Rijken studied international and European human rights law at Utrecht University and Tilburg University and wrote her PhD thesis on human trafficking under supervision of Prof. Hirsch Ballin and Prof. Fijnaut. She has extended her field of research to other areas including global migration, European criminal law and inclusion and exclusion through migration. Central in her research is the focus on human rights and engagement with the position of the individual. She conducts her research in interdisciplinary and international teams, often led by her, enabling the combination of and building on insights from different perspectives. Her research is characterized by creatively rethinking entrenched principles that are often taken for granted and generating new insights and ideas. Encouraging and inspiring students and other researchers are aspects she finds important in her work and which she will further effectuate as professor of human trafficking and globalization.