Konstantinos Kosmas Gaitis (LLB in Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice [Distinction] and PhD in Law from the University of Edinburgh)
Thesis title: How is human trafficking regulated in the UK? A critical examination of the UK's anti-trafficking response
PhD supervisors:
Address
- Street
-
Old College, University of Edinburgh, School of Law
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9YL
Background
Dr Konstantinos Kosmas Gaitis has an LLB from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Distinction) and a PhD in Law (Criminology pathway) both undertaken at the University of Edinburgh. His thesis entitled ‘How Is Human Trafficking Regulated in the UK? A Critical Examination of the UK’s Anti-Trafficking Response’, for which he was fully funded by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, offers a critical reading of the current statutory framework in Britain through a documentary analysis of UK anti-trafficking policies, as well as qualitative interviews with UK anti-trafficking practitioners and a domestic female survivor trafficked for sexual exploitation in England. He is registered as Attorney at Law before the Appeal Court at the Athens Bar Association, while he is currently working as a Tutor at the University of Edinburgh and a Research Assistant for the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime. He is accredited as Associate Fellow of the Advance Higher Education, acting as Mentor for Edinburgh Teaching Award candidates, certified by the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) for successfully passing the MRC’s Research, GDPR and Confidentiality Test, whilst he is also a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) and a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme of the Scottish Government. Research interests include human trafficking, victimology, immigration, asylum, smuggling, human rights, culture wars, conflict of rights/duties, IR realism and theories of crime and social deviance.
Qualifications
I have a first degree in Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (obtained with Distinction) and a PhD in Law (Criminology pathway) both obtained from the University of Edinburgh.
Responsibilities & affiliations
I am registered as Attorney at Law before the Appeal Court at the Athens Bar Association since 2015. I am also a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.
Undergraduate teaching
Tutoring Introduction to Criminology, Introduction to Criminal Justice and EU Law at the School of Law and Social Policy and Society, Armed Force and Society, European Social Policy and Comparative Politics in a Globalised World at SPS.
Postgraduate teaching
Delivering seminars on Victims and Restorative Justice for the Criminal Justice and Penal Process course for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Research summary
Research interests include human trafficking, victimology, immigration, asylum, human rights, culture wars and theories of crime and social deviance.
Current research interests
Human trafficking and modern slavery, moral panics and culture wars, collective effervescence, notion of the ideal victim, crimmigration law.Past research interests
Anomie, voting rights of prisoners and disenfranchisement of specific categories of people in Western World democracies.Affiliated research centres
Project activity
My PhD research is entitled "How is human trafficking regulated in the UK? A critical examination of the UK’s anti-trafficking response" and offers a critical reading of the current statutory framework in Britain through a documentary analysis of UK anti-trafficking policies, as well as qualitative interviews with UK anti-trafficking practitioners and a domestic female survivor trafficked for sexual exploitation in England.
Current project grants
Full-time scholarship by the Onassis Foundation in Athens, Greece
Conference details
- Presented my paper entitled ‘Social constructions and gender roles in human trafficking: Questioning the gender gap’ to the 2nd annual conference of the Postgraduate Gender Research Network of Scotland (PGRNS) entitled ‘Prism: Investigating Gender Through An Interdisciplinary Approach’ on 15/06/2018 in Glasgow
- Presented my PhD research at the ‘New Knowledge: Social Work Research Conference’ at the University of Edinburgh on 03/06/2019
- Presented my PhD research at the ‘Roundtable on Immigration, Human Trafficking and Smuggling’ at the University of Edinburgh on 05/11/2019
- Presented my PhD research methodology at the Empirical Legal Research Network Colloquium at the University of Edinburgh on 11/11/2019
- Presented my paper entitled ‘Examining the Images of the Human Trafficking Victim and Perpetrator: A UK-based Analysis of Policy Documents and Qualitative Interviews with Practitioners’ at the Victimology Working Group of the EUROCRIM 2020 20th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology on 11/09/2020
Papers delivered
'Social constructions and gender roles in human trafficking: Questioning the gender gap'
'How is human trafficking regulated in the UK? A critical assessment of the UK’s response to trafficking based on victims’ narratives and professionals’ perspectives'