trafficking in Asia: Forcing Issues (pp. 185-199).Abingdon: Routledge.
Ham, J. for GAATW. (2013). Trafficking and gender. In D.M. Figart & T.L. Warnecke (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life (pp. 542-558).Northhampton: Edward Elgar.
Other:
Ham, J. for Zi Teng and SWAN Vancouver. (2014). Chinese Sex Workers in Canada. Vancouver: SWAN.
Ham, J. for GAATW. (2011). Beyond ‘Supply and Demand’ Catchphrases: Assessing the Uses and Limitations of Demand-Based Approaches in Anti-Trafficking. Bangkok: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
Ham, J. for GAATW. (2011). What’s the Cost of a Rumour? A guide to sorting out the myths and the facts about sporting events and trafficking. Bangkok: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
Ham, J. for GAATW. (2010). Beyond Borders: Exploring Links Between Trafficking and Gender (GAATW Working Paper Series). Bangkok: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
Ham, J. for GAATW. (2007). Respect and Relevance: Supporting Self-Organising As A Strategy for Empowerment and Social Change. Bangkok: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.