Bio

Dr Monique Emser is a senior lecturer in the Discipline of Political Studies. Her research specialisation focuses on human trafficking and counter-trafficking governance, with over fifteen years of experience in applied counter-trafficking research and practice. Dr Emser’s broader research interests include gender-based violence, missing persons, migration, organised crime, deviant globalisation, geopolitics, unconventional security threats, conflict and human rights. Of particular interest to her are complex and emerging forms of trafficking, such as the intersection of sport and trafficking. Dr Emser was a contributing researcher and co-author of the world’s first Global Thematic Report on Sport Trafficking (Mission 89, 2024).

Dr Emser actively contributes to both international and local efforts to combat human trafficking. Internationally, she serves as an advisory member on the G-100 Women’s Anti-Human Trafficking Wing for South Africa. Locally, she is a longstanding member of the KwaZulu-Natal Trafficking in Persons Task Team. She is also part of civil society organisations, including the KwaZulu-Natal Anti-Trafficking Coalition and the National Freedom Network. She serves on the steering committee of the UNODC UNTOC SE4U South Africa: National Civil Society Alliance, where she chairs the Human Trafficking Working Group.