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Dr Ella Cockbain

@drellac.bsky.social
2.2K followers 829 following 89 posts

Professor at UCL. Lead of Research Group on Human Trafficking,Smuggling & Exploitation. Researching precarious work & labour exploitation. New (free) book on anti-trafficking evaluation uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluating-anti…

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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Kate Roberts @k8roberts.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Welcome the UCL #workinglives recommendation of the early implementation of a firewall, or secure reporting by the Fair Work Agency @focusonlabour.bsky.social @drellac.bsky.social
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 11/05/2026
New NBER research asks a simple question: does an ICE enforcement surge create jobs for U.S.-born workers? The answer, based on federal labor data across 58 regions, is no.
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Alex Bryson @alexbryson.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Hope to see some colleagues and students at the Fair Work Agency/UCL conference on May 13/14. I'll be speaking about the role of trade unions on the second day @sriucl.bsky.social @uclsociology.bsky.social
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Happening next week! Last tickets still available if you’d like to join.
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Interested in workers’ rights, their protection and enforcement? Come join us at the Working Lives Conference in London on 13 & 14 May 2026, co-hosted by UCL and the Fair Work Agency. We’ve got an amazing line up for you (1/2) www.ucl.ac.uk/engineering/...
ucl.ac.uk
Working Lives Conference
Working Lives: The scale and nature of precarious work and labour market non-compliance in the UK and beyond. Presented by UCL Department of Security and Crime Science.
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Interested in workers’ rights, their protection and enforcement? Come join us at the Working Lives Conference in London on 13 & 14 May 2026, co-hosted by UCL and the Fair Work Agency. We’ve got an amazing line up for you (1/2) www.ucl.ac.uk/engineering/...
ucl.ac.uk
Working Lives Conference
Working Lives: The scale and nature of precarious work and labour market non-compliance in the UK and beyond. Presented by UCL Department of Security and Crime Science.
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Anti-Trafficking Review @atrjournal.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Check out our new #callforpapers! This issue will highlight examples of cross-sectoral, cross-movement solidarities to fight marginalisation and oppression 👉🏼https://antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/announcement/view/51 Guest editors @drellac.bsky.social and @joelquirk.bsky.social
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Late sharing cos was unwell, but here’s our farewell from openDemocracy’s Beyond Trafficking & Slavery. What a privilege to have been part of the editorial team. I learnt so much from our incredible contributors & the amazing Cam Thibos, Melissa Pawson & @joelquirk.bsky.social . Thank you all ❤️
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Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
“You cannot build ethical AI on the foundation of exploited, traumatized human labor. If the training data comes from people who were psychologically destroyed in the process of creating it, then the technology itself is tainted from the start.” Powerful report on the emotional labour building AI.
data-workers.org
The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy, by Michael Geoffrey Asia.
Imagine confiding your most private fantasies to what you believe is an unfeeling algorithm that cannot judge or remember. Now imagine that on the other side of that conversation is a man sitting in a...
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Anti-Trafficking Review @atrjournal.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
New #CallforPapers! This issue will aim to highlight cases of intersectional, intermovement alliance and solidarity building between different marginalised and oppressed groups. See call 👉🏼 www.antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/at... Guest editors @drellac.bsky.social & @joelquirk.bsky.social
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
So many of the problems with the UK asylum system - culture of disbelief, poor or nonexistent advice, endless delays, cruel accommodation policies - rolled into one awful case. @diane-writer10.bsky.social always gets the human stories others miss or don’t care about
theguardian.com
The life and limbo of a UK asylum seeker: one man’s harrowing 17-year wait for leave to remain
Ussu fled imprisonment and torture, only to find himself treated like a liar and outcast in the UK. Here’s how he survived homelessness and horrific injury in almost two decades without a decision
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Latest in our solidarities series: fascinating reflections on striking workers in South Africa finding common ground with Palestine solidarity activists. I like that this series doesn’t shy away from tensions & challenges, as well as benefits. By Maya Bhardwaj for @beyondslavery.bsky.social .
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
It’s so depressing that ECPAT & Missing People are once again needing to raise the alarm over trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the U.K. They’ve been highlighting this problem for years and it’s such a serious safeguarding issue.
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Beyond Slavery @beyondslavery.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Radical feminists and religious groups got into bed together once. Now they're broadening the affair, says @gaatw.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms
Radical feminists and religious groups teamed up against sex work. Now they’re going after broader reproductive freedoms
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EVAW Coalition @evawuk.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Survivors should not be #LivingInLimbo. New report from @rapecrisis.bsky.social exposes the severe harm the Crown Courts backlog is having on survivors of rape and sexual abuse. Find out more and take action ⤵️ rapecrisis.org.uk/get-involved...
Image of a woman with her head in her hands and the text "I sometimes feel like I've been forgotten, that I'm just another statistic for the system. Abbie, survivor of sexual violence. www.rapecrisis.org.uk
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Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women @gaatw.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Our Human Trafficking Lead @mayal-n.bsky.social has written about the growing attack on sexual freedoms, the (mis)use of anti-trafficking frameworks to do so, + the opportunity it has given us to join an incredible alliance of feminist LGBTI rights activists: www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms
Radical feminists and religious groups teamed up against sex work. Now they’re going after broader reproductive freedoms
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 24/11/2025
This is how the far right should be covered and analysed Not focusing only on the words or actions of one man but by looking at wider societal trends, the role of the mainstream and of course accounting for power This is not (just) opinion, it's necessary analysis
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Vital piece on attempts to frame all surrogacy as trafficking & the coalitions pushing & opposing this. Important insights into the transphobia & attacks on reproductive freedoms involved, by @mayal-n.bsky.social @gaatw.bsky.social for our solidarity series @beyondslavery.bsky.social
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
If only there were some clue from his subsequent political career
theguardian.com
Twenty people allege he has a racist past. He denies it. Who’s telling the truth about Farage’s schooldays?
Reform UK’s leader refuses to answer questions about his abusive behaviour, claiming there’s ‘no evidence’. We talk to victims and witnesses
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Eoghan Gilmartin @eoghangilmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
“They treat us worse than dogs", one worker told me. Based on reporting in Huelva & Lleida, my latest for Jacobin looks at how climate breakdown is aggravating yet further the harsh realities faced by migrant farm workers in Spain's lucrative agri-industrial sector. jacobin.com/2025/10/spai...
jacobin.com
In Spain, Farmworkers Are Dying in the Heat
Three migrant farmworkers died from heatstroke in Spain this summer. Largely ignored by media, their fate illustrates how the effects of the climate crisis are offloaded on the least visible workers.
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Emiliano Mellino @mellino.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
A few weeks ago this Reform rising star went on LBC & said young people were being paid too much,citing his experience in hospitality. So we looked into his companies & found 3 tribunal judgments for failure to pay wages, holiday pay & provide contracts www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...
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Chris Ash (they/them) @christianashnc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Delighted to co-author this piece urging the de-silo-ing of anti-trafficking work, & genuine solidarity with grassroots movements.
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Important piece. The many worrying human impacts come through very strongly here. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Up to 50,000 nurses could quit UK over immigration plans, survey suggests
Exclusive: union leaders say proposed changes are immoral and could threaten patient safety if there is staff exodus
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opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · 19/11/2025
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
bit.ly
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
Anti-trafficking has always been the handmaiden of Global North power, never its rebellious daughter. Let’s change that
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
UCL Press @uclpress.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Congratulations to Ella Cockbain and Aiden Sidebottom and Sheldon X. Zhang and their contributors! Their #OpenAccess book Evaluating Anti-Trafficking Interventions published today. Read and download free at: bit.ly/4oc6Lxg #HumanTrafficking #ForcedLabour
bit.ly
Evaluating Anti-Trafficking Interventions
Explore the complexities of trafficking and the importance of effective evaluation in anti-trafficking interventions and measures.
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Despite huge sums spent on anti-trafficking, there are staggeringly few evaluations of interventions & growing evidence of harms caused. This new edited book with @uclpress.bsky.social is our attempt to help change that. 1/ Open access with free digital downloads: uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluat...
uclpress.co.uk
Evaluating Anti-Trafficking Interventions
Explore the complexities of trafficking and the importance of effective evaluation in anti-trafficking interventions and measures.
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
“the anti-trafficking section treats collaboration more like conquest.” New in our solidarities series is this super sharp piece on alternative visions for change, by Sophie Otiende & @christianashnc.bsky.social @beyondslavery.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
Anti-trafficking has always been the handmaiden of Global North power, never its rebellious daughter. Let’s change that
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Today is International Men’s Day. So here’s to refugee men fleeing abuse, trans men denied healthcare, queer men bullied for being different, Black men racially profiled, disabled men excluded from work, and all the other men who fail at being “real men.” May we continue to cultivate our humanity.
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Tina Russell @tinarussell.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
"Let me be clear: this wasn’t some magical turning point where sex workers & cops became best friends. … We haven’t forgotten being hunted, harassed & humiliated … But it taught us something powerful: both sides are capable, if only for a moment, of putting all that aside. Doing so can save lives."💯
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Chris Ash (they/them) @christianashnc.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Excited to see this published: peer reviewed publication on trafficking survivors’ experiences with journalists. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New article in Journalism Studies “Judged, Misrepresented and Misunderstood”: Human Trafficking Survivors’ Engagement with Journalists” by Barbara G. Friedman, Andrea Lorenz, Chris Ash, & Ethan Czuy Levine. Abstract: This mixed-methods study surveyed 49 human trafficking survivors in 2024 about their experiences with media to understand why they engage (or do not) with the news media, and how they characterize those interactions and expectations. A qualitative analysis yielded five themes related to motivation, preparation, consent violations, setting boundaries, and backlash after sharing their stories with media. Based on findings, we recommend journalists adopt a power-sharing model to improve coverage and to give trauma survivors more control over how their stories are represented to the public.
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · 18/11/2025
As drug users, solidarity isn’t just important – it’s survival
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As drug users, solidarity isn’t just important – it’s survival
We formed a union to resist the violence of mainstream treatment. Collaboration will be the key to our success
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Today we hear from drug user union RATS (Radical Acts To Survive) @beyondslavery.bsky.social Vital insights into tensions,trade offs & tactics around enacting solidarity, from people organising at the sharp end of intersecting forms of criminalisation & stigma www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
As drug users, solidarity is key to survival
We formed a union to resist the violence of mainstream treatment. Collaboration will be the key to our success
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Joel Quirk @joelquirk.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Anti-trafficking killjoys struggle to get beyond trafficking and slavery. The only way to truly get beyond anti-trafficking is to stop making it the main character. Our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature on solidarities beyond silos www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet to end exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
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Reposted by Dr Ella Cockbain
Beyond Slavery @beyondslavery.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Our final feature is rolling out! We wanted to end on a positive note, so asked a bunch of amazing people to write about their experiences with cross-movement solidarity and organising. We're very excited to share it with you. Enjoy! www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet to end exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Next up in our solidarities series is this brilliant piece on an unlikely tactical alliance. Unsettling and important look at the tensions involved and lessons from it. By Alex Andrews of @swopbehindbars.bsky.social for @beyondslavery.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
We have every reason to mistrust police, but the case against Joey the Player briefly showed us something different
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opendemocracy.net @opendemocracy.net · 17/11/2025
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
bit.ly
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
We have every reason to mistrust police, but the case against Joey the Player briefly showed us something different
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Natalie Sedacca @nataliesedacca.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
The seasonal worker visa’s structure impedes union organising, with workers in the country for no longer than six months. But with the scheme ongoing since the 2019 pilot and looking like it’s here to stay, it makes sense to ask whether major unions could be doing more to overcome these challenges
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Next up in our solidarities feature, this vital piece on blindspots and tensions around trade union organising to support seasonal workers. By the brilliant @mellino.bsky.social as a collab between @beyondslavery.bsky.social & @tbij.bsky.social
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Emiliano Mellino @mellino.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I've been investigating the huge levels of exploitation faced by workers on the seasonal worker visa for the last few years, and have often asked myself why the trade union movement has ignored these workers. So I spoke to unions, big and small, to try and answer that question.
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Next out in our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature is this brilliant piece by Jake Hall about Wages for Housework. An important historical lens on solidarities beyond silos on the global stage, and the legacies of this trailblazing movement. www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
How Wages for Housework sparked an international movement
The 1970s movement paved the way for queer, Black, trans and sex working feminist organising across the world today
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Kicking us off is a fantastic piece about solidarities in action by Elene Lam & @chanellegallant.bsky.social . Lots to learn here from Butterfly about how Asian migrant sex workers have organised across silos in Canada and the US. www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
In the fight for sex workers’ rights, this is solidarity
Over 300 migrant sex workers took on city hall to keep their businesses, showing the power of collective organising
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Our last ever series on openDemocracy’s Beyond Trafficking & Slavery launched today. It’s all about solidarity and we’ve got an amazing line up. Feels good to leave on a more positive and hopeful note. Enjoy! @beyondslavery.bsky.social @opendemocracy.net www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet to end exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
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Beyond Slavery @beyondslavery.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
🚨 We all want accountability for Big Tech, but the Online Safety Act’s moralising aims are hurting LGBTQ+ people and sex workers ⤵️ www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
opendemocracy.net
Online Safety: ‘Protect kids’ is pretext for rights erosions
We all want accountability for Big Tech, but the OSA’s moralising aims are hurting LGBTQ+ people and sex workers
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Dr Ella Cockbain @drellac.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Excellent new series on refugees in the global economy. Really thoughtful pieces across a wide range of international contexts.
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Freedom United @freedomunitedhq.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
The UK’s National Referral Mechanism traps migrant workers like Cynthia—who escaped abusive employers—in limbo without the right to work, leaving them vulnerable to re-exploitation. Advocates demand real protections beyond this ineffective “band-aid” system. www.freedomunited.org/news/uk-surv...
freedomunited.org
UK system trapping survivors in “the grey zone” - FreedomUnited.org
Survivors in the UK are being left without the right to work, trapped in a grey zone facing ongoing uncertainty and insecurity.
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Christopher Wright @chriswrightau.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication
As Harvard’s feud with Trump escalated, so did tensions over an ‘education and Palestine’ issue of a prestigious journal. Scholars blame the ‘Palestine exception’ to academic freedom
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Translation from the French of an unprecedented and shocking statement from the AFP news agency, saying that its journalists in Gaza are almost too weak to work anymore and are starving to death.
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Daisy Gardner @daisygardner.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
“Seeing the evidence of the roundups in front of us doesn’t necessarily lead people to do anything differently. But seeing other people push back sometimes does.”
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Kate Roberts @k8roberts.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Important ‪@hannahjlewis.bsky.social critique of the damage caused by the victim narrative in anti trafficking discourse, especially in the context of @helenbamber.bsky.social @ecpatuk.bsky.social & ATLEU finding in 2024 only 4% of non British nationals confirmed as trafficked were granted leave
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