The team

Alexandra Ricard-Guay

Biography

Alexandra Ricard-Guay is a Research Associate at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Global Governance Programme since September 2014. She was the main researcher for the study ‘Demand-side of trafficking in persons in the domestic work sector’ (2014-2017), part of the DemandAT project (FP7 European Commission funded project). Her current projects examine the recent evolution of the reception system of refugees and other migrants in Italy (2018-2019), and the nexus trafficking/smuggling in the Central Mediterranean migration (2017). She has also worked as a consultant for the ILO, IOM, and UNICEF on migration-related issues, as well as for UNODC on trafficking in persons.

Her research interests focus on trafficking in human beings, gender and migration, gender-based violence and adolescent girls, as well as irregular migrants’ rights.

Alexandra holds a PhD in Social Work from McGill University and a M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). For her PhD, she was a Vanier Scholar (2009-2012), and her doctoral research examined the sexual exploitation of adolescent girls in the sex trade in Canada (Quebec).

Prior to joining the GGP, Alexandra was Associate Researcher at the Transcultural Research and Intervention Team, Affiliated Centre of McGill University.

She also has extensive experiences in project coordination. Between 2011-2014, she held the position of Coordinator of the Quebec Coalition Against Human Trafficking. She was also programme manager and coordinator of training and research projects in the areas of human rights, women’s rights and education (Inter-American Organisation for High Education) (2007-2009).

Select Publications

Peer-­reviewed articles

  • Ricard-Guay, A.& T. Maroukis (eds) (2017) Special Issue. Human Trafficking in the domestic work sector in the EU: a special case or a learning ground for the anti-trafficking field?Journal of Immigration and Refugee Studies 15(2).
  • Meloni, F., C. Rousseau, A. Ricard-Guay et al., (2017) Invisible Students: Institutional Invisibility and Access to Education for Undocumented Children.  International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. 13 (1)
  • Beatson, J., J. Hanley & Ricard-Guay (2017) The Intersection of Exploitation and Coercion in Cases of Canadian Labour Trafficking. Journal of Law and Social Policy, 26 :137-158
  • Ricard-Guay, A.& M. Denov (2016) Narratives of Ambivalence: The Ethics of Vulnerability and Agency in Research on Girls in the Sex Trade. Girlhood Studies. An interdisciplinary journal. Special Issue Ethical Practice and the Study of Girlhood, 9(3): pp. 28-45.
  • Rousseau, C., A. Ricard-Guay, Laurin-Lamothe, A. J. Gagnon & H. Rousseau(2014). Perinatal health care for undocumented women in Montreal: When sub-standard care is almost the rule. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice. 4 (3): 217­‐224.
  • Denov, M. & A. Ricard-Guay(2013). Girl Soldiers: Towards a Gendered Understanding of Wartime Recruitment, Participation and Demobilisation. Gender and Development. November 2013. 21(3).

Book Chapters

  • Ricard-Guay, A. & J. Hanley (2018 – forthcoming) The challenge of addressing both forced labour and sexual exploitation, In Winterdyk, J. & J. Jones (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking.
  • Denov, M. Ricard-Guay& A. Green (2016) Girl Soldiers and the Complexities of Demobilization and Reintegration (chap. 26: pp. 550-571).  In S. Sharoni, J. Welland, L. Steiner & J. Pedersen (eds). Handbook on Gender and War. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Ricard-Guay (2015). Trafficking in human beings: 15 years after the Palermo Protocol (pp.354-361). In Triandafyllidou, A. (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies. Series: Routledge International Handbooks. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. London and New York.
  • Ricard-Guay, A., J. Hanley, C. Montgomery, C. & F. Meloni (2014). Être sans‐papiers et devenir mère au Québec: une problématique méconnue.(Being undocumented and pregnant for migrant women in Quebec). In, F. Kanoute, Familles immigrante: parcours migratoires et défis. Presse de l’Université de Montréal (PUM): Montreal.
  • Paccione, L., T. Measham, R. Kronick, F. Meloni, Ricard-Guay, C. Rousseau, M. Ruiz‐Casares (2012). The Mental Health of Children Facing Collective Adversity: Poverty, Homelessness, War, Displacement. In IACAPAP e-Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.

Working Papers and Research Reports

  • Ricard-Guay A. (2018) Criminalizing migrants who steer the dinghies in the Mediterranean: A collateral effect of migration management?. RSCAS Working Paper, EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2018/32. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Global Governance Programme: Fiesole, Italy.
  • Ricard-Guay A. (2018-forthcoming) Migrant and refugee children in Italy: connecting research and advocacy. UNICEF – Innocenti, Working Paper.
  • Ricard-Guay (2016) European Policy Brief. Addressing the demand-side of trafficking in the domestic work sector: main findings at European level. DemandAT Policy Brief no. 1. Vienna: ICMPD.
  • Ricard-Guay (2016) Addressing demand in the context of trafficking in the domestic work sector: perspectives from seven European countries. Working Paper. DemandAT Working Paper. Vienna: ICMPD.
  • Ricard-Guay (2016) Labour trafficking in Canada: at the margins of the anti-trafficking efforts. RSCAS Working Paper EUI RSCAS; 2016/40; Global Governance Programme-227. Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, European University Institute: Florence.
  • Ricard-Guay (2016) Trafficking in domestic work: Looking at the demand-side. Working Paper. DemandAT Working Paper no 8. Vienna: ICMPD.
  • Ricard-Guay, A.& J. Hanley (2015). Frontline responses to human trafficking in Canada: Coordinating services for victims. CATHII/McGill University: Montreal.