Kari Lerum is a researcher, scholar, educator, & social justice advocate. She is an Associate Professor of Gender, Women, & Sexuality studies at University of Washington Bothell. Her research focuses on the intersections of sexuality, power, & context, with particular attention to centering the leadership of people in the sex trade in conducting research and creating policies about sex work & human trafficking. Her articles have been published in journals such as Anti-Trafficking Review, Gender & Society, Journal of Autoethnography, Journal of Pedagogy & Curriculum, Journal of Sex Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Sexuality & Culture, and Sex Roles. Kari teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in topics related to inequality, critical race & gender studies, cultural studies, death studies, research methods, sexual politics, & sexuality education. She is also the former co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ commission and a member of Church of Hope (ELCA) in South Seattle. Kari and her wife Shari are parents to an adult child, and live in Seattle with their three cats — Scarlett, Cici, and Maeve.