Irina Zudina works as a Contract PhD in the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology. Her doctoral dissertation's working title is: "Socioecological Vulnerabilities in Sex Trafficking Pathways in Contexts of Multiple Crises, Mobility and Migration". She incorporates an international comparative empirical approach.

More information about Irina Zudina

General

Irina Zudina is pursuing a PhD in Criminology at the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology at Leiden University and is funded by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany). She holds a bilingual Master’s degree in InterAmerican Studies from Bielefeld University and studied at the University of Guadalajara on a DAAD scholarship. She also holds a combined Bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy.

She has lived and studied in Oceania, Europe, and Latin America, with particular expertise in Mexico, where she collaborated with local NGOs on human trafficking, child sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and social vulnerability. She has presented her work at various international conferences in multiple languages and is a fluent speaker of five.

Research

Irina’s doctoral research investigates socioecological vulnerabilities in pathways into sex trafficking at the intersections of crises and migration. Her dissertation examines lived experiences of vulnerability, aiming to identify and compare risk factors and dynamics of exploitation across different geopolitical settings.

Her broader interests include victimology, human and children’s rights, international relations, qualitative and feminist methodologies, ethics in (criminal) justice, organised crime, and post-colonial approaches. Through her work, she challenges static notions of “victimhood” and contributes to rights-based, context-sensitive, and informed understandings of vulnerability, resilience, and agency in complex crises and their aftermath.

Her past research was awarded the Claudia-Huerkamp-Preis by Bielefeld University in 2024.

Other activities

Irina was elected to the Spokespersons’ Committee for scholarship holders of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in the Randstad Region term 2025/26. She volunteers as a translator and cultural mediator for elders and representatives of indigenous peoples worldwide, facilitating dialogue for NGOs and bridging diverse epistemologies.