Inga joined Loughborough University as a Reader in Law in November 2025. Prior to Loughborough, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Leicester and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter. Inga has also lectured at University College London and St Mary’s University London and was a visiting fellow at the University of Bristol and at ERC TraffLab, as well as a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery at St Mary’s University.
Inga has a multidisciplinary background in law and political science, she holds an MA(Hons) in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Dundee, a Diploma in Advanced International Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe, for which she received the Horst Siebert Memorial fellowship; a MA in International Peace and Security from King’s College London, for which she received the Kurt Tucholsky Scholarship for intercultural dialogue; and a PhD in Law from University College London, for which she was awarded the Modern Law Review scholarship.
Inga’s research focuses on the rights of (and labour protections for) marginalised workers, particularly in feminised sectors, such as sex work. Her research interests cover the intersections of employment law, criminal law, migration law, discrimination law and feminist theory.
Inga’s research interests are at the intersections of employment law, criminal law, migration law, discrimination law and feminist theory.
Inga’s research focuses on the rights of - and labour protections for -marginalised workers, particularly in feminised sectors, with a particular focus on sex work as the ultimate feminised labour.
Her research investigates the boundaries of ‘free’ and unfree labour and the conditions that render workers precarious, and the (de)valuation of what is considered traditional women’s work.
Her interdisciplinary, socio-legal research builds on feminist political economy, Feminist and Marxist approaches to work, queer theory and critical legal studies, as well as participatory methods of knowledge creation.
Inga was the primary investigator for the AHRC funded Modern Slavery PEC project on migrant worker vulnerabilities in the UK agriculture and care sectors. This project, conducted in partnership with various NGOs, highlighted issues such as exploitation, low wages, and the risks associated with visa schemes like the Seasonal Worker Visa and Health and Care Worker Visa.
Inga’ teaching includes labour law, equality law, migration and human trafficking and modern slavery.
Inga welcomes doctoral students working on sex work, care work, reproductive work, unpaid work, critical responses to human trafficking and slavery, as well as broader feminist projects.
- Thiemann, Inga, et al. "UK agriculture and care visas: worker exploitation and obstacles to redress." (2024).
- Thiemann, Inga K. "The Idealized Victim-Terminology in Human Trafficking for Sex Workers-Providing Access to Protections or Rendering Rights Conditional?." Wis. JL Gender, & Soc'y 37 (2022): 1.
- Thiemann, Inga, and Hila Shamir. "A social-legal analysis of reforms in the regulation of sex work: The case study of end demand legislation in Israel." International Journal of Gender, Sexuality and Law 2.1 (2022).
- Thiemann, Inga K. "Sex work regulation, anti-trafficking policy, and their effects on the labour rights of sex workers in Germany." International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations 36.2 (2020).
- Thiemann, Inga K. "Beyond victimhood and beyond employment? Exploring avenues for labour law to empower women trafficked into the sex industry." Industrial Law Journal 48.2 (2019): 199-224.