Sumati Thusoo

Working Women in U.S. Society

Introduction to Labor Studies and Employment Relations

Currently working on independent research projects at the Department of Sociology, Monk Prayogshala.

• Leading research activities at the Department of Sociology, in the areas of child rights, gender, social impact, and other contemporary development issues.
• Conducting training and skill-building in research processes with students, development professionals and NGOs.
• Collaborating with NGOs and foundations such as EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, Atma Network, Upaya Social Ventures, Child Rights and You and Magic Bus as research partners for producing cost-effective, rigorous, and high-quality research.

We are an organization dedicated to increasing access to justice for marginalized communities. We provide free legal aid, conduct legal trainings/workshops, and undertake socio-legal research in Mumbai.

• Responsible for the organization’s administrative compliance.
• Leading socio-legal research, training, and development for the organization.

The Resource Centre for Interventions on Violence Against Women (RCI-VAW) is an independent field action project of the School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences which was set up in 2007 to
strengthen and propagate Special Cells across states and to continue to innovate and nurture effective interventions on VAW with different stakeholders through training and research.

• Conducted review of literature on the themes of Violence Against Women (VAW), working with violent men and masculinities and community-based prostitution.

The IOM Corporate Responsibility in Eliminating Slavery and Trafficking (CREST) is a regional partnership initiative working with several private and public sector actors to uphold the human and labor rights of migrant workers in business and supply chains. IOM has been implementing CREST, intervening specifically in Asia’s apparel and home textile supply chains. This initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of the fashion industry to address the risks of labor exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking in the region.

• Providing general support for the implementation of qualitative and quantitative research activities under the Corporate Responsibility in Eliminating Slavery and Trafficking (CREST) Fashion in India, including labor supply chain mappings.
• Recording and compiling relevant research data, information, and findings as well as keep track of labor migration trends in and outside of India and other project countries, with the focus on ethical recruitment and the role of businesses in tackling labor exploitation of migrant workers.
• Making logistical and administrative arrangements to support the implementation of various project activities, such as meetings, workshops, or training, including preparing and issuing invitations and associated documentation.
• Assisting the CREST Fashion team in preparing project documents and communications materials including agenda, factsheets, minutes, and training materials, and contribute to their dissemination and delivery.
• Supporting the CREST Fashion team in drafting meeting/training reports, periodic donor reports, interim and final project reports.
• Supporting with liaison with national and international project counterparts as necessary, including businesses and business associations, civil society organizations, and relevant government authorities.
• Participating in meetings, conferences, and other events, as necessary and in close coordination with the supervisor.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - Regional Office for South Asia enhances the capacities and skills of law enforcement agencies to effectively identify and combat human trafficking operations in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

• Worked with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - Regional Office for South Asia to support the implementation of activities on trafficking in persons (TIP) enabled through internet and smuggling of migrants (SOM) in South Asia.
• Organized regional and national level consultations bringing together key government and other functionaries for discussion and responses to TIP and SOM in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
• Background research and drafting of reports, as required for project implementation.

Global Fund for Children invests in community-based organizations around the world to help children and youth reach their full potential and advance their rights. GFC’s Child Protection and Anti-Trafficking Cohort aims at strengthening the network of new, current, and alumni partners in India focused on child protection and anti-trafficking issues, linking and leveraging this group with relevant technical resources to ensure a strong GFC value-add to the cohort of anti-trafficking organizations.

• Designed programmatic outcomes for partner NGOs to measure changing knowledge, attitudes and practices around trafficking and hazardous child labour.
• Trained NGO partners to meet grant monitoring and evaluation requirements such as institutional donor/project requirements.
• Connected partners to GFC’s larger networks such as the TrustLaw (Thomson Reuters Foundation), The Grant Thorton Foundation, EMpower etc. to strengthen their organizational capacities.
• Represented GFC’s Anti-trafficking Initiative to liaison with issue-specific affinity groups, networks and coalitions to support advocacy efforts with respect to Child Protection.