Nofar Shmela Kadosh

Nofar Shmela Kadosh

Dissertation Title: Sexual Harm in the Digital Age: A Legal Theory of Sexual Personhood

Doctoral Supervisor: Professor Erin Murphy

Biography: Nofar is a JSD student from Israel. She holds an LLM in Legal Theory from NYU, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar and Dean’s Graduate Scholar. She also holds an LLB, magna cum laude, from Tel Aviv University. Her research focuses on conceptualizing and theorizing the emerging field of digital sexual offenses, particularly image-based harm.

Prior to beginning her JSD, Nofar conducted research at NYU across several projects at the intersection of law, technology, privacy, and sexual harm. As a Research Fellow at the Information Law Institute, she examined issues of privacy and emerging technologies, including “Privacy of the Mind,” presented at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference (PLSC) in 2026. Under the supervision of Professor Carol Gilligan, she also conducted qualitative research using the Listening Guide, a method developed by Professor Gilligan, as part of a joint project with the Rackman Center at Bar-Ilan University. The project examines ethical and professional tensions surrounding therapists’ engagement with the testimony of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

During her LLM, Nofar completed a thesis under the supervision of Professors Katherine Strandburg and Michal Shur-Ofry, examining the trade in non-consensual intimate images on Telegram through the lens of complex systems theory and developing the concept of “image trafficking.” Her earlier article on the criminalization of non-consensual sexual digital photography won an annual competition recognizing exceptional student scholarship and was published in the Tel Aviv University Law Review.

Research: Nofar’s doctoral project examines how digital technologies challenge existing legal and theoretical understandings of sexual harm. The project asks what makes emerging forms of digital conduct sexual and harmful, and which dimensions of sexual personhood warrant legal protection as the relationship between sexuality, the physical body, and digital representation becomes increasingly complex. Ultimately, Nofar seeks to develop a technology-neutral theoretical framework for understanding and criminalizing sexual harm in the digital age.

Contact Information: nfs2361@nyu.edu