Laya Behbahani

Researcher

Laya Behbahani is a PhD candidate in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She is also a sessional lecturer in Labour Studies at SFU. She previously worked at the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria and served as a research assistant at the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business at York University’s Schulich School of Business. Laya’s current research focuses on the narrativisation of slavery, forced labour and human trafficking experiences in the Middle East. Her research has explored the role of the kafala system in shaping the experiences of the migrant work force in the Gulf States, and the policies and politics that govern the interplay between immigration, criminal laws and labour laws. In addition, she has collaborated on projects entailing the application areas of corporate responsibility, such as forced labour and slavery, and business models of forced labour.

Laya holds a BA(Hons) and an MA in Criminology from Simon Fraser University. She is the recipient of the COGECO Graduate Scholarship in Communications, the SFU Newsmaker Award, the University All Star Achievement Muslim Awards for Excellence, and the Edward W. Said Memorial Scholarship. In 2020, Laya was named a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar.