With an eclectic academic life (degree in Education, master’s in Human Rights and Post-graduate in Sociology), Joana has 20 years of professional experience, 14 of which dedicated to issues related to Trafficking in Persons. Among her several roles, Joana was the former Director of the Observatory on THB (2009-2013), from the Ministry of Interior of Portugal, the National Focal Point for the European Commission Anti-Trafficking Portal, Member of the European Commission Expert Group on THB (2011-2015) and, from 2013 to 2016, Director of the Research and Documentation Unit of the NGO STOP Trafficking and Oppression of Children & Women, New Delhi, India, with whom she keeps close ties, by collaborating on a pro bono, ad hoc way. Joana has also been working as an International Consultant on issues related to TIP and MS with various non-governmental and International organizations (UNODC, ICMPD (ICMPD-MIEUX), IOM-Libya), designing and delivering capacity building trainings, ToT, training manuals, country assessments, THB data collection and analyses, etc.