Rochelle Dalla

Rochelle Dalla’s professional interests center on marginalized female populations—those who are confined to the fringes of society, who experience little social, personal or political power, and whose voices often remain unheard. Her research is aimed at providing these women voice as well as visibility. She is a qualitative researcher and relies on in-depth, personal interviews for data collection. For the past 15 years, her work has focused on women trafficked into the commercial sex industry. Although largely U.S. based, her interests and attention have recently become global in scope—focusing on trafficking survivors in India specifically and collecting interview data from women living and working in the red-light slum districts of Kamathipura and Falkland Road in Mumbai. 

In addition to research with trafficking survivors, she is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human Trafficking, an international journal devoted to the dissemination of scholarship on all issues related to trafficking in persons—from prevention and intervention to protection, prosecution, and partnership.

In 2018, Dalla received the NCFR Outstanding Professional Publication Award from the Families and Health Section. Dalla was recognized for her paper entitled: “Children of Mumbai’s Brothels: Investigating Developmental Prospects, Primary Relationships and Service Provision.” In 2018, Dalla received the Distinguished Research and Creative Career Award from the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dalla also received the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies, University of Arizona, 1996
M.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, University of Arizona, 1993
B.A. in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Colorado-Boulder, 1991