YE'ELA LAHAV-RAZ

Senior Academic

For over a decade, Dr. Lahav-Raz has conducted multidisciplinary ethnographic research on various facets of the Israeli sex industry, positioning it as a political arena where gender and ethnonational racialized social hierarchies are both enacted and contested. Her scholarly mission is to bridge the gap between abstract theoretical frameworks and the lived realities of marginalized groups, highlighting how state policies in this domain reflect broader social and moral agendas.

Dr. Lahav-Raz’s body of work, utilizing both online and offline methodologies, spans a wide range of topics, including:

  • The experiences of youth and young adults engaged in prostitution.
  • Masculine repertoires among sex industry clients.
  • Technological advancements and their implications for sex work.
  • The historical evolution of prostitution policy and regulation in Israel.
  • The influence of digital media on sex work activism.
  • Sex workers’ perspectives on legislative frameworks.
  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aid organizations supporting sex workers.

Dr. Lahav-Raz has secured numerous prestigious academic grants. Following her postdoctoral fellowships at Rhode Island University (2017) and as an ISF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leicester, UK (2018–2020), she expanded her research to include sex tourism in the Middle East and the influence of Global North policies on human trafficking and prostitution regulation in the region.
In 2024, Dr. Lahav-Raz and Dr. Dana Kaplan (The Open University) were awarded an ISF grant (2024-0228) for their pioneering project, "Digital Sexual Conduct: Towards a Theory of Post-Situational Digisexual Sociality." She is also collaborating with Prof. Shelly Levy-Tzedek on a research initiative exploring diverse stakeholder perspectives on the development and use of sex robots.

Beyond her research, Dr. Lahav-Raz is dedicated to advancing academic and public dialogue on sex work and sex trafficking. She co-founded the Israeli Association for the Study of Prostitution, Sex Work, and Sex Trafficking in 2019, an organization committed to enhancing knowledge and raising awareness in these critical fields