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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri

Time: 11:39 am

Results for child abuse

42 results found

Author: Earle, Kathleen A.

Title: Child Abuse and Neglect Among American Indian/Alaska Native Children: An Analysis of Existing Data

Summary: The purpose of this research was to compare existing published reports of child abuse and neglect among American Indians/Alaska Native children and to analyze secondary data on child abuse and/or neglect for American Indians and Alaska Natives from the national data archives on abuse and neglect, which has not been done to date.

Details: Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs; Portland, OR: National Indian Child Welfare Association, 2001

Source:

Year: 2001

Country: United States

URL:

Shelf Number: 116315

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Native Americans

Author: Pierre, Yves-Francois

Title: Lost Childhoods in Haiti: Quantifying Child Trafficking, Restaveks, and Victims of Violence

Summary: This report presents the findings of a survey on human rights violations, with an emphasis on child trafficking, abuse, and violence in Haiti.

Details: Port-au-Prince, Haiti: U.S. Agency for International Development/Haiti Mission: Washington, DC: Pan American Development Foundation, 2009. 77p.

Source:

Year: 2009

Country: Haiti

URL:

Shelf Number: 117590

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Human Rights
Human Trafficking

Author: Volz, Anna

Title: Ending Violence Against Children in Justice Systems: Strategies for Civil Society Engagement in the Follow-up Study to the UN Study.

Summary: This report explores the specific role of civil society organizations in following-up the recommendations of the World Report on Violence Against Children on ending violence in justice systems. Eight case examples from civil society organizations illustrate different strategies or activities for follow-up intervention in practice, to provide guidance to non-governmental organizations wishing to undertake similar follow-up actions.

Details: Geneva: Defence for Children International, 2009. 79p.

Source:

Year: 2009

Country: International

URL:

Shelf Number: 117869

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Children's Rights
Juvenile Justice Systems

Author: DeHart, Dana D.

Title: Poly-Victimization Among Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Manifestations and Associations to Delinquency

Summary: This study examines data on girls' victimization and later juvenile offending in order to determine the range, diversity, and co-occurrence of various types of violence by girls over their lifespan.

Details: Columbia, SC: Center for Child & Family Studies, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, 2009. 43p.

Source: Report Submitted to the U.S. National Institute of Justice

Year: 2009

Country: United States

URL:

Shelf Number: 118221

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Female Juvenile Offenders
Victims of Violence

Author: Jarvinen, Justine

Title: Hard Knock Life: Violence Against Women: A Guide for Donors and Funders

Summary: Violence against women can have such far-reaching consequences that tackling it may also help to reduce mental health problems, homelessness, substance abuse, prostitution and child abuse. This report examines the role that charities could play in helping women and their children when victims of violence.

Details: London: New Philanthropy Capital, 2008. 131p.

Source:

Year: 2008

Country: United Kingdom

URL:

Shelf Number: 114578

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Victims of Violence
Violence Against Women

Author: Danaj, Sonila

Title: Situational Analysis Report on Child Trafficking in Albania

Summary: This report is an assessment of the current child trafficking situation in Albania and the level of progress that has been made by those engaged in fighting this practice. The findings are based on the review of available publications, as well as in-depth interviews with all the parties involved, i.e. state agencies, the international community and non-governmental organizations, all of which are involved in the process of fighting child trafficking and the protection of child victims of trafficking.

Details: Tirana, Albania: Albanian Inter-NGO Coalition Together Against Child Trafficking, 2008. 78p.

Source:

Year: 2008

Country: Albania

URL:

Shelf Number: 111765

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Prostitution
Child Protection (Albania)
Human Trafficking (Albania)

Author: Reichert, Jessica

Title: Victimization and Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Female Prisoners in Illinois

Summary: The number of women in prison has increased both statewide and nationally in recent decades. Most females in state prisons are incarcerated for drug or property offenses. Research has revealed that incarcerated women often have histories of being abused and that many are dealing with mental health issues or substance abuse. This study examines female victimization across the life course of women at three female-only Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. A random sample of 163 inmates was interviewed, and interview questions concentrated on participants' histories of substance abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, stalking and emotional abuse, trauma, and help-seeking strategies related to these issues.

Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2010. 64p.

Source:

Year: 2010

Country: United States

URL:

Shelf Number: 118302

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Female Inmates
Sexual Abuse
Stalking
Substance Abuse
Victimization

Author: Usta, Jinan

Title: Child Sexual Abuse: The Situation in Lebanon

Summary: This study examines the extent of child sexual abuse in Lebanon by: 1) assessing the magnitude of the problem; 2) identifying its predisposing factors and drawing a profile of children who may be at high risk for victimization; and 3)assessing the effect of the July 2006 war on the prevalence of child sexual abuse.

Details: Beirut, Lebanon: KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, The Higher Council for Children,and the Ministry of Social Affairs; Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden, 2008. 148p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2008

Country: Lebanon

URL:

Shelf Number: 114417

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse (Lebanon)

Author: Freisthler, Bridget

Title: Alcohol Use, Dinking Venue Utilization, and Child Physical Abuse: Results from a Pilot Study

Summary: This paper examines how a parent's use of drinking locations is related to physical abuse. A convenience sample of 103 parents answered questions on physical abuse with the Conflict Tactics Scale - Parent Child version (CTS-PC), current drinking behavior, and the frequency with which they drank at different venues, including bars and parties. Probit models were used to assess relationships between parent demographics, drinking patterns, place of drinking and CTS-PC scores. Frequent drinking, frequent drinking in bars, parties in a parent's own home, and frequent drinking at friends' homes were positively related to child physical abuse. This suggests that time spent in these venues provides opportunities to mix with individuals that may share the same attitudes and norms towards acting violently.

Details: Los Angeles: California Center for Population Research, University of California - Los Angeles, 2009. 22p.

Source: On-Line Working Paper Series: CCPR-036-09; Internet Resource

Year: 2009

Country: United States

URL:

Shelf Number: 118611

Keywords:
Alcohol Abuse
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment

Author: Wells, Matthew

Title: Off the Backs of the Children: Forced Begging and other Abuse Against Talibes in Senegal

Summary: Tens of thousand of children attending residential Quranic schools, or daaras, in Senegal are subjected to conditions that meet the international definition of being akin to slavery, and are forced to endure often extreme forms of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by the teachers, or marabouts, who serve as their de facto quardians. The vast majority of these children, known as talibes, are under 12 years old, though many are as young as four. Many teachers force the children to beg on the streets for long hours - a practice that meets the international definition of a worst form of child labor. This report concludes that without state regulation and a commitment to hold accountable those that abuse and exploit these boys, the widespread problem of forced child begging in Senegal will worsen.

Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2010. 102p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2010

Country: Senegal

URL:

Shelf Number: 119178

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Begging (Senegal)
Child Labor
Child Maltreatment

Author: Great Britain. Taskforce on the Health Aspects of Violence Against Women and Children

Title: Responding to Violence Against Women and Children - The Role of NHS

Summary: The violence and abuse experienced by women and children every day in the U.K. is an urgent problem that must be addressed by all, and by our institutions - including the National Health Service. This report describes the key issues identified by women and children themselves, and by National Health Service staff as well as by experts from a wide range of interested bodies, and sets out a number of recommendations to address these issues. To support the work of the taskforce steering group, four sub-groups were set up covering: domestic violence; sexual violence against women; child sexual abuse; and harmful ttraditional practices such a forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honour-based violence and human trafficking. The reports from these sub-groups are included.

Details: London: The Taskforce, 2010. 64p.; supplements

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2010

Country: United Kingdom

URL:

Shelf Number: 119183

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Domestic Violence
Family Violence
Health Services
Victims of Crimes, Services For
Violence Against Women (U.K.)

Author: Csaky, Corinna

Title: No One to Turn To: The Under-Reporting of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Aid Workers and Peacekeepers

Summary: This report focuses on ways to improve the international community's response to the sexual exploitation nd abuse of children by aid workers, peacekeepers and others acting on their behalf in emergencies. The report draws particular attention to the problem of the under-reporting of such abuse and addresses a range of related issues.

Details: London: Save the Children, 2008. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2008

Country: International

URL:

Shelf Number: 114313

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Exploitation

Author: Clutton, Sam

Title: Child Sexual Exploitation in Wales: 3 Years On

Summary: "This policy and practice briefing provides an overview of progress in identifying and responding to the risk of, and abuse through, child sexual exploitation since the publication of the first research on this issue in the Welsh context in 2005. Drawing on research undertaken across three local authorities, this briefing provides new evidence on the prevalence and nature of child sexual exploitation in Wales. The briefing seeks to highlight key vulnerabilities and risks and to set out evidence on best practice in safeguarding – including an introduction to new policy and procedures."

Details: Cardiff, Wales: Barnardo's Cymru, 2009. 9p.

Source: Internet Resource; Policy and Practice Briefing, No. 3; Accessed August 8, 2010 at http://www.barnardos.org.uk/child_sexual_exploitation_in_wales-3_years_on.__no_3_policy_and_practice_briefing.pdf?debugtime=full%20time

Year: 2009

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/child_sexual_exploitation_in_wales-3_years_on.__no_3_policy_and_practice_briefing.pdf?debugtime=full%20time

Shelf Number: 115528

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Prostitution
Child Sexual Exploitation (Wales)

Author: Biehal, Nina

Title: Maltreatment and Allegations of Maltreatment in Foster Care. A Review of the Evidence

Summary: Since the 1980s The Fostering Network (UK), and its predecessor the National Foster Care Association (NFCA), have expressed concern about the sensitive issue of allegations of abuse against foster carers. This concern is shared by the Department for Education, the Scottish Government and DCSSF in Northern Ireland (Department for Education and Skills, 2006; Department for Children Schools and Families, 2009b; Department for Children Schools and Families, 2009a). Such allegations are profoundly upsetting for foster carers, can lead to the removal of children from their care and may result in some carers giving up fostering. Unfounded allegations therefore create immense stress for both children and carers, may cause placement disruption and may reduce the already inadequate supply of foster carers. In cases where such allegations are substantiated, the implications are even more serious. Concern about abuse in care has been expressed at least since the late 1970s. Following a series of high profile scandals about abuse in children’s homes a number of official enquiries were conducted into abuse in residential care, but there has been far less attention to the question of maltreatment in foster care. However, the Utting review of safeguards for children living away from home did highlight the importance of awareness of abuse in foster care. It argued that since fostering is essentially a private activity, fostered children may be isolated and particularly vulnerable, especially as many of them are very young (Utting, 1997).This report also suggested that children in private fostering placements may be particularly vulnerable, as local authorities are unaware of how many such placements exist in their area. Both unfounded allegations of maltreatment by foster carers and actual maltreatment of children in foster care are matters of serious concern. Yet despite the importance of these issues, there is little awareness in the policy, practice and academic communities of the research evidence available. This review has been conducted by the University of York, in partnership with The Fostering Network, and funded by The Nuffield Foundation. It draws together the research evidence that exists both on allegations of abuse and confirmed maltreatment and considers the implications of this rather limited body of evidence.

Details: York, UK: Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, 2010.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. WP 2437: Accessed October 7, 2010 at: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/FCabuse.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/FCabuse.pdf

Shelf Number: 119880

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Foster Care

Author: Cancian, Maria

Title: The Effect of Family Income on Risk of Child Maltreatment

Summary: Over six million children were reported to the child welfare system as being at risk of child abuse or neglect in the United States in 2008. Researchers and policymakers have long recognized that children living in families with limited economic resources are at higher risk for maltreatment than children from higher socioeconomic strata, but the causal effect of income on maltreatment risk is unknown. Because many factors, for example, poor parental mental health, are known to increase the probability both of poverty and child maltreatment, teasing out the causal role of income can be challenging. Using newly available data, we exploit a random assignment experiment that led to exogenous differences in family income to measure the effect of income on the risk of maltreatment reported to the child welfare system. We find consistent evidence of a causal effect.

Details: Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2010. 18p.

Source: Internet Resource: Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Paper no. 1385-10: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp138510.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: United States

URL: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp138510.pdf

Shelf Number: 120046

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Child Welfare
Poverty
Socio-Economic Status

Author: Robinson, Elly

Title: Family Violence: Towards a Holistic Approach to Screening and Risk Assessment in Family Support Services

Summary: Since the 1960s, violence between intimate partners, between family members and towards children has been increasingly recognised as a significant problem. Seminal work on male violence towards women within families was conducted in Britain, Australia and the United States. Prior to that, Kempe, Silverman, Steele, Droeghmeuller, and Silver found convincing (and at the time shocking) evidence of the extent to which children were being physically abused by parents and carers. While knowledge about family violence and its effects has grown considerably since this time, services still grapple with the most effective ways of identifying family violence issues with which clients present and, just as importantly, of taking appropriate actions once family violence has been accurately identified. Research such as the evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms suggested that family violence is not always recognised by practitioners working in this area and that even when it is recognised, appropriate actions aimed at creating or preserving safety are not always taken. This paper reviews the current research and literature specific to family violence screening and risk assessment. It is hoped that the paper will assist service providers and practitioners to develop and evaluate tools for use within family support services.

Details: Melbourne, Australi: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2010. 18p.

Source: Internet Resource: AFR Briefing, No. 17: Accessed October 25, 2010 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/afrc/pubs/briefing/b017/b017.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Australia

URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/afrc/pubs/briefing/b017/b017.pdf

Shelf Number: 120067

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Family Violence
Intimate Partner Violence
Risk Assessment

Author: Lowe, Trudy

Title: Integrating the Independent Domestic Violence Advisor and Flying Start: A Process and Outcome Evaluation: Final Report

Summary: The objective of this research was to evaluate the innovative pilot provision of an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) working as part of a Flying Start team located within a defined school catchment area in Cardiff. The aim of this initiative is to explore how integrated multi-agency working can improve the quality of a victim-focussed service delivered in complex cases of children and adults at risk of violence in the home.

Details: Cardiff, Wales: Universities' Police Science Institute, Cardiff University, 2009. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2010 at: http://www.upsi.org.uk/resources/IDVA.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.upsi.org.uk/resources/IDVA.pdf

Shelf Number: 120113

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Domestic Violence
Family Violence
Victims of Family Violence

Author: Greenbook National Evaluation Team

Title: The Greenbook Initiative Final Evaluation Report

Summary: In 1999, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges published Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice (known as The Greenbook due to its green cover). The Greenbook’s principles and recommendations served as a guide for how communities and three primary systems—child welfare agencies, domestic violence service providers, and the dependency courts—should respond to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment. In 2000, six communities received funding and other support from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement the Greenbook recommendations over the course of a 5-year demonstration initiative. A national evaluation examined the process and effects of implementing the Greenbook recommendations on collaboration, systems change, and practice within and across the three primary systems. This effort was led by the national evaluation team, with extensive input and assistance from the local research partners, project directors, and others at the sites and the Federal partners. The national evaluation team collected data through site visit interviews with project directors, local research partners, and key collaborative stakeholders; stakeholder surveys; direct service worker surveys for each of the three primary systems; and child welfare case file reviews. The national evaluation ended data collection activities in June 2006, but several sites continued Greenbook work using rollover funds from the original grants. The Greenbook national evaluation results are presented in three reports. The Greenbook Demonstration Initiative: Process Evaluation Report: Phase 1 focused on the planning and goal setting phase of the Greenbook initiative in the sites. The Greenbook Demonstration Initiative: Interim Evaluation Report discussed work at the midpoint of the initiative, when the communities had moved from planning to implementation. This final evaluation report assesses the extent to which the Greenbook implementation activities facilitated cross-system and within system change and practice in the child welfare agencies, dependency courts, and domestic violence service providers. In addition to these evaluation reports, a special issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence will present Greenbook initiative national evaluation findings for a wide research- and policy-oriented audience. Findings of the evaluation show the efforts the partners made, the challenges and conflicts they faced in carrying out their work, and—to different degrees and in different sites and systems — the changes they were able to bring about in how the systems work to identify and respond to the needs of families and children experiencing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment.

Details: Fairfax, VA: ICF International, 2008. 122p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2011 at: http://www.thegreenbook.info/documents/FinalReport_Combined.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: United States

URL: http://www.thegreenbook.info/documents/FinalReport_Combined.pdf

Shelf Number: 120816

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Family Violence

Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office

Title: Combating Child Pornography: Steps Are Needed to Ensure That Tips to Law Enforcement Are Useful and Forensic Examinations Are Cost Effective

Summary: The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that online child pornography crime has increased. DOJ funds the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which maintains the CyberTipline to receive child pornography tips. The Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology To Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2008 (the Act) contains provisions to facilitate these investigations and create a national strategy to prevent, among other things, child pornography. The Act directed GAO to report on actions to minimize duplication and enhance federal expenditures to address this crime. This report examines (1) the extent to which NCMEC determines the usefulness of tips; (2) mechanisms to help law enforcement coordination (i.e., deconfliction); and (3) the extent to which agencies are addressing factors that federal law enforcement reports may inhibit investigations. GAO analyzed the Act and spoke to law enforcement officials who investigate these crimes, selected to reflect geographic range, among other things. Although these interviews cannot be generalized, they provided insight into investigations. NCMEC takes steps to obtain feedback from law enforcement on the usefulness of CyberTipline reports; however, it does not systematically collect information on how useful individual reports are for initiating and advancing investigations or about information gaps that limit reports' usefulness. For instance, NCMEC solicits feedback via e-mail or in person quarterly from federal law enforcement liaisons at NCMEC about the overall usefulness of CyberTipline reports. However, according to many law enforcement officials GAO contacted, information in a CyberTipline report may not contain an image of apparent child pornography or may contain old data. NCMEC officials said that they are interested in obtaining additional feedback to enhance the usefulness of its reports and could explore additional methods to gather such information, such as creating a systematic process for obtaining feedback from federal law enforcement. Enhancing its processes for collecting feedback on the usefulness of CyberTipline reports could help NCMEC ensure that reports are as useful as possible to law enforcement. Existing deconfliction mechanisms generally prevent pursuit of the same suspects but are fragmented; DOJ is in the early stages of developing a system to address this fragmentation. Many law enforcement officials GAO contacted reported using various nonautomated (e.g., task forces) and automated (e.g., investigative systems) mechanisms to avoid duplication of effort in investigations. But these officials reported that there is not a single automated system that provides comprehensive case information and deconfliction, which can contribute to difficulties coordinating investigations. As mandated in the Act, DOJ is developing a national system to, among other things, provide law enforcement with a single deconfliction tool. Specifically, DOJ is conducting a needs assessment--which it plans to complete in 12 to 24 months--to use as a basis for system development. However, because DOJ is waiting on the results of the needs assessment to begin system development, it may be several years before the system is operational. Backlogs in the forensic analysis of digital evidence can delay or hinder online child pornography investigations; assessing the costs and benefits of taking extra steps to ensure the integrity of forensic analysis could help determine if there are efficiencies that could reduce backlogs. Forensic analysis of digital evidence consists of the review of information from digital media, such as hard drives, and can prove online child pornography crime. Several factors may contribute to backlogs in forensic analysis, including the steps federal law enforcement agencies believe enhance the integrity of analysis, such as making exact copies of digital evidence to discourage tampering. The FBI takes additional steps it believes enhance integrity, such as separating the forensic examination from the investigation. However, some federal officials and prosecutors GAO spoke with differed on the need for such steps. According to DOJ, the national strategy's working group is in a good position to address backlog issues and having this group assess the costs and benefits of steps taken to ensure the integrity of forensic analysis could help it determine potential efficiencies that could reduce backlogs. GAO recommends that NCMEC enhance its processes to collect feedback to improve tips and that DOJ assess the costs and benefits of steps agencies take to ensure the integrity of forensic analysis. NCMEC and DOJ generally concurred with our recommendations and discussed actions to address them.

Details: Washington, DC: U.S.Government Accountability Office, 2011. 77p.

Source: Internet Resource: GAO-11-334: Accessed April 2, 2011 at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11334.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: United States

URL: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11334.pdf

Shelf Number: 121221

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Pornography
Child Protection
Computer Crimes
Criminal Investigations
Cybercrimes
Internet
Sex Offenses

Author: Richards, Kelly

Title: Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence in Australia

Summary: Children’s ‘witnessing’ or exposure to domestic violence has been increasingly recognised as a form of child abuse, both in Australia and internationally. Although it is difficult to accurately assess the scope of the problem, research has demonstrated that a substantial amount of domestic violence is witnessed by children. As this paper outlines, witnessing domestic violence can involve a range of incidents, ranging from the child ‘only’ hearing the violence, to the child being forced to participate in the violence or being used as part of a violent incident. In this paper, current knowledge about the extent of children’s exposure to domestic violence in Australia is described, along with the documented impacts that this exposure can have on children. This includes psychological and behavioural impacts, health and socioeconomic impacts, and its link to the intergenerational transmission of violence and re-victimisation. Current legislative and policy initiatives are then described and some community-based programs that have been introduced in Australia to address the problem of children’s exposure to domestic violence are highlighted. The paper concludes that initiatives focused on early intervention and holistic approaches to preventing and responding to children’s exposure to domestic violence should be considered as part of strategies developed to address this problem.

Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011. 7p.

Source: Internet Resource: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 419: Accessed June 27, 2011 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/4/1/D/%7B41D5F5FD-2EE9-42C8-8796-1FB4B964806D%7Dtandi419.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Australia

URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/4/1/D/%7B41D5F5FD-2EE9-42C8-8796-1FB4B964806D%7Dtandi419.pdf

Shelf Number: 121831

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Cycle of Violence
Domestic Violence (Australia)
Family Violence

Author: Welsh Assembly Government

Title: Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation - Supplementary guidance to Safeguarding Children: Working Together Under The Children Act 2004

Summary: This guidance is designed to assist practitioners in preventing child sexual exploitation (CSE), protecting children and young people who are at risk of abuse or are abused through sexual exploitation, and disrupting and prosecuting those who perpetrate this form of abuse.

Details: Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government, 2011. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2011 at: http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dhss/publications/policy/110107guidanceen.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dhss/publications/policy/110107guidanceen.pdf

Shelf Number: 121884

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse (Wales)
Child Sexual Exploitation

Author: Sami, Shafia

Title: Youth-Led Survey on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Vulnerable Children and Youth in Dhaka Slum Areas: A Youth-Led Study

Summary: Bangladesh is a developing third world country with a large population. Most Bangladeshis live under the poverty level. The growing population and lack of livelihood options are becoming increasingly problematic. In rural areas, cultivatable land is being used is being to meet the housing need of the growing population. Natural disasters have caused the loss of lives as well as land, leaving many homeless. A large number of people come to Dhaka every day in search of a better livelihood. Due to lack of education and skills, they work as day laborer in mills or factories, rickshaw pullers, hawkers, drivers, drug smugglers, small businessmen, employees of business centers, etc. The low income received for these occupations is often inadequate to meet the high Dhaka living costs, compelling many to seek accommodation in slum areas. As many countries in the world achieve greater development, children in Bangladesh are struggling for a safe and secure environment to grow and learn. Despite being a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, many children remain unprotected. Child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking, and early marriage occur frequently in the social context of Bangladesh. Though many NGOs work with child victims of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, little research has been undertaken on these issues. It is therefore impossible to determine exactly how many children in Bangladesh have become victims of commercial sexual exploitation. One study indicates, however, that one girl in every three becomes a victim of abuse. Slum areas are particularly difficult places for children to grow up. Children in danger may be reluctant to ask for help in fear that their parents may decide to move away and discontinue their schooling. Incidents of child abuse sometimes take place within families, with children being abused by close relatives. Children in these situations often feel that they cannot disclose the abuse to their parents in fear that they may be blamed themselves, with little or no consequences for the perpetrator. In this context, youth involved in the Youth Partnership Project in Bangladesh conducted a survey of children and young people living in slum areas of Dhaka city to collect information about their vulnerability to CSE, CSA, trafficking and early marriage in the socio-economic context of the slum environment. The survey conducted was both qualitative and quantitative. Participation, teamwork, collaboration, flexibility and triangulation were the key tenets of the approach adopted by the survey team. Methods used for data collection included: (i) individual interviews, (ii) focus group discussions (FGDs), and (iii) case study analysis. Aparajeyo-Bangladesh staff and the youth group members drafted a set of ethical principles to guide the work, along the themes of: (i) participation and protection, (ii) informed consent of the children, (iii) children’s confidentiality and trust, (iv) clarity, and (v) a conducive survey environment.

Details: Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh: Aparajeyo-Bangladesh, 2010. 66p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 29, 2011 at: http://www.ecpat.net/ei/Publications/CYP/YPP_Research_Bangladesh.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Bangladesh

URL: http://www.ecpat.net/ei/Publications/CYP/YPP_Research_Bangladesh.pdf

Shelf Number: 121897

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Exploitation (Bangladesh) Child Sexua
Child Trafficking
Poverty
Slums

Author: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre

Title: Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Breaking Down the Barriers to Understanding Child Sexual Exploitation

Summary: CEOP has carried out a rapid assessment of ‘localised grooming’ in the UK. This is a form of sexual exploitation, previously referred to as ‘on street grooming’ in the media, where children have been groomed and sexually exploited by an offender, having initially met in a location outside their home, usually in a public place (such as a park, cinema, on the street or at a friend’s house). Offenders often act in concert, establishing a relationship with a child or children before sexually exploiting them. Some victims of ‘street grooming’ may believe that the offender is in fact an older ‘boyfriend’, introducing peers to the offender group who may also be sexually exploited. Abuse may occur at a number of locations within a local area and on several occasions. ‘Localised grooming’ has been subject to considerable media attention following a number of prosecutions of adult males for the grooming and sexually exploitation of children and young people in various towns and cities in the UK. Several NGOs have reported that large numbers of victims of this type of child sexual exploitation have accessed their services across the UK. However, there have been comparatively few prosecutions, and there is a general lack of knowledge of grooming and sexual exploitation in the UK and the threats posed to children and young people. In order to inform responses to ‘localised grooming’, a rapid assessment of the intelligence and information held by police forces, local authorities, LSCBs, NGOs and local service providers, on this particular form of sexual exploitation, has been undertaken. Information gathered during this assessment demonstrates the difficulty of measuring the scale of the issue, provides an opportunity to highlight good practice in a number of areas of the UK and the gaps which remain, and enables the recommendation of a number of measures for improving the UK’s response to child sexual exploitation. This thematic assessment was undertaken with four principle objectives: 1. Assess the size and scale of ‘localised grooming’ in proportion to the overall known picture of sexual exploitation of children under the age of 18 in the UK 2. Establish any patterns of offending profile or victim experience 3. Assess the effectiveness of processes which might help identify such offending or potential victims 4. Recommend action to be taken to reduce the risk in future, including any urgent action that becomes apparent It was aimed to determine the known extent of child sexual exploitation, based on intelligence and information held by relevant agencies, and to determine the proportion of cases which fit the profile of ‘localised grooming’. This assessment therefore represents an audit of the current knowledge of the scale of child sexual exploitation among those police forces, LSCBs, children’s services and service providers who responded to the request for information.

Details: London: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, 2011. 122p. (Full Report)

Source: Internet Resource: CEOP Thematic Assessment: Accessed July 1, 2011 at: http://www.ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/ceop_thematic_assessment_executive_summary.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/ceop_thematic_assessment_executive_summary.pdf

Shelf Number: 121943

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Prostitution
Child Sexual Exploitation (U.K.)
Sex Offenses

Author: Bhattacharya, Ilona

Title: Vulnerability of Children Living in the Red Light Areas of Kolkata, India: A Youth-Led Study

Summary: Prostitution in India has always raised lot of questions in this country. Almost all women have been trafficked and those who have joined knowingly have joined due to lack of option in life. The stigma of prostitution has made the children of the locality more vulnerable. School drop outs, child marriage, sexual abuse are some of the everyday realities. Female children have run away to get away and male children have been left with no options and lot of vulnerabilities. This youth-led study was conducted in an effort to develop a greater understanding of the realities faced by children living and growing up in the four largest red light areas in Kolkata, India: Kalighat, Bowbazar, Tollygunge, and Khidderpur. This unique initiative has been led by youth from the outset; youth surveyors from 16-22 years of age both developed the initial concept for and undertook the practical research involved. Youth members of SANLAAP involved in the Youth Partnership Project in South Asia (YPP-SA) have been actively taking leadership roles in their communities. These roles were further reinforced and strengthened by their involvement in undertaking and completing this study. The study aimed to delve deeper into the lives of children living in the complex world of Kolkata’s red light areas. In trying to understand the vulnerabilities faced by these children, effort was made to explore potential measures for improving the protection of the children living in these areas. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations from this study will provide a stronger platform from which to advocate for greater action and meaningful policy change to ensure better living conditions and essential child protection mechanisms within communities located in red light areas. This study does not claim to be an exhaustive or comprehensive assessment of the vulnerabilities faced by children in red light areas. It will fall short of the expectations of academic research conducted with a significantly larger sample size and more stringent methodologies and data analysis. The attempt of this study, however, has been to conduct action research led by young people in their own environment and communities. In this way, the young people now hope to address some of the issues that have come to the forefront through the numerous interviews and discussions conducted with children and families, within the scope of available resources and opportunities.

Details: Kolkata: SANLAAP, 2010. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 12, 2011 at: http://www.ecpat.net/ei/Publications/CYP/YPP_Research_indial.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: India

URL: http://www.ecpat.net/ei/Publications/CYP/YPP_Research_indial.pdf

Shelf Number: 122030

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Protection
Prostitution (India)

Author: Holohan, Carole

Title: In Plain Sight: Responding to Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne Reports

Summary: The report looks at the abuse and exploitation of Irish children in State funded institutions. The five key findings established were: 1. No clear lines of responsibility make true accountability impossible. 2. The law must protect and apply to all members of society equally. 3. Recognition of children’s human rights must be strengthened. 4. Public attitudes matter. Individual attitudes matter. 5. The State must operate on behalf of the people, not on behalf of interest groups. In 'Lessons for Today', the report highlights some issues which relate directly to the work of IPRT, including how successive governments have failed to address inhuman and degrading conditions in Irish prisons despite being criticised by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Visiting Committees and the UN Committee against Torture. The research also points out that the UN Committee against Torture has expressed grave concerns over the continued detention of 16 and 17 year old boys at St. Patrick's Institution and calls on the Government to allow the Ombudsman for Children to receive individual complaints from children held in St. Patrick's. Also concerning St. Patrick's Institution, Dr. Holohan expressed that: "There needs to be clearer lines of accountability for decisions taken by the executive government – including decisions not to implement commitments previously made." She then questions how the Government can justify their decision to indefinitely delay the building of a new detention facility for children which will bring an end to the detention of 16 and 17 year olds in prison. Dr. Holohan's research shows that Ireland does not have a formal juvenile penal policy, and there is little preventive or early intervention work done with children who display offending behaviour. As an example, the report cites research which has found that among males aged 21-30 years, early school leavers have an imprisonment rate of 46.6 per 1,000 compared with 1.6 per 1,000 for those who completed their Leaving Certificate. In Plain Sight also highlights a 2007 study of 18-25 year olds experiencing homelessness carried out by the Children's Research Centre at Trinity College, Dublin. This study established that one of the main ways of a young person becoming homeless was leaving a State care system, for example a residential setting for young offenders. The report goes on to state that mental health services in the youth justice system are shown to be lacking. Despite the fact that children in the youth justice system and children in State care are among those at high risk of experiencing mental health issues, reports show that access to child and adolescent mental health services for these children remains inadequate.

Details: Dublin: Amnesty International Dublin, 2011. 436p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 3, 2011 at: http://www.amnesty.ie/sites/default/files/INPLAINSIGHT%20%28WEB_VERSION%29.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Ireland

URL: http://www.amnesty.ie/sites/default/files/INPLAINSIGHT%20%28WEB_VERSION%29.pdf

Shelf Number: 122971

Keywords:
Catholic Church
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Human Rights
Juvenile Detention (Ireland)
Juvenile Offenders

Author: Helweg-Larsen, Karin

Title: Framework for Nordic youth surveys on child sexual abuse and exposure to violence outside and in the family.

Summary: In June 2007 the Danish Crime Prevention Council (Det Kriminalpræventive Råd, DKR) engaged a group of Nordic researchers in a dialogue on the feasibility of setting up a framework for future surveys on violence and sexual abuse during childhood and early adolescence. The major objective was to promote research networking in order to create a basis for comparable studies in the five Nordic countries as a part of a joint Nordic project on violence "Violence and its reduction in the Nordic countries" (Våld och våldsreducering i Norden). Thereby, a solid foundation for prevention of sexual abuse and other violence against children would be achieved. By establishing a research network for a youth survey in different aspects of child violence in the Nordic countries, the aim was to encourage a joint Nordic framework. The Nordic researchers have agreed upon a survey model that may describe the current prevalence and character of child abuse and have tried to ensure future joint research projects on risk factors of child violence and abuse in the different Nordic countries based on comparable data. The present report describes the planning of a framework for youth surveys. In the report is documented the background for setting up school based youth surveys and the decisions taken by a working group.

Details: Copenhagen, Denmark: Nordic Council of Ministers, TemaNord, 2009. 110p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 23, 2012 at http://www.norden.org/en/publications/publikationer/2009-540/at_download/publicationfile

Year: 2009

Country: Denmark

URL: http://www.norden.org/en/publications/publikationer/2009-540/at_download/publicationfile

Shelf Number: 123750

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Denmark
Finland
Iceland
Norway
Sweden
Victimization Surveys
Violence

Author: Walsh, Wendy A.

Title: Understanding Child Abuse in Rural and Urban America: Risk Factors and Maltreatment Substantiation

Summary: Using a large national sample of child maltreatment reports, this brief compares the outcomes of child maltreatment cases in rural versus urban places and identifies the characteristics associated with substantiation. Child abuse cases substantiated in rural and urban areas share many caregiver risk factors, such as drug and alcohol abuse, and many family stressors. Substantiation is equally likely across income levels; approximately one-fourth of cases in each income level are substantiated. However, when place is taken into account, a greater share (36 percent) of higher-income families (that is, families with incomes greater than 200 percent of the federal poverty level) in rural areas have substantiated maltreatment reports than in urban areas.

Details: Durham, NH: Carsey Institute, 2012. 4p.

Source: Issue Brief No. 50: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2012 at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-Walsh-Child-Abuse-Substantiation.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: United States

URL: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-Walsh-Child-Abuse-Substantiation.pdf

Shelf Number: 125361

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Abuse and Neglect
Child Maltreatment
Rural Crime
Urban Crime

Author: Delaney, Stephanie

Title: Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Violence in Disaster and Emergency Situations

Summary: This manual is about how to protect children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation, specifically in disaster and emergency situations. It is not intended to be an academic, rather a practical guide that will be of use to people working directly in the field. The aim is to provide fundamental information to assist personnel working in emergency situations in responding to protect children, in terms of what can be done before disaster strikes (which might be called ‘mitigation’ efforts), in the immediate aftermath and in the longer term reconstruction phase. It also includes recommended actions and key considerations to be taken into account in the event of sexual violence or sexual exploitation.

Details: Bangkok: End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), 2006. 119p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2012 at: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/2709_protectingchildren.pdf

Year: 2006

Country: International

URL: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/2709_protectingchildren.pdf

Shelf Number: 126733

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Exploitation
Disasters and Emergencies

Author: International NGO Council on Violence Against Children

Title: Violating Children's Rights: Harmful Practices Based on Tradition, Culture, Religion or Superstition

Summary: All violations of children’s rights can legitimately be described as harmful practices, but the common characteristic of the violations highlighted in this report is that they are based on tradition, culture, religion or superstition and are perpetrated and actively condoned by the child’s parents or significant adults within the child’s community. Indeed, they often still enjoy majority support within communities or whole states. Harmful practices based on tradition, culture, religion or superstition are often perpetrated against very young children or infants, who are clearly lacking the capacity to consent or to refuse consent themselves. Assumptions of parental powers or rights over their children allow the perpetration of a wide range of these practices, many by parents directly, some by other individuals with parents’ assumed or actual consent. Yet the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by almost every state, favours the replacement of the concept of parental “rights” over children with parental “responsibilities,” ensuring that the child’s best interests are parents’ “basic concern” (Article 18). Many of the practices identified in this report involve gross and unlawful discrimination against groups of children, including gender discrimination, and in particular discrimination against children with disabilities. Some are based on tradition and/or superstition, some on religious belief, others on false information or beliefs about child development and health. Many involve extreme physical violence and pain leading, in some cases intentionally, to death or serious injury. Others involve mental violence. All are an assault on the child’s human dignity and violate universally agreed international human rights standards. The International NGO Council on Violence against Children believes the continued legality and social and cultural acceptance of a very wide range of these practices in many states illustrates a devastating failure of international and regional human rights mechanisms to provoke the necessary challenge, prohibition and elimination. Comprehensive, children’s rights-based analysis and action are needed now. Above all, there must be an assertion of every state’s immediate obligation to ensure all children their right to full respect for their human dignity and physical integrity. This short report is designed to complement other current activities in the UN system that are focusing on harmful practices and children and will hopefully lead to more effective action. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, held an International Expert Consultation on the issue in June 2012 in Addis Ababa in which the International NGO Council was represented and prepared a submission. Two UN Treaty Bodies, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), are collaborating in drafting a General Comment/General Recommendation on harmful practices.

Details: International NGO Council on Violence Against Children, 2012. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2012 at: http://www.crin.org/docs/InCo_Report_15Oct.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: International

URL: http://www.crin.org/docs/InCo_Report_15Oct.pdf

Shelf Number: 126806

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Child Protection
Children, Crimes Against
Violence Against Children

Author: Great Britain. Crown Prosecution Service

Title: Violence against Women and Girls Crime Report: 2011-2012

Summary: This CPS Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Crime Report is the fifth edition published by the CPS. As in previous years, it covers a range of VAWG strands: • domestic violence • rape and sexual offences • human trafficking, with a focus on trafficking for sexual exploitation • prostitution, • forced marriage, honour based violence and female genital mutilation • child abuse • pornography. The report provides data and commentary in separate sections on each of the VAWG strands, including a number of case studies and good practice. Key issues that were identified in 2011-12 have been highlighted within each section and may differ according to strands. The CPS collects data14 to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. The CPS does not collect data which constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 200715. Equality profiles of defendants, by gender and ethnicity, are assessed and reported on in this report. Data on victims are reported where available and are still under further development.

Details: London: Crown Prosecution Services, 2012. 67p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 5, 2012 at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/cps_vawg_report_2012.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/cps_vawg_report_2012.pdf

Shelf Number: 126876

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Domestic Violence
Honor-Based Violence
Human Trafficking
Pornography
Prosecution
Prostitution
Rape
Sexual Violence
Violence Against Women and Girls (U.K.)

Author: U.S. Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence

Title: Defending Childhood. Protect. Heal. Thrive.

Summary: Exposure to violence is a national crisis that affects approximately two out of every three of our children. Of the 76 million children currently residing in the United States, an estimated 46 million can expect to have their lives touched by violence, crime, abuse, and psychological trauma this year. In 1979, U.S. Surgeon General Julius B. Richmond declared violence a public health crisis of the highest priority, and yet 33 years later that crisis remains. Whether the violence occurs in children’s homes, neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds or playing fields, locker rooms, places of worship, shelters, streets, or in juvenile detention centers, the exposure of children to violence is a uniquely traumatic experience that has the potential to profoundly derail the child’s security, health, happiness, and ability to grow and learn — with effects lasting well into adulthood. Exposure to violence in any form harms children, and different forms of violence have different negative impacts. Sexual abuse places children at high risk for serious and chronic health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, suicidality, eating disorders, sleep disorders, substance abuse, and deviant sexual behavior. Sexually abused children often become hypervigilant about the possibility of future sexual violation, experience feelings of betrayal by the adults who failed to care for and protect them. Physical abuse puts children at high risk for lifelong problems with medical illness, PTSD, suicidality, eating disorders, substance abuse, and deviant sexual behavior. Physically abused children are at heightened risk for cognitive and developmental impairments, which can lead to violent behavior as a form of self-protection and control. These children often feel powerless when faced with physical intimidation, threats, or conflict and may compensate by becoming isolated (through truancy or hiding) or aggressive (by bullying or joining gangs for protection). Physically abused children are at risk for significant impairment in memory processing and problem solving and for developing defensive behaviors that lead to consistent avoidance of intimacy. Intimate partner violence within families puts children at high risk for severe and potentially lifelong problems with physical health, mental health, and school and peer relationships as well as for disruptive behavior. Witnessing or living with domestic or intimate partner violence often burdens children with a sense of loss or profound guilt and shame because of their mistaken assumption that they should have intervened or prevented the violence or, tragically, that they caused the violence. They frequently castigate themselves for having failed in what they assume to be their duty to protect a parent or sibling(s) from being harmed, for not having taken the place of their horribly injured or killed family member, or for having caused the offender to be violent. Children exposed to intimate partner violence often experience a sense of terror and dread that they will lose an essential caregiver through permanent injury or death. They also fear losing their relationship with the offending parent, who may be removed from the home, incarcerated, or even executed. Children will mistakenly blame themselves for having caused the batterer to be violent. If no one identifies these children and helps them heal and recover, they may bring this uncertainty, fear, grief, anger, shame, and sense of betrayal into all of their important relationships for the rest of their lives. Community violence in neighborhoods can result in children witnessing assaults and even killings of family members, peers, trusted adults, innocent bystanders, and perpetrators of violence. Violence in the community can prevent children from feeling safe in their own schools and neighborhoods. Violence and ensuing psychological trauma can lead children to adopt an attitude of hypervigilance, to become experts at detecting threat or perceived threat — never able to let down their guard in order to be ready for the next outbreak of violence. They may come to believe that violence is “normal,” that violence is “here to stay,” and that relationships are too fragile to trust because one never knows when violence will take the life of a friend or loved one. They may turn to gangs or criminal activities to prevent others from viewing them as weak and to counteract feelings of despair and powerlessness, perpetuating the cycle of violence and increasing their risk of incarceration. They are also at risk for becoming victims of intimate partner violence in adolescence and in adulthood. The picture becomes even more complex when children are “polyvictims” (exposed to multiple types of violence). As many as 1 in 10 children in this country are polyvictims, according to the Department of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s groundbreaking National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). The toxic combination of exposure to intimate partner violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or exposure to community violence increases the risk and severity of posttraumatic injuries and mental health disorders by at least twofold and up to as much as tenfold. Polyvictimized children are at very high risk for losing the fundamental capacities necessary for normal development, successful learning, and a productive adulthood. The financial costs of children’s exposure to violence are astronomical. The financial burden on other public systems, including child welfare, social services, law enforcement, juvenile justice, and, in particular, education, is staggering when combined with the loss of productivity over children’s lifetimes. It is time to ensure that our nation’s past inadequate response to children’s exposure to violence does not negatively affect children’s lives any further. We must not allow violence to deny any children their right to physical and mental health services or to the pathways necessary for maturation into successful students, productive workers, responsible family members, and parents and citizens. The findings and recommendations of the task force are organized into six chapters. The first chapter provides an overview of the problem and sets forth 10 foundational recommendations. The next two chapters offer a series of recommendations to ensure that we reliably identify, screen, and assess all children exposed to violence and thereafter give them support, treatment, and other services designed to address their needs. In the fourth and fifth chapters, the task force focuses on prevention and emphasizes the importance of effectively integrating prevention, intervention, and resilience across systems by nurturing children through warm, supportive, loving, and nonviolent relationships in our homes and communities. In the sixth and final chapter of this report, the task force calls for a new approach to juvenile justice, one that acknowledges that the vast majority of the children involved in that system have been exposed to violence, necessitating the prioritization of services that promote their healing.

Details: Washington, DC: The Task Force, 2012. 183p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2013 at: http://www.justice.gov/defendingchildhood/cev-rpt-full.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: United States

URL: http://www.justice.gov/defendingchildhood/cev-rpt-full.pdf

Shelf Number: 127452

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Children, Exposure to Violence (U.S.)
Community Violence
Intimate Partner Violence
Violence
Violent Crime

Author: Heib, Sandra N.

Title: Police Officers as Perpetrators of Crimes Against Women and Children

Summary: Crimes committed by police officers are a national problem. When an officer commits a crime, either on- or off-duty, it negatively impacts the public trust and legitimacy of the police. Police work has primarily been a male-dominated profession and has had its own distinct culture; both of which are conducive to violent behavior against women and children. There is little literature regarding misconduct and violence perpetrated by police officers; the police culture encourages behavior problems to be dealt with internally and away from the public eye. A sixty day review of the Cato Institute’s Police Misconduct Newsfeed was conducted and all crimes against women and children were extracted and reviewed. There were a total of ninety-one crimes against women and children; ninety committed by men and one committed by a woman. There were twenty-eight cases of domestic violence, sixty cases of sex related crimes, and ten cases of child abuse; some cases involved a combination of crimes. The results of the sixty day review raise serious concerns regarding what is not being reported by the police department and calls for further research regarding police misconduct and departmental policies regarding misconduct.

Details: Dominguez Hills, A: California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2013? 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://justicewomen.com/wjc-project-final.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: United States

URL: http://justicewomen.com/wjc-project-final.pdf

Shelf Number: 129513

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Domestic Violence
Police Misconduct (U.S.)
Rape
Sex Crimes
Violence Against Women

Author: Great Britain. House of Commons. Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Title: Online Safety. Sixth Report of Session 2013-14

Summary: The internet has revolutionised communications and information sharing. It provides an ever increasingly important platform for creativity and economic growth. Online social media services are providing new ways of interacting and keeping in touch. Online communications enable expressions of human behaviour both positive and negative; sometimes downright criminal. Our inquiry has focused on three disparate aspects of online content and behaviour, all of which are of widespread concern: illegal content, especially images of child abuse; harmful adult content being made freely available to children; bullying and harassment on social media. Both the publication and possession of child abuse images are rightly illegal. While these offences are bad enough, it must not be forgotten that such images represent crime scenes, often of the most horrific kind. There is a clear need to ensure that the police have adequate resources to track down and arrest online paedophiles in sufficient numbers to act as a meaningful deterrent to others. If necessary, additional funding should be provided to recruit and train a sufficiently large number of police officers adequate to the task. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command, now part of the new National Crime Agency, has a well-deserved reputation as a lead body in tackling child abuse. It has been increasingly effective not least because it is not solely a criminal justice organisation: its education and social care work has also been very important in increasing public understanding of the problem of child abuse and in offering means of countering abusers. All three elements of its mission - education, social care and criminal justice - need to be actively pursued and publicised. The Internet Watch Foundation, too, has played a crucial role in removing and blocking child abuse images online. We very much welcome their new commitment to embark on proactive searching for online child abuse images. The sooner these can be found and removed, the better. However, we are concerned that the additional staff resources being allocated to this task could prove woefully insufficient to achieve substantial progress towards what must be an important intermediate goal: the eradication of child abuse images from the open internet. Tracing paedophiles who share images on peer-to-peer networks and the so-called hidden internet continues to challenge both the police and the internet service providers; it is a challenge that, by working together, they must overcome. Legal adult pornography is widely consumed. This includes explicit "hard core" material that attracts an R18 certificate from the British Board of Film Classification. Parents and carers clearly have a key role, not to mention interest, in preventing harmful material of this kind becoming available to children. However, they should have access to more information and help where and when they need it. In the off-line world, it is the newsagent, not the parent, who voluntarily places some adult magazines on a top shelf out of reach of children. It is the local authority, not the parent, which administers the licensing of sex shops selling R18 pornography to which children may not be admitted. Some level of analogous protection ought to be provided in relation to online material. At the moment, little is. Legal adult sites could restrict access by children in a number of ways. In general a robust age verification process should be in place; as part of this, sites could use a combination of the following: requiring payment by a credit card linked to an adult; shielding the content behind a warning page; attaching metadata to the website to make it easier for filters to operate and for search engines not to return the material when operating in a safe search mode. Filters may not be failsafe, but they continue to improve and are an important way of protecting children from harmful content. We very much welcome the introduction of whole home filtering solutions that prompt account holders with a choice to apply them. The main internet service providers should have contacted all their customers by the end of the year to offer this valuable service. We want to see all other ISPs following suit. Publishing adult pornography in a way that makes it readily available to children is likely to be an offence under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. We do not believe the police should be deterred from bringing to book publishers of adult pornography who make little attempt to shield children from their product. While acknowledging that the enforcement of obscenity legislation is fraught with difficulty, not least in the context of the internet, we believe there is scope for greater enforcement in this area to provide some deterrent effect. There may also be scope for blocking particularly harmful adult websites that make no serious attempt to hinder access by children. As part of its existing media literacy duties, Ofcom has an important role in monitoring internet content and advising the public on online safety. However, we are anxious to avoid suggesting a significant extension of formal content regulation of the internet . Among the unintended consequences this could have would be a stifling of the free flow of ideas that lies at the heart of internet communication. Rather, more needs to be done to signpost the advice and educational resources available to both parents and teachers. This is all the more pressing given the growing use of social media and its misuse by some - both adults and children. Today, one in five 12-16 year-olds think being bullied online is part of life. Social media providers should offer a range of prominently displayed options for, and routes to, reporting harmful content and communications. They should act on these reports expeditiously, keeping the complainant and-where appropriate-the subject of the complaints informed of outcomes and actions. Given that Facebook and Twitter are aware of the extent to which their services are accessed by younger children, thanks to age verification processes that are at best flimsy, we expect them to pay greater attention to factoring this into the services provided, the content allowed and the access to both. The same applies to other social media companies in a similar position. Some of the worst online bullies and trolls are being brought to book in the courts. Much of the abuse and bullying that takes place online is covered by existing laws, but these need to be clarified with guidance updated for the online space. Young people especially are distinguishing less and less between their lives on the internet and in the real world. Bullying that takes place in the playground can merge seamlessly with bullying on smart phones and tablets. Sometimes this ends with the tragedy of teenage suicide. It is just one reminder that staying safe off-line includes staying safe online too.

Details: London: The Stationery Office, Limited, 2014. 166p.

Source: Internet Resource: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmcumeds/729/729.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmcumeds/729/729.pdf

Shelf Number: 132037

Keywords:
Bullying
Child Abuse
Child Pornography
Child Protection
Child Sexual Exploitation
Computer Crimes
Internet Crimes
Online Communications
Online Security
Online Victimization
Pedophilia
Pornography

Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Title: Study on the Effects of New Information Technologies on the Abuse and Exploitation of Children

Summary: This Study on the effects of new information technologies on the abuse and exploitation of children was prepared pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 2011/33 on Prevention, protection and international cooperation against the use of new information technologies to abuse and/or exploit children, in which the Council expressed concern that increasingly rapid technological advances have created new possibilities for the criminal misuse of new information and communication technologies. The study is based primarily on open source research and the outcomes of an informal expert group meeting on ICT facilitated abuse and exploitation of children, held in Vienna from 23 to 25 September. In accordance with Council resolution 2011/33, relevant information from the 2013 Comprehensive Study on Cybercrime prepared for the consideration of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group on cybercrime is also taken into account. The study is divided into four chapters and contains a glossary as an annex.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2014. 72p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 9, 2014 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CCPCJ/CCPCJ_Sessions/CCPCJ_23/E-CN15-2014-CRP1_E.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: International

URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CCPCJ/CCPCJ_Sessions/CCPCJ_23/E-CN15-2014-CRP1_E.pdf

Shelf Number: 133926

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Protection
Child Sexual Exploitation
Computer Crimes
Cybercrime (International)
Internet Crimes
Online Communications
Online Victimization

Author: Strehl, Talinay

Title: Street-Working and Street-Living Children in Peru:Conditions and Current Interventions

Summary: The 1990s witnessed serious interest from Peruvian NGOs in the issue of street children and, as a result, many street child welfare services were initiated, especially in Lima. However, since that time the interest has once again waned, even though the problem has not decreased. In recent years, hardly any anthropological research with street children has been done in Peru. Although GOs and NGOs have a lot of relevant knowledge concerning street children, this knowledge lacks actualisation and analysis to be positively used for the formulation of policy. This research will expose the reality of street children, which will enable us to understand the relation between street children and the organisations that intervene in their name. The focus will be more on the street-living than on the street-working children. One of the central objectives of this IREWOC research therefore was to reveal the faces and voices of street children and analyse their various backgrounds, relations to the streets and their perceptions of their situation. The research results were expected to give relevant insights into the various reasons why children are in the streets, the activities in which the children engage and how they generate income and the consequences that the children experience from their working/living/being in the streets. The anthropological outline of the lives of street children will form a basis for the second objective of this research, namely to map different policy initiatives for street children and to identify the best practices to satisfy street children's needs. Are organisations working with street children alleviating the problem or are they reproducing it, i.e. are their policies pulling children to the streets? These research objectives have been translated to the following research questions: - What are the street children's coping mechanisms? What labour activities or other activities do the children perform to generate income and what do they use it for? - What consequences does living/working in the streets have for these children's lives: what are the specific problems that the various types of street children face? - What are their urgent (self-declared) needs and what are their (perceived) aspirations? - Which specific strategies and interventions are used by GOs and NGOs to improve the situation of street children? - What are the effects of the different GO and NGO interventions on the street children and which strategies can be identified as most effective in improving the daily life situation and the future prospects of the street children? - Do GOs and NGOs work in a complementary way? What are bottlenecks in cooperation? The fieldwork locations for this research were Lima and Cusco. Lima was chosen because of its urban and metropolitan character and high number of street children, and Cusco because of its tourism industry and more rural and indigenous influences.

Details: Leiden: Foundation for International Research on Working Children (IREWOC), 2010. 145p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2015 at: https://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/Street%20Children%20Peru_Strehl_IREWOC_2010.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Peru

URL: https://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/Street%20Children%20Peru_Strehl_IREWOC_2010.pdf

Shelf Number: 134964

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Labor
Child Prostitution
Homeless Children
Organized Crime
Poverty
Sexual Exploitation
Street Children (Peru)

Author: Kaufman, Angela M.

Title: Familial Effects on Intimate Partner Violence Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Summary: Research suggests family-of-origin violence is a consistent predictor of young adults' intimate partner violence (IPV). However, prior studies also demonstrate that exposure to violence does not lead in a deterministic fashion to violent behaviors in young adulthood. Given the family context entails more than whether or not abuse occurs, additional aspects of family life warrant examination. One such aspect is the quality of the parent-child relationship. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N=950), the present study examined the influence of harsh parenting and parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) in predicting adolescents' and young adults' IPV perpetration. Results from fixed effects analyses indicate both harsh parenting and PCRQ are key independent predictors of individuals' IPV perpetration, but do not interact to produce cumulatively different risk. Harsh parenting is also found to be a significant risk factor for men's IPV perpetration, yet is not significant in the prediction of women's perpetration.

Details: Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, The Center for Family and Demographic Research, 2015. 31p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed July 8, 2015 at: https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-and-demographic-research/documents/working-papers/2015/Wp-2015-15-Kaufman-Familial-Effects-on-IPV-Across-Adolescence.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: United States

URL: https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-and-demographic-research/documents/working-papers/2015/Wp-2015-15-Kaufman-Familial-Effects-on-IPV-Across-Adolescence.pdf

Shelf Number: 135961

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Cycle of Violence
Dating Violence
Intimate Partner Violence

Author: Kissick, Katherine

Title: Clark County Family Treatment Court: Striding Towards Excellent Parents (STEP) Vancouver, WA - Process, Outcome, and Cost Evaluation Report

Summary: Drug treatment courts are one of the fastest growing programs designed to reduce drug abuse and criminality in nonviolent offenders in the nation. The first drug court was implemented in Miami, Florida, in 1989. As of June 2014, there were nearly 3,0000 drug courts including more than 1,900 adult and juvenile drug courts and 300 family treatment courts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (NDCRC, 2015). In a typical drug court program, participants are closely supervised by a judge who is supported by a team of agency representatives that operate outside of their traditional adversarial roles. These include addiction treatment providers, district attorneys, public defenders, law enforcement officers, and parole and probation officers who work together to provide needed services to drug court participants. Family Drug Treatment Courts (FTCs) work with substance-abusing parents with child welfare cases. FTCs are a "problem-solving" court modeled after the adult drug court approach. Similar to adult drug courts, the essential components of FTCs include regular, often weekly, court hearings, intensive judicial monitoring, timely referral to substance abuse treatment, frequent drug testing, rewards and sanctions linked to service compliance, and generally include wraparound services (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2004; Edwards & Ray, 2005). The FTC team always includes the child welfare system along with the judicial and treatment systems, (Green, Furrer, Worcel, Burrus, & Finigan, 2007). Second, while adult drug courts work primarily with criminally involved adults who participate in the drug court in lieu of jail time, participants in FTCs may not be criminally involved; rather, FTC participants typically become involved in drug court due to civil family court matters. NPC Research partnered with the Clark County Family Treatment Court to conduct an evaluation of the Family Treatment Court as part of their Children Affected by Methamphetamines (CAM) grant, awarded to Clark County in 2010 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The purpose of the grant was to enhance the FTC program by adding more services for parents and their children, specifically mental health/family counseling, an at home support specialist, parenting assistance (including home, in office one-on-one and group classes around parenting skills) and evidenced based practices for parenting (Triple P and Parent Child Interaction Therapy). Participants opting into CAM services also received a neuropsychological exam intended to help identify participant and family needs to better plan which additional services were most appropriate.

Details: Portland, OR: NPC Research, 2015. 161p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 27, 2016 at: http://npcresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Clark-County-CAM-Process-Outcome-Cost-Evaluation_1015.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: United States

URL: http://npcresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Clark-County-CAM-Process-Outcome-Cost-Evaluation_1015.pdf

Shelf Number: 137668

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Abuse Prevention
Child Protection
Drug Courts
Drug Offenders
Parenting Programs
Problem-Solving Courts
Substance Abuse Treatment

Author: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Title: Analysis of claims of child sexual abuse made with respect to Catholic Church institutions

Summary: The Royal Commission has conducted a comprehensive survey of Catholic Church authorities in Australia to gather data about the extent of claims of child sexual abuse made against Catholic Church personnel. A significant proportion of the people who contacted the Royal Commission made allegations of child sexual abuse occurring in Catholic Church institutions. At the time this report was published, of all people who attended a private session with a Commissioner, 37% reported abuse occurring in Catholic Church institutions Analysis of claims data provides detailed information about claims of child sexual abuse, including information about where the alleged abuse occurred and when it occurred. The claims data also provides information about the people who made claims of child sexual abuse and the alleged perpetrators who were subject to the claims of child sexual abuse. Finally, the claims data provides comprehensive information about aspects of the institutional response to claims of child sexual abuse, including the outcome of claims for redress

Details: Sydney: The Commission, 2017. 282p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2017 at: http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/analysis-of-claims-of-child-sexual-abuse-with-respect-to-catholic-church-institutions-in-australia_february_20_-2017.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Australia

URL: http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/analysis-of-claims-of-child-sexual-abuse-with-respect-to-catholic-church-institutions-in-australia_february_20_-2017.pdf

Shelf Number: 141250

Keywords:
Catholic Church
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Sex Offenders

Author: Bentley, Holly

Title: How Safe are Our Children? The Most Comprehensive Overview of Child Protection in the UK: 2018

Summary: Technology is central to children's lives. In 2017, just over half of children aged 12 had at least one social media account, despite the minimum age requirements for many sites being 13. By age 13, that figure rises to nearly three-quarters. Today's children don't see the division between 'online' and 'offline' worlds. Social media is now a ubiquitous part of childhood, but alongside wonderful opportunities, it opens up an array of potential harms. For too long, social networks have been allowed to treat child safeguarding as an optional extra. We don't have the same protections in place online as offline, and the result is that children are exposed to unacceptable risks, in the spaces where they socialise, trust, and play. After a decade of inaction, the challenge we face is now immense, but not insurmountable. The scale and complexity of the online threat is growing. Most platforms have failed to integrate child safeguarding into their business models or the design of their platforms. Rapidly developing technology creates new opportunities to initiate, maintain and escalate abuse. As this year's How safe are our children? report makes clear, tackling these risks is now at the frontline in the fight for every childhood. What are the risks to children on social networks? Social media is part of the fabric of children's lives. Every moment, every experience is something to be captured online. Posts on social media aren't just a catalogue of 'real' life, they are an integral part of it. The ubiquity of social media carries many risks, from exposure to inappropriate and sexualised content, to the production and distribution of child abuse imagery, through to the growing scale of technology-facilitated grooming. Platforms provide new opportunities to initiate and facilitate abuse. With so many children using social networks, gaming and messaging sites, it means that today's children and young people are increasingly exposed to the threat of abuse or exploitation, from both adults and their peers Through the ease of access afforded by smartphones, groomers can target significant numbers of children, and quickly escalate and maintain their abuse. Groomers can readily move children into the shadows, moving children from well-known platforms to encrypted and hidden sites. New types of technology, notably livestreaming, provide new opportunities for abusers to control and coerce children into increasingly extreme forms of abuse. Self-generated imagery is a considerable issue, accounting for around a third of recent images removed by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). Although children do not perceive a difference between their online and offline worlds, evidence suggests that lowered inhibitions can mean that children comply with requests that they would not offline. Once a self-generated image has been taken, it opens the door for exploitation and blackmail (including to prevent disclosure). The impact of losing control over an image can be devastating, particularly when it is shared among peers' social networks, sent to family members, or shared much more widely.�Social networks have consistently failed to address these problems - and it is clear that their unwillingness to do so has actively fuelled the scale and extent of the risks that children now face. Platforms have failed to build in adequate safeguarding protections, take steps to proactively tackle grooming, and to do enough to proactively tackle child sexual abuse imagery at source. Successive governments have also repeatedly failed to intervene, placing disproportionate weight on the claims made by industry. As a result, for over a decade, social networks have repeatedly failed to protect their child users.

Details: London: NSPCC, 2018. 88p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2018 at: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/how-safe-children-2018-report.pdf?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=How%20safe%20are%20our%20children%3F%20The%20most%20comprehensive%20overview%20of%20child%20protection%20in%20the%20UK.&utm_campaign=nitl-newsletter

Year: 2018

Country: United Kingdom

URL: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/how-safe-children-2018-report.pdf?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=How%20safe%20are%20our%20children%3F%20The%20most%20comprehensive%20overview%2

Shelf Number: 150628

Keywords:
Child Abuse
Child Exploitation
Child Grooming
Child Protection
Internet Crimes
Online Safety
Online Victimization
Social Media

Author: Kezelman, Cathy

Title: The Cost of Unresolved Childhood Trauma and Abuse in Adults in Australia

Summary: Executive Summary Childhood trauma including abuse affects an estimated five million Australian adults. It is a substantial public health issue with significant individual and community health, welfare and economic repercussions. Unresolved childhood trauma has short-term and life-long impacts which substantially erode both national productivity and national well-being. It needs to be seen as a mainstream public health policy issue and responded to accordingly. Pegasus Economics estimates that if the impacts of child abuse (sexual, emotional and physical) on an estimated 3.7 million adults are adequately addressed through active timely and comprehensive intervention, the combined budget position of Federal, State and Territory Governments could be improved by a minimum of $6.8 billion annually. In the population of adult survivors of childhood trauma more broadly i.e. a figure of 5 million adults, this estimate rises to $9.1 billion. These figures represent a combined effect of higher Government expenditure and foregone tax revenue. If adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse experienced the same life outcomes as nontraumatised adults, the collective budget deficits of Australian governments would be improved, at a minimum, by an amount roughly equivalent to the entire Government outlay on tertiary education. These estimates, based on a conservative set of assumptions, indicate extraordinary cost savings. On different, but still plausible assumptions, the annual budgetary cost of unresolved childhood trauma could be as high as $24 billion. While child abuse includes sexual, physical and emotional abuse, childhood trauma is a broader more comprehensive category. For each, the common element is the powerlessness of the child, due to age and dependency, to prevent or minimise it. Early life trauma and abuse affect the developing brain and have many possible impacts on daily adult life. These include the coping strategies children adopt to minimise overwhelm. Such strategies, highly creative and potentially effective in the short-term, may still be used in adult life. Perpetuated when the underlying trauma is not resolved, these coping strategies are associated with health risks in adulthood. Reducing costs of childhood trauma -- Addressing child sexual, emotional and physical abuse alone could lead to a potential minimum gain of $6.8 billion for the combined Federal, State and Territory Government budgets. The minimum gain from addressing the problem of childhood trauma more generally is $9.1 billion. Active timely and comprehensive intervention, with appropriate support, resources, services and treatment enables adult survivors to participate more fully and productively in the Australian community. Governments are currently exploring a range of revenue measures and expenditure cuts to restore the budget position. As Australia's population ages the long-term prognosis for the budget is for continuing strain; the main driver of deteriorating finances is forecast health expenditures. The Commonwealth Government's most recent inter-generational report (Swan, 2012) showed the major future stress on government expenditures to be in health outlays. As a percentage of GDP, health expenditure is forecast to rise from 3.9% in this current year to 7.1% in 2049-50 (an almost doubling in proportional expenditure). Progress in reducing the impact of childhood trauma and abuse in adults can make a positive contribution not only to the health budget challenges that lie ahead but also to those related to the welfare and criminal justice systems and the lower taxation revenue associated with the impact. Active timely comprehensive intervention will help address childhood trauma and abuse in adults Active investment in specialist services Specialist services are needed to spearhead policy and practice responses to adult childhood trauma and abuse survivors. Active investment to support a coordinated comprehensive model of care, including continued and increased access to effective help lines and online services, is needed. Timely active comprehensive intervention including appropriate support, counselling, resources and services promotes recovery. When survivors comprehensively overcome their trauma they and their children are freed to live productive, healthy and constructive lives. A key by-product of addressing the impacts of childhood trauma in adults is a financial benefit to Federal, State and Territory Government budgets. People affected by unresolved childhood trauma incur significant costs on taxpayers. This occurs through higher Government expenditure on health spending, welfare support and criminal justice costs, as well as via lower taxation revenue. More and better trained treating practitioners - counsellors/therapists Unfortunately our public health system has evolved in a way which means that adult mental health services focus on addressing immediate health issues (such as depression and alcoholism) rather than identifying and addressing underlying causes (such as prior childhood trauma and abuse). A convenient and failsafe pathway to treatment - No wrong door Frontline practitioners: General Practitioners and nurse practitioners will inevitably see people who have been impacted by childhood trauma including abuse, on a daily basis. These contacts provide an opportunity to facilitate a process whereby the person who presents can start receiving the right support, either directly or through targeted referral including specialist counselling, ideally from an accredited practitioner. Training is needed to enable primary care practitioners to identify trauma survivors and to respond appropriately. System, service and institutional improvements - Trauma-informed practice Benefits can also be achieved by raising awareness around the possibility of unresolved trauma in people who seek diverse services across health and human service systems, agencies, organisations and institutions. Adults who experience the ongoing impacts of unresolved childhood trauma will necessarily need to access various services. Broad-based implementation of trauma-informed practice and responses will help minimise the impact of trauma and the risk of re-traumatisation of people who have experienced childhood trauma including abuse.

Details: Milson's Point, New South Wales, Australia: Blue Knot Foundation, 2015. 71p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.blueknot.org.au/Portals/2/Economic%20Report/The%20cost%20of%20unresolved%20trauma_budget%20report%20fnl.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Australia

URL: https://www.blueknot.org.au/Portals/2/Economic%20Report/The%20cost%20of%20unresolved%20trauma_budget%20report%20fnl.pdf

Shelf Number: 154214

Keywords:
Abuse
Adult Survivors
Child Abuse
Childhood Trauma
Counselling
Emotional Abuse
Physical Abuse
Public Health
Sexual Abuse
Survivors
Trauma
Victim Assistance
Victim Services

Author: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Title: Consultation Paper: Criminal Justice

Summary: The importance of a criminal justice response Criminal justice for victims In Chapter 2, we discuss the importance of a criminal justice response for victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Criminal justice involves the interests of the entire community in the detection and punishment of crime in general, in addition to the personal interests of the victim or survivor of the particular crime. Survivors have told us of a variety of responses they have sought from the criminal justice system, and they have expressed a range of views on what they would have regarded as 'justice' for a criminal justice response. We recognise that a criminal justice response is important to survivors not only in seeking 'justice' for them personally but also in encouraging reporting of child sexual abuse and preventing child sexual abuse in the future. Past and future criminal justice responses In private sessions and in personal submissions in response to Issues Paper No 8 � Experiences of police and prosecution responses (Issues Paper 8), we have heard accounts from survivors of their experiences with police, particularly from the 1940s onwards, and of their experiences with prosecutions from the 1970s and 1980s onwards. Survivors have told us of both positive and negative experiences with police and prosecution responses. In general terms, many of the negative experiences we have been told about were experienced in earlier periods of time through to the early 2000s. In our policy work on criminal justice responses, our main focus must be on understanding the contemporary response of the criminal justice system to institutional child sexual abuse and on identifying how it can be made more effective. Criminal justice and institutional child sexual abuse The criminal justice system is often seen as not being effective in responding to crimes of sexual violence, including adult sexual assault and child sexual abuse, both institutional and noninstitutional. Research identifies the following features of the criminal justice system's treatment of these crimes: - lower reporting rates - higher attrition rates - lower charging and prosecution rates - fewer guilty pleas - fewer convictions. There are also features of institutional child sexual abuse cases that may affect the ability of the criminal justice system to respond effectively to these cases. These include: - 'word against word' cases, where there are no eyewitnesses to the abuse and no medical or scientific evidence - the importance of the complainant being willing to proceed, particularly where their evidence is the only direct evidence of the abuse - lengthy delays, where many survivors take years, even decades, to disclose their abuse. This can make investigation and prosecution more difficult - particularly vulnerable victims may be involved, including young children or people with disability. There are also many myths and misconceptions about sexual offences, including child sexual abuse, that have affected the criminal justice system's responses to child sexual abuse prosecutions. The myths and misconceptions have influenced the law and the attitudes jury members bring to their decision-making. The following myths and misconceptions have been particularly prominent in child sexual abuse cases: - women and children make up stories of sexual assault - a victim of sexual abuse will cry for help and attempt to escape their abuser � that is, there will be no delay in reporting abuse and a 'real' victim will raise a 'hue and cry' as soon as they are abused - a victim of sexual abuse will avoid the abuser � that is, a 'real' victim will not return to the abuser or spend time with them or have mixed feelings about them - sexual assault, including child sexual assault, can be detected by a medical examination � that is, there will be medical evidence of the abuse in the case of 'real' victims. Operation of the criminal justice system There has been much academic debate about what might be said to be the purposes of the criminal justice system. In addition to the purpose of punishing the particular offender, the criminal justice system also seeks to reduce crime by deterring others from offending. The criminal justice systems in Australian jurisdictions function through an 'adversarial' system of justice, where the prosecution (representing the Crown) and the defence (representing the accused) each put forward their case and any evidence in relation to whether the act was committed, by whom, and with what intent. Theoretically, this 'contest between the parties' is designed to produce the most compelling argument as to what the truth of the matter is. Given that the investigation and prosecution of criminal matters is undertaken by the state, there is seen to be an imbalance between the prosecution and the accused. In recognition of this imbalance, a number of principles have emerged through the development of the common law to ensure that trials are conducted fairly. These include the following: - The prosecution must prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the crime or crimes charged. The corollary of this principle is that the accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. - The accused has a right to silence. This means that the accused cannot be compelled to give evidence or confess guilt. - The criminal trial should be conducted without unreasonable delay. - The accused has the right to examine witnesses in order to test the credibility of the witness and their testimony. - The prosecution is obliged to act independently and impartially and to conduct the case fairly. - If an accused is charged with a serious offence and lacks the financial means to engage legal representation, he or she should be provided with a lawyer. Many survivors have told us that they feel that the criminal justice system is weighted in favour of the accused. Some survivors who have participated as complainants in prosecutions have told us that they felt almost incidental to the criminal justice system and that they had little control over matters that were very important to them. Recognition of victims has increased over the last 50 years. States and territories introduced victims' compensation schemes from 1967 onwards. In the 1990s, emphasis shifted towards providing greater support services for victims. Victim impact statements were also introduced, and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) guidelines required prosecutors to consult with victims. In 2013, Australia's Attorneys-General endorsed the National Framework for Rights and Services for Victims of Crime. Other responses to institutional child sexual abuse A number of stakeholders have argued that the Royal Commission should consider the use of restorative justice approaches (involving a range of processes to address the harm caused to victims) in connection with, or instead of, traditional criminal justice responses to institutional child sexual abuse. It appears that restorative justice may not be available for or of assistance to many survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, including: - because of the power dynamics and seriousness of institutional child sexual abuse offending, restorative justice approaches may only be suitable in only a small number of these cases. - many survivors do not wish to seek a restorative justice outcome with the perpetrator of the abuse - given the frequent delay before reporting, many offenders will be unavailable or unwilling to participate in restorative justice approaches. The Royal Commission provided for elements of restorative justice approaches in institutional child sexual abuse through the 'direct personal response' component of redress. The recommendations we made in our Report on redress and civil litigation (2015) are not intended as an alternative to criminal justice for survivors. Ideally, victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse should have access to justice through both criminal justice responses and redress and civil litigation. Some survivors have also told us that they found real benefit in state and territory statutory victims of crime compensation schemes because the decisions made by the relevant tribunals or administrators gave them official recognition of the crimes committed against them. Our approach to criminal justice reforms It must be recognised that the criminal justice system is unlikely ever to provide an easy or straightforward experience for a complainant of institutional child sexual abuse. However, we consider it important that survivors seek and obtain a criminal justice response to any child sexual abuse in an institutional context in order to: - punish the offender for their wrongdoing and recognise the harm done to the victim - identify and condemn the abuse as a crime against the victim and the broader community - emphasise that abuse is not just a private matter between the perpetrator and the victim - increase awareness of the occurrence of child sexual abuse through the reporting of charges, prosecutions and convictions - deter further child sexual abuse, including through the increased risk of discovery and detection. We also consider that seeking a criminal justice response to institutional child sexual abuse is an important way of increasing institutions', governments' and the community's knowledge and awareness not only that such abuse happens but also of the circumstances in which it happens. We consider that all victims and survivors should be encouraged and supported to seek a criminal justice response and that the criminal justice system should not discourage victims and survivors from seeking a criminal justice response through reporting to police. We are satisfied that any necessary reforms should be made to ensure that: - criminal justice responses are available for victims and survivors who are able to seek them - victims and survivors are supported in seeking criminal justice responses - the criminal justice system operates in the interests of seeking justice for society, including the complainant and the accused. Regulatory responses to child sexual abuse However, it is unrealistic to expect that all true allegations of institutional child sexual abuse will result in a criminal conviction of the accused, even if the criminal justice system is reformed to achieve these objectives. We recognise the importance of ensuring that regulatory responses focusing on child protection can interact effectively with criminal justice responses, particularly in cases where there is no criminal conviction. These regulatory responses include reportable conduct schemes, Working with Children Check schemes and industry regulation.

Details: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 2016. 709p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2019 at: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/consultation-papers

Year: 2016

Country: Australia

URL: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Consultation%20Paper%20-%20Criminal%20justice.pdf

Shelf Number: 154273

Keywords:
Abuser
Australia
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse
Director of Public Prosecutions
Institutional Response
National Framework for Rights and Services for Vic
Restorative Justice
Sexual Assault
Sexual Violence
Survivors
Testimony
Victim

Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: "Everyone Must Confess:" Abuses Against Children Suspected of ISIS Affiliation in Iraq

Summary: Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities have arrested thousands of children for alleged affiliation with ISIS, used torture to coerce confessions, and have convicted hundreds of children of terrorism in hasty, unfair trials. Children may be prosecuted for any association with ISIS, including working as a cook or driver, or taking part in a religious training course. They may be detained in prison for years, with no access to rehabilitation or education. "Everyone Must Confess": Abuses against Children Suspected of ISIS Affiliation in Iraq is based on Human Rights Watch research conducted since 2016, including interviews conducted in November 2018 with 29 boys and youth who had been detained for alleged ISIS association by the KRG, family members of 8 other children who had been arrested by Iraqi authorities as ISIS suspects, child protection advocates, local lawyers, and other legal experts. The consequences of Iraqi and KRG punitive policies are profound, creating long-term stigma, family separation, displacement, and severely limiting youths' ability to reintegrate into society and support themselves. Once branded as ISIS, these children fear revenge attacks if they return home after their release from detention. Children who have been arrested and detained by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq risk re-arrest by Iraqi forces if they return to areas falling under Baghdad's control. Some child ISIS suspects believe they have no option beyond living indefinitely in camps for displaced persons or leaving the country.

Details: New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2019. 59p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/03/06/everyone-must-confess/abuses-against-children-suspected-isis-affiliation-iraq

Year: 2019

Country: Iraq

URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/iraq0319_web_1.pdf

Shelf Number: 155141

Keywords:
At-Risk Youth
Child Abuse
Child Exploitation
Internally Displaced Persons
Iraq
ISIS
Recruitment
Terrorism
Terrorist Organizations

Rutgers - School of Law, Newark

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