Expertise
Human trafficking; Commercial sex markets; Criminal exploitation; Illicit markets; Social network analysis; Unaccompanied minor refugees; Sex and Drug trafficking networks
Research Interests
Commercial sex market, human trafficking, forced migration, refugees and risk.
Education
- Ph.D: Criminal Justice, (2015), CUNY Graduate Center / John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Dissertation/Thesis Title:Pimps of Harlem: Talk of labor and the sociology of risk - MA: Forensic Psychology, (2008), John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Dissertation/Thesis Title:South African serial homicide: Offender crime scene Interpersonal styles in relation to victims target - BA: Sociology and Creative Writing, (1997), Sarah Lawrence College
Biosketch
Amber Horning Ruf, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research examines the social organization of illicit markets, with particular attention to the commercial sex market, human trafficking, and criminal exploitation. She studies how coercion, dependency, and governance emerge within underground economies and how individuals become embedded in or exit these networks. Using qualitative interviews, legal case analysis, and social network analysis, her work contributes to broader debates on trafficking, exploitation, and the structure of illicit markets.Horning Ruf has also conducted research on the experiences of unaccompanied minor refugees and the social risks they encounter during migration and resettlement. Her broader research examines how vulnerability, social networks, and institutional responses shape exposure to exploitation and influence pathways through systems of migration, labor, and informal economies. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed criminology and criminal justice journals and presented at national and international conferences.
Selected Publications
Books and Edited Volumes
- 2021 Horning, A. (Ed.) Quitting the Sex Trade: Why and how pimps and sex workers leave the business. Routledge Press.
- 2017 Horning, A., & Marcus, A. (eds.). Third party sex work and ‘pimps’ in the age of anti-trafficking. New York: Springer Publications.
- 2026 Horning, A., Stalans, L., *Immatong, Z., *Yaning, Y. When sex and drug markets and gang involvement blend: How do sex market facilitators operate and socialize differently? Trends in Organized Crime.
- 2025 Horning, A., Jordenö, S., & *Siemers, L., & *Lawal, K. The migration-trafficking nexus: Child refugees at risk and the slow violence that deepens their vulnerability. Special issue, Journal of Criminal Law.
- 2024 Horning, A., Jordenö, S., & *Motiwala, P, & *Poirier, M. A visual psychogeography approach: Mapping sex market facilitation in New York City. Critical Criminology, 32 (1).
- 2024 Horning, A. *Poirier, M. & Jordenö, S. Intergenerational pathways into family sex market facilitation, Victims and Offenders, 1-26.
- 2024 Horning, A., Jordenö, S., *Stevens, C. & Dejanova, T. Swedish citizen mobilization in response to refugees’ ‘bare life,’ European Journal of Social Work, 1-19.
- 2022 Horning, A., & Stalans, L. Oblivious ‘Sex Traffickers’: Challenging stereotypes and the fairness of U.S. trafficking laws. Special issue: Traffickers, Anti-trafficking Review (18), 67-86.
- 2022 Horning, A., *Poirier, M., *Bermingham, R. & Thomas, C. Rules, gender dynamics, and structure of sex market facilitators. Trends in Organized Crime, 1-26.
- 2020 Horning, A., Jordenö, S., & *Savoie, N. Double-edged risk: Unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) in Sweden and their search for safety. Journal of Refugee Studies (33) 2, 390-415.
- 2015 Marcus, A., Horning, A., Curtis, R, Sanson, J., & Thompson, E. Pimping dynamics: Conflict and agency in pimps’ relation with underage trafficking victims. Special issue: New directions in research on human trafficking. Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science, 653, 225-246.
- 2014 Horning, A., Thomas, C, Henninger, A, & Marcus, A. Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP): A game of risk. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 38 (3), 257-280.
Selected Presentations
Horning, A., Stalans, L., *Immatong, Z., *Yaning, Y., *Alvaro, O, & *Homann Charette, L. When sex and drug markets blend, how do sex traffickers operate differently? (2025, September). European Society of Criminology, Athens, Greece.
Horning, A., Stalans, L., & Whalen, M. (2024, September). Sex market facilitators’ social networks: Descriptions and relationships to coercive tactics. European Society of Criminology, Bucharest, Romania.
Horning, A., Jordenö, S. Mobilized civil societies’ perspective on Sweden’s unfair refugee policies and ‘moral alibis’ (2022, August) 30th Nordic Sociological Association. Conference. Reykjavik, Iceland.
Horning, A., & Jordenö, S. (2015, April). Whims, plans and business models: Intersections of cold cash and caring. Hosted by Comparing European Prostitution Policies: Understanding Scales and Cultures of Governance. Troubling prostitution: Exploring intersections of sex, intimacy and labour. Vienna, Austria.
Horning, A. & *Thompson, L. (2018, November). Pimp/traffickers in New York City: How do management styles influence how pimps treat sex workers and perceive gender dynamics? UNODC. International Academic Conference on Organized Crime and Gender. European University Institute, Florence, Italy.
Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research
PI: Grant - Grooming traffickers: Investigating the techniques and mechanisms for seducing and coercing new traffickers. National Institute of Justice.Co-PI: Grant - Exploring the Nexus of Human Trafficking and Drug Trafficking in a Border County. National Institute of Justice
PI Outside/In: Unaccompanied Minor Refugees’ Strain and Risk Pathways.