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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
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Results for rape
196 results foundAuthor: Marhia, Natasha Title: Just Representation? Press Reporting and the Reality of Rape Summary: Since its inception in 2003, the Lilith Project, part of Eaves, has monitored and reported upon the press. This has led to an increasing awareness that newspaper reports about sexual violence do not accurately reflect these crimes. Lilith identified a random sample of 136 news articles about rape and sexual assault appearing in mainstream newspapers and on the BBC Online news site during the calendar year 2006 and analysed their content, in relation to the offence(s), perpetrator(s), victim(s) and judicial proceedings, and language used to represent all of the above. Key findings The main finding of the study was the identification of a press construction of rape, perpetrators and victims which is contrary to all research and crime statistics and which has a damaging effect on public perceptions of sexual offences and in turn the reporting of, and conviction rates for, sexual offences. This construction depicts rape as an outdoor crime at the hands of a monstrous or bestial deviant stranger, who may be 'foreign', and uses extreme violence to overpower a victim. In this construction the female victim must be 'proven innocent' through press reporting of her actions before, during and after the attack, including her unimpeachable conduct, valiant resistance, subsequent helplessness and physical and emotional trauma. This finding echoes earlier research in this area. The report also explores new and emerging themes such as the press failing to link individual cases of rape and sexual assault to a wider continuum of violence against women; the press tendency to over-report 'false allegations'; and the use of rape cases involving non-British nationals by the press as a vehicle for mobilising xenophobia. The press construction of rape contrasts with the research evidence in the following ways: - Rape cases which led to a conviction account for 48.5% of news reports about rape, but in reality only 5.7% of reported rapes result in a conviction. - Attacks by strangers account for over half - 54.4% - of press reports about rape, despite the fact that only 8-17% of rapes in the UK are stranger rapes. - The majority - 56% - of rapes are perpetrated by a current or former partner, but these cases are almost invisible in the press, accounting for only 2% of stories about rape. - Although only 13% of rapes take place in public places, these account for 54% of press reports of rape. - The press disproportionately covers rape cases involving excessive additional violence including grievous bodily harm and murder, the use of a weapon or intoxicants, abduction and kidnapping and/or multiple assailants. - Attacks against underage girls are over-reported in the press, while attacks against adult women are under-reported compared with recorded crime statistics. Details: London: Eaves, 2008. 58p. Source: The Lilith Project 2008: Accessed April 25, 2018 at: https://i4.cmsfiles.com/eaves/2012/04/Just-Representation_press_reporting_the_reality_of_rape-d81249.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://i4.cmsfiles.com/eaves/2012/04/Just-Representation_press_reporting_the_reality_of_rape-d81249.pdf Shelf Number: 117147 Keywords: Mass MediaRapeSex OffendersSexual Violence |
Author: Ward, Jeanne Title: The Shame of War: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Conflict Summary: This book's primary focus is on sexual crimes in war, its impact on women's lives, and efforts to turn the tide against the practice of using women's bodies as battlegrounds Details: Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations OCHA/IRIN, 2007 Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 105033 Keywords: JuvenilesRapeSex CrimesWomen |
Author: Wang, Shirley Kohsin Title: Rape: How Women, the Community and the Health Sector Respond Summary: This review documents currently available research findings on the perceptions of adult women victims of sexual violence, their responses to incidents of sexual violence, and the types of interventions available to address issues of sexual violence, and to meet various needs of victims in the aftermath of assault. Details: Geneva: World Health Organization, 2007. 127p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 117317 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceVictim Services |
Author: Triggs, Sue Title: Responding to Sexual Violence: Attrition in the New Zealand Criminal Justice System Summary: This study assesses attrition in relation to adult sexual violation cases -- that is, what proportion and type of cases drop out at each stage of the criminal justice process in New Zealand. Survey data indicate that around nine in ten sexual violation offenses are not reported to the police. In addition, some offenses reported as sexual violation may not be recorded as such. Details: Wellington: New Zealand Ministry of Women's Affairs, 2009. 93p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: New Zealand URL: Shelf Number: 115794 Keywords: RapeSex Offenses |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Case closed: rape and human rights in the nordic countries Summary: This report shows that women who report rape to the police in the Nordic countries have only a small chance of having their cases tried by a court of law. The result is that many perpetrators are never held to account for their crimes. Amnesty International examines the gaps in laws, procedures and practices and calls on the governments of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to take steps to ensure justice for all victims and survivors of sexual crimes. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2008, 27p. Source: Internet Source Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 118149 Keywords: CourtsCriminal Justice SystemsCriminal ProcedureEuropeRape |
Author: International Federation for Human rights Title: Burma/Myanmar: International crimes Committed in Burma: The Urgent Need for a Commission of Inquiry Summary: This briefing note presents an overview of existing documentation on serious human rights violations perpetrated by Burma's military regime, and demonstrates that international crimes are still being perpetrated in Burma. Details: Paris: Federation for Human Rights; Bangkok, Thailand: ALTSEAN Burma, 2009. 46p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: Burma URL: Shelf Number: 117342 Keywords: Human RightsImprisonmentRapeTorture |
Author: Crago, Anna-Louise Title: Arrest the Violence: Human Rights Abuses Against Sex Workers in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Summary: This report examines police abuse of sex workers in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report is based on interviews with more than 200 male, female and transgender sex workers between 2007 and 2009 and documents widespread violence and discrimination against them, particularly by state actors. It calls for governments throughout the region to hold police accountable for crimes such as extortion, rape, beatings and other abuse. Details: Budapest: Sex Workers' Rights Advocacy Network, 2009. 74p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: Europe URL: Shelf Number: 118301 Keywords: ProstitutesRapeSex WorkersSexual Violence |
Author: United Nations Population Fund Title: Programming to Address Violence Against Women: 8 Case Studies: Volume 2 Summary: This is the second volume in a series that documents best practices in preventing and responding to violence against women. The eight case studies include initiatives from Algeria, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Details: New York: United Nations Population Fund, 2009. 57p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 117662 Keywords: Abused WomenRapeSexual Abuse VictimsWomen's RightsWomen, Violence Against |
Author: Bartels, Susan Title: Now, the World is Without Me: An Investigation of Sexual Violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Summary: Sexual violence is deeply stigmatized in Congolese culture and many of those affected live in remote or insecure regions. Researchers from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative performed a retrospective cohort study of sexual violence survivors presenting to Panzi Hospital with the specific aim of answering the following outstanding questions: 1) When, where and how are women being attacked and what makes them vulnerable to sexual violence; and 2) How has the rape epidemic in South Kivu evolved over the last five years? Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2010. 66p. Source: Year: 2010 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: Shelf Number: 118293 Keywords: RapeSexual Assault (Democratic Republic of Congo)Sexual Violence |
Author: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies Title: Date Rape Cases Among Young Women: Strategies for Support and Prevention Summary: This report investigates the incidence of data rape among young women in five European countries including Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Malta and Lithuania. The study investigates the incidence of data rape among female students in each participating country; explores the attitudes and experiences of female students regarding date rape; and develops recommendations, policies and strategies for victim support and the prevention of sexual violence and date rape. Details: Nicosia, Cyprus: University of Nicosia Press, 2008. 55p. Source: Year: 2008 Country: Europe URL: Shelf Number: 118535 Keywords: Date RapeRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictim Services |
Author: Lovett, Jo Title: Different Systems, Similar Outcomes? Tracking Attrition in Reported Rape Cases Across Europe Summary: Attrition, the process by which rape cases fall out of the justice system before reaching trial, has been highlighted as a critical issue in several English-speaking countries with common-law systems, and there is emerging research in some European coutnries. In virtually all countries where major studies have been published, the number of reported rape offenses have increased over the last two decades, yet the number of prosecutions has failed to increase proportionately, resulting in a falling conviction rate. This study, uniquely, sets out to research attrition both in the European context, which has not been widely addressed, and across countries with varying judicial systems and cultures. In this, the first in-depth trans-European attrition study, original primary data have been collected in Austria, Belgium, England & Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Scotland and Sweden. Details: London: Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University, 2009. 139p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: Europe URL: Shelf Number: 118763 Keywords: RapeRape VictimsTrials (Rape) |
Author: Simpson, Gerry Title: Welcome to Kenya: Police Abuse of Somali Refugees Summary: Near Kenya's officially closed border with Somalia, abusive police intercept thousands of mostly women and children asylum seekers fleeing war-torn Somalia every month. Using the clandestine nature of their journey as an excuse to extort and abuse them, police beat and, in some cases, rape them, and deport or detain those who don't pay on false charges of unlawful presence in Kenya. In early 2010, hundreds, if not thousands, of Somalis unable to pay were unlawfully sent back to Somalia. Once in the camps, which only 3 percent of refugees were allowed to leave in 2009, they face further police violence. Police also fail to investigate sexual violence against refugees by other refugees and Kenyan nationals in the camps, leading to a climate of impunity for those responsible. The abuses are the direct result of the country's border closure and the related closure of a refugee transit center near the border which used to provide a safe place where most Somalis first sought refuge in Kenya and from where the United Nations previously transported them to camps. Without this transit center, Somalis have become fair game for corrupt police. This report outlines concrete steps Kenya should take to end the abuses and to proactively prevent and respond to sexual violence in the camps. It also calls on the UN refugee agency to improve its monitoring of abuses and to increase its advocacy with the authorities to end them. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2010. 94p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Kenya URL: Shelf Number: 119109 Keywords: AliensAsylumPolice CorruptionRapeRefugeesSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School Title: Crime in Burma Summary: This report examines the following human rights abuses in Burma: forced labor; recruitment of child soldiers; widespread sexual violence; extrajudicial killings and torture; and more than a million displaced persons. It calls on the United Nations Security Council urgently to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on crime against humanity and war crimes in Burma. Details: Cambridge, MA: International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard University, 2009. 104 p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: Burma URL: Shelf Number: 119146 Keywords: Forced LaborHuman RightsRapeSexual Assault |
Author: Council of Europe. Directorate General of Human Rights, Gender Equality and Anti-Trafficking Division Title: Final Activity Report: Council of Europe Task Force to Combat Violence Against Women, Including Domestic Violence (EG-TFV) Summary: The aim of the Task Force was to identify measures that had proved effective at national and international level in preventing and combating violence against women, including domestic violence, and to make recommendations on their use in the Council of Europe member states at large. To this end, it has reviewed new policies and practices in this field and has identified measures taken in several member states in terms of legislation, support services and data collection, in order to discern general trends in preventing and combating violence against women. It makes recommendations in all these fields and identifies priority areas for future action by all member states as well as the Council of Europe. Furthermore, it has taken into account the Council of Europe’s previous work in addressing men’s involvement in combating violence against women and has addressed the issue of men’s multiple roles in this field. Details: Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2008. 99p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: Europe URL: Shelf Number: 119229 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultViolence Against Women |
Author: Taraciuk, Tamara Title: Uniform Impunity: Mexico's Misuse of Military Justice to Prosecute Abuses in Counternarcotics and Public Security Operations Summary: "This report details 17 cases involving military abuses against more than 70 victims, including several cases from 2007 and 2008. The abuses include killings, torture, rapes, and arbitrary detentions. Not one of the military investigations into these crimes has led to a conviction for even a single soldier on human rights violations. The only civilian investigation into any of these cases led to the conviction of four soldiers." Details: Internet Resource; Accessed August 14, 2010 at: Source: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2009. 76p. Year: 2010 Country: Mexico URL: Shelf Number: 114623 Keywords: Human Rights (Mexico)Military Justice (Mexico)NarcoticsProsecutionRapeTorture |
Author: Harrell, Margaret C. Title: A Compendium of Sexual Assault Research Summary: This volume summarizes recent studies on sexual assault that are deemed useful and relevant to the U.S. Department of Defense and other policymakers interested in sexual assault issues. Entries include a brief overview of the prevalence and effects of sexual assault, and of important events and laws pertaining to sexual assault in both the civilian and military sectors. The compendium's annotated bibliography includes summaries of more than 450 studies of sexual assault. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2009. 319p. Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 14, 2010 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2009/RAND_TR617.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2009/RAND_TR617.pdf Shelf Number: 117555 Keywords: Date RapeRapeSex OffendersSex OffensesSexual AbuseSexual AssaultSexual HarassmentSexual Violence |
Author: Northern Ireland. Criminal Justice Inspection Title: Sexual Violence and Abuse: A Thematic Inspection of the Handling of Sexual Violence and Abuse Cases by the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland Summary: This inspection report considers the different stages of the justice process in Northern Ireland related to the criminal justice system's response to and handling of cases of sexual violence. The report considers the different stages of the justice process from initial reporting of a crime, its investigation, prosecution and evantual court disposal. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has called on the criminal justice agencies to collectively work to strengthen how they engage with victims of sexual violence and abuse. The recommendation aims to increase the level of support provided to victims of sexual crimes including rape, attempted rape and child abuse, who choose to pursue a criminal prosecution. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, 2010. 98p. Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 16, 2010 at: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/0a/0ad6b7e4-0810-4151-8bb0-e28789591efc.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/0a/0ad6b7e4-0810-4151-8bb0-e28789591efc.pdf Shelf Number: 119611 Keywords: Prosecution, Sex Offenders (Northern Ireland)RapeSexual Assault (Northern Ireland)Sexual Violence (Northern Ireland) |
Author: Eckman, Anne Title: Exploring Dimensions of Masculinity and Violence Summary: During the Yugoslavian wars that took place between 1991 and 2001, numerous cases of gender-based violence were reported, including mass rapes of women and sexual abuses like castration of men and boys imprisoned in war camps. Currently in the NW Balkans, an emerging culture of violence is visible. In the context of conflict and reconstruction, multiple masculine identities are shaped and formed according to the intersection of masculinity with religion, nationality and ethnicity. Youth represent a key opportunity to construct alternative definitions of masculinities and reduce gender-based violence. Working toward the reduction and elimination of gender-based violence, CARE International NW Balkans and CARE International is implementing a groundbreaking program working directly with young men between the ages of 13 and 19 to deconstruct masculinity in their cultures and determine how gender norms and male socialization lead to inequitable attitudes and behaviors toward women and girls. Details: Atlanta, GA: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE); Washington, DC: International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), 2007. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2010 at: http://www.careinternational.org.uk/download.php?id=916 Year: 2007 Country: Europe URL: http://www.careinternational.org.uk/download.php?id=916 Shelf Number: 118736 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceMasculinityRapeSexual AssaultViolence Against Women |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Breaking the Silence: Sexual Violence in Cambodia Summary: Reports of women and girls being raped are on the increase in Cambodia. Amid a culture of impunity, victims have limited access to justice and the acute lack of medical services and psychological support reflects social attitudes to rape and other sexual violence. This report exposes how corruption and discrimination within the police and courts prevent survivors of rape from receiving justice and the necessary assistance. Amnesty International calls on the Cambodian government to firmly address inadequate law enforcement, extrajudicial settlements, weak prosecution and widespread corruption in cases of suspected sexual violence. Details: London: Amnesty International Publications, 2010. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2010 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA23/001/2010/en/17ebf558-95f0-4cf8-98c1-3f052ffb9603/asa230012010en.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Cambodia URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA23/001/2010/en/17ebf558-95f0-4cf8-98c1-3f052ffb9603/asa230012010en.pdf Shelf Number: 118417 Keywords: RapeSexual AbuseSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Overseas Development Institute Title: Increasing Visibility and Promoting Policy Action to Tackle Sexual Exploitation In and Around Schools in Africa Summary: Sexual exploitation and sexual violence in or around schools is a serious and pressing problem throughout West Africa2 that necessitates greater policy attention. In a global report on all settings (not just schools), the World Health Organization estimates that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 years have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence around the world. This, combined with the fact that such violence is generally carried out by offenders known to the child (relatives and authority figures, including teachers and school authorities), provides a hint of the magnitude of the problem of school-based sexual violence. Examining what little quantitative information exists for West Africa reinforces this. According to a 2006 survey of 10 villages in Benin, 34% of school children interviewed confirmed that sexual violence occurs within their schools and 15% of teachers acknowledged that sexual harassment takes place within the school and yet rarely are such incidences reported or perpetrators held accountable. In Ghana, a study conducted in 2003 suggested that 6% of the girls surveyed had been victims of sexual blackmail over their class grades, 14% of rape cases had been perpetrated by school comrades, while 24% of boys in the study admitted to having raped a girl or to have taken part in a collective rape (UNICEF Bureau Regional Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre 2008). As the 2006 United Nations Study on Violence against Children (hereafter UNVAC) demonstrated, the long-term consequences of such high incidence of sexual abuse and exploitation are profound; above all sexual exploitation at and around schools compromises the rights to education, freedom from oppression and equality as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. For girls, sexual exploitation also undermines gender equality and prevents girls and women from obtaining equal educational and public sphere opportunities - as outlined in Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Being denied access to quality education, or feeling intimidated in or en route to the classroom, can also reinforce poverty by lowering school attendance rates. This not only threatens the achievement of MDG 2 (universal primary education) (Action Aid 2004), but also in the longer term risks lowering human development levels and potential contributions to broader national development goals as students are discouraged from pursing their studies and thereby progressing to higher education and qualified employment. Sexual abuse may also result in serious health effects, such as the transmission of sexual infections, particularly HIV, unwanted pregnancies and psychological trauma. This briefing paper seeks to raise awareness of the problem of sexual exploitation in and around schools in the West African region. It also highlights problems with regards to limited evidence and explores policy implications. It aims to support Plan’s regional ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign and contributes evidence to the global debate on sexual exploitation in and around schools and children in general. Details: Dakar, Ponty, West Africa: Plan International, 2008. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2010 at: http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/Rapport_plan_LWF_web_(3).pdf Year: 2008 Country: Africa URL: http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/Rapport_plan_LWF_web_(3).pdf Shelf Number: 119831 Keywords: RapeSchool CrimeSchool ViolenceSexual ExploitationSexual HarassmentSexual Violence |
Author: Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights Title: Violence Against Women in Cambodia: 2006 Summary: Historically, Cambodians have suffered through a culture of violence perpetuated by the Khmer Rouge regime and other political groups. The impact of this violence continues to affect many people within Cambodia. One of the most vulnerable affected groups are the women of Cambodia. Violence against women – particularly in the form of domestic violence, rape, and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation – is one of the most serious human rights problems in Cambodia. Although Cambodia is beginning to recognize the significance of violence against women, the extent of the Government’s willingness to educate the judiciary, the police and the public on these issues, and to implement laws and policies that prevent such violence and protect victims, is still quite limited. Cambodia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1992 and committed to enforcing the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDG) in 2000. Both instruments contain provisions to reduce and eliminate violence against women, but there has been insufficient government action to implement them. Since 1992, the Government’s progress in reducing and eliminating violence against women since 1992 has been slow and often inadequate. In 2006, the period covered by this report, no new laws or influential policies protecting women from violence were passed or implemented by the Government. This report aims to provide a realistic account of the trauma suffered by Cambodian women from domestic violence, rape, and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The report is based on information from LICADHO’s Women’s Rights Office, based in Phnom Penh, and staff in 12 provincial offices, and it also features personal stories of violence from four Cambodian women. Details: Phnom Penh, Cambodia: LICADHO, 2007. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2010 at: http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/reports/files/105LICADHOReportViolenceWoman2006.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Cambodia URL: http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/reports/files/105LICADHOReportViolenceWoman2006.pdf Shelf Number: 117362 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceHuman TraffickingRapeSexual ExploitationViolence Against Women |
Author: Arieff, Alexis Title: Sexual Violence in African Conflicts Summary: Civilians in Africa’s conflict zones — particularly women and children, but also men — are often vulnerable to sexual violence, including rape, mutilation, and sexual slavery, carried out by government security forces and non-state actors, including, rebel groups, militias, and criminal organizations. Some abuses appear to be opportunistic, or the product of a larger breakdown in the rule of law and social order that may occur amid conflict. However, sexual violence has also been employed by combatant groups as a tool of war, seemingly designed to wreak damage on entire communities. While such abuses are by no means limited to Africa, weak justice systems in many African states can mean that victims have little legal redress; survivors are also often shunned by their families and communities. Sexual atrocities have been reported in many African conflicts over the past two decades, including in Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. The issue has been particularly salient in eastern DRC, where security forces, rebel organizations, militias, and other armed groups have inflicted sexual violence upon the civilian population on a massive scale. This report provides a detailed case study of DRC and an index of active U.S. programs there. Multiple U.S. government agencies and implementing partners contribute to efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence in African conflicts. Agencies and departments include the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, among others. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken the lead on the Obama Administration’s initiative to address the issue, through speeches, official travel, public remarks, writings, and actions at the United Nations. In August 2009, Clinton traveled to Goma, in eastern DRC, where she pledged $17 million to support U.S. government efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in that country. The pledge includes $10 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) for “programs and activities to assist victims of gender-based violence” in DRC provided by the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-32). The 111th Congress has repeatedly expressed interest in the issue of sexual violence in African conflicts and support for programs to address it through legislation, hearings, and other congressional actions. Potential issues for Congress include the authorization and appropriation of targeted assistance programs; oversight of Administration and multilateral policies; and oversight of coordination between U.S. government agencies and international donors. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2009. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: CRS Report to Congress, R40956: Accessed October 13, 2010 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40956.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Africa URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40956.pdf Shelf Number: 119929 Keywords: RapeSex OffensesSexual SlaverySexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Cahill, Meagan Title: Sex Abuse in the District of Columbia: Patterns and Trends, 2000-2009 Summary: While the use official statistics to understand sexual offenses presents a number of challenges, an analysis of data from the last decade (2000—2009) in Washington, D.C. reveals some interesting patterns. A long-term downward trend in reports of forcible rape since 1960 stabilized in recent years. More recently (2000—2009), the number of sex abuse reports was volatile with no clear pattern of increase or decline. Police districts 6D and 7D accounted for a disproportionate share of the city’s sex abuse reports, a pattern that may have begun to change at the very end of the series, at least in 7D. Details: Washington, DC: District of Columbia Crime Policy Institute, 2010. 3p. Source: Internet Resource: Brief, No. 4: Accessed October 18, 2010 at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001453-dcpi-sexual-abuse-brief.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001453-dcpi-sexual-abuse-brief.pdf Shelf Number: 119999 Keywords: Crime StatisticsRapeSexual AbuseSexual Assault |
Author: Isikozlu, Elvan Title: Towards a Typology of Wartime Rape Summary: This brief presents the progress to date in developing a typology of wartime rape as a first step toward understanding the different consequences of this form of violence in war. This publication focuses solely on wartime rape perpetrated by armed groups against civilians, though this form of violence is perpetrated more widely by, and against, different actors during war. The wider perpetration of rape against other actors is not presented in this brief, but is nevertheless included in the The Typology is a product of two phases of research: a) an initial phase (November 2008–May 2009) where a preliminary typology was created based on an examination of two country cases of wartime rape: Bosnia and Herzegovina, and El Salvador; and b) a second phase (September 2009–May 2010) where the typology was refined according to data collected from a review of the literature on ten additional country cases of wartime rape (Cambodia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea/ Bougainville, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Timor Leste). The Typology was designed on the basis of a definition of wartime, which includes a myriad of war dynamics that surround and influence the perpetration of rape, and which can be organized into the following ‘themes’: type of conflict in which wartime rape occurs; characteristics of the armed group; motivations for the rape; characteristics of the rapist; characteristics of the raped person; and characteristics of the rape. Details: Bonn, Germany: Bonn International Center for Conversion, 2010. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: BICC Brief 43: Accessed October 19, 2010 at: http://www.bicc.de/uploads/pdf/publications/briefs/brief43/brief43.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.bicc.de/uploads/pdf/publications/briefs/brief43/brief43.pdf Shelf Number: 120012 Keywords: RapeSexual Violence |
Author: Raphael, Jody Title: Taking Rape Seriously: Sexual Assault in Cook County Summary: “Rape is in decline in the U.S.” proclaim newspaper statistics, based mainly on declining police department reports of sexual assault. In September 2007, Index Crime Reports from the FBI reported another 2% decline in rape reports to police departments for 2006. Rape crisis providers in Cook County, who have seen no decline in the need for their services, are quick to point out that unlike other crimes, rape is only rarely reported to police authorities. What, then, is the prevalence of rape in Cook County, Illinois, and is our response to this crime adequate? This report attempts to answer these questions. Available data make definitive statements problematic. However, when we analyze the data we do have beyond police reports, we find that sexual assault is an underestimated problem in Cook County, and responses are grossly inadequate. Details: Chicago: DePaul University, College of Law, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, 2008. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2010 at: http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/family_law/pdf/rape_report_feb%202008.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/family_law/pdf/rape_report_feb%202008.pdf Shelf Number: 119970 Keywords: RapeRape VictimsSexual Assault |
Author: Wells, Matthew Title: Afraid and Forgotten: Lawlessness, Rape and Impunity in Western Cote d'Ivoire Summary: This report documents the often brutal physical and sexual violence in the western administrative regions of Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes. The widespread criminality has been fueled by the disintegration of legal institutions, a failed disarmament process that has left the region awash with arms, and state officials’ refusal to respond to attacks. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2010. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 25, 2010 at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/10/22/afraid-and-forgotten Year: 2010 Country: Cote d'Ivoire URL: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/10/22/afraid-and-forgotten Shelf Number: 120072 Keywords: Gun ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultViolent Crime |
Author: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM): United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations Title: Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice Summary: Despite increased attention to the women, peace and security agenda since the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 in October 2000, major analytical and implementation gaps remain. One such gap is the effort to combat conflict-related sexual violence — the premise of subsequent Security Council resolutions 1820 and 1888 — and the potential of uniformed peacekeepers to help fight such violence. Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence — An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice captures best practices and emerging elements for a more effective response by peacekeepers to women’s security concerns. From initiating firewood patrols in Darfur to establishing market escorts, night patrols and early-warning systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the document catalogues direct and indirect efforts to combat sexual violence during and in the wake of war. While the focus of this publication is on the practical methods by which military, police and civilian peacekeepers can prevent sexual violence, it is also part of a broader agenda to improve the capacities of peacekeepers to protect civilians effectively. Details: New York: United Nations, 2010. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 29, 2010 at: http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/Analytical_Inventory_of_Peacekeeping_Practice_online.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/Analytical_Inventory_of_Peacekeeping_Practice_online.pdf Shelf Number: 120126 Keywords: Female Victims of CrimeRapeSexual ExploitationSexual Violence |
Author: Solhjell, Randi Title: Protecting Civilians Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Eastern Chad Summary: Chad has consistently ranked near the bottom of the Human Development Index. Over the past decade it has experienced the effects of domestic disputes, political instability and growing rebel activity, spillover from the Darfur crisis and the proxy war between government of Sudan and Chad, and widespread violence in the northern Central African Republic (CAR). The consequences have included an influx of refugees from Darfur and CAR seeking protection in neighbouring Chad and an increase in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Although fighting has diminished in recent years, the high number of refugees and IDPs as well as banditry groups and the proliferation of arms continue to pose great security risks. This report focuses on the protection of civilians, especially in terms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), the Chadian police/ gendarme force Détachment Intégré de Securité (DIS), the potential for early recovery and the prospects of protection provided by the government of Chad after the withdrawal of MINURCAT. Dealing with SGBV involves improving security and is an important element in the humanitarian imperative to protect civilians under the auspices of international humanitarian law and international human rights. In June 2008, the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1820. The resolution aims at ending sexual violence in conflict, and states: ‘rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide’. It is the result of a much broader agenda to mainstream gender perspectives at all levels of the UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations and peace negations since the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, of which Resolution 1820 is a strengthened prolongation. Details: Oslo: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2010. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 29, 2010 at: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NUPI_ProtectingCivilians AgainstSexualandGender-BasedViolenceinEasternChad.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Chad URL: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NUPI_ProtectingCivilians AgainstSexualandGender-BasedViolenceinEasternChad.pdf Shelf Number: 120127 Keywords: RapeSex CrimeSexual ExploitationSexual Violence |
Author: Solhjell, Randi Title: Sexualised Violence in War and Conflict: A Qualitative Mapping STudy of Norwegian Capacities, Potential and Challenges Summary: This report addresses the challenges and opportunities facing Norway in relation to the combat against sexualised and gender-based violence (SGBV) in war and conflict situations. In presenting a map of Norwegian actors and agencies in the field, it constitutes a critical resource that both emphasises Norway's potential to contribute and recommends proposals for improvement. The context of the report is international commitments to address, prevent and limit sexualised violence (SV) in conflict, as embodied in UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008); the efforts of relevant actors in Norway to work towards fulfilment of these goals; and the current limitations in the way of these actors achieving best practice. The content of the report is based on a qualitative mapping study conducted in Norway during spring 2010. This collates some of the work and research being done in Norway across the spectrum of issues that SGBV raises. The people interviewed represent ministries and other government institutions, the academic sector and/or civil society in various parts of Norway. The main findings are threefold: •First, research on the subject is in several important respects incomplete and unsystematic. The gaps relate to the number and type of cases analysed, and the scholarly discipline that is brought to bear in this analysis. • Second, although Norway's condition is one of peace, equality and relative prosperity, including a well-functioning police and justice apparatus, it still faces a major challenge in combat various forms of sexualised violence. In meeting this challenge, the focus of argument should perhaps shift from the smooth running of the security apparatus to questioning and affecting social attitudes. •Third, the lack of attention towards men in all areas (research, treatment, policy, empowerment projects) is alarming. In a conflict or post-conflict setting, men and boys’ disempowerment and alienation from society should be of high importance at the international agenda to combat SV. There is a real need to have men on board, in order to avoid further gender stereotyping that (for example) perceives the concerns around SV as “women's issues” and men as inherently violent. These findings are in turn the basis of three recommendations: • First, the term “gender approaches” in peace operations too often is taken to mean simply increasing the number of women in the police and army, or increased attention to women’s situation and problems. Instead, the focus should be to assess security challenges for the population under threat. If, for example, fear of rape is a daily concern, then this is a security threat with an equal status to combat wounds. • Second, there is a need to apply context-sensitive approaches, including humility and understanding towards the society in need, and asking questions about what has worked previously in the relevant setting to curb the level of SV and why these mechanisms are not currently functioning. • Third, there should be greater attention to the armed forces and their understanding of SV, amounting to a debate on the very nature of conflict-related violence and relational violence. There is vast knowledge and experience among Norwegian professionals from different sectors. In the ongoing efforts to design new projects or strive for best practice in the field, they should be consulted. At the same time, we strongly encourage better transparency, cooperation and information flow among these actors in Norway to advance the international agenda to end the scourge of sexualised violence in war and conflict situations. Details: Oslo: Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre, 2010. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 9, 2010 at: Year: 2010 Country: Norway URL: Shelf Number: 120264 Keywords: RapeSexual Violence (Norway) |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: Providing Anonymity to Those Accused of Rape: An Asessment of Evidence Summary: This report brings together findings from previous reviews and primary research studies as well as statistics to present a summary of evidence relevant to the issue of whether or not to provide anonymity to those accused of rape. It examines a number of key areas to determine whether the likely impact of anonymity can be identified from existing evidence. These include: the legal position on anonymity in rape cases; reporting and investigation of rape; false allegations; convictions and offending histories; and media coverage of criminal cases. Findings will be of wider interest to those concerned with criminal justice policy, the offence of rape and violence against women and girls. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2010. Source: Internet Resource: Ministry of Justice Research Series 20/10: Accessed December 1, 2010 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/anonymity-rape-research-report.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/anonymity-rape-research-report.pdf Shelf Number: 120330 Keywords: RapeRapists (UK)Sex OffendersSexual Violence |
Author: Parkinson, Debra Title: Supporting Victims Through the Legal Process: The Role of Sexual Assault Service Providers Summary: The secondary victimisation suffered by women in sexual assault court cases is well documented and is a factor in women's reluctance to report sexual assault. Over recent years, state, territory and national governments have attempted to minimise the negative impacts of the law. Tasmania, for example, has introduced initiatives to increase access to Legal Aid and court support for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The ACT has offered specialist training to police, prosecutors and victim support workers, with new legislation in 2008 providing victims with improved protection during the court process. In NSW, the Attorney-General's Criminal Justice Sexual Offences Taskforce developed 70 recommendations on ways to improve the responsiveness of the criminal justice system to victims of sexual assault. These government initiatives affirm a general awareness that women's experience of the criminal justice system must improve if more women are to pursue justice through the courts. This Wrap examines one initiative to improve women's experience the criminal justice system through the provision of support for victims throughout the process. It is informed by consultations with sexual assault counsellors who have worked extensively in helping women navigate the legal system, and by other key informants. It draws on their expertise to distil strategies for effective practice. The case studies at the end of this publication illustrate a range of initiatives designed to improve justice outcomes for victims of sexual assault. Details: Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2010. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: ACSSA Wrap No. 8: Accessed December 2, 2010 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/wrap/wrap8/w8.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/wrap/wrap8/w8.pdf Shelf Number: 120342 Keywords: RapeSexual Assault (Australia)Victim ServicesVictims of Crimes |
Author: Perez, Laura Title: National Outrage: Violence Against Internally Displaced Women and Girls in Eastern Chad Summary: This report focuses on conflict-related violence against internally displaced women and girls in the department of Dar Sila in eastern Chad. It investigates how the problem has changed over time, analyses the responses of the Chadian government and humanitarian community, and reviews the legal frameworks for protecting the human rights of survivors of violence. Details: Geneva: International Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council, 2010. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2010 at: http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/5380E72B539D04CAC12577E6003D9F9C/$file/Chad_SCR_Nov2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Chad URL: http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/5380E72B539D04CAC12577E6003D9F9C/$file/Chad_SCR_Nov2010.pdf Shelf Number: 120397 Keywords: Human RightsRapeViolence (Chad)Violence Against Women |
Author: Falu, Ana, ed. Title: Women in the City: On Violence and Rights Summary: The texts included in this volume are adaptations of presentations given by participants in the Second International Seminar of the Regional Programme ‘Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All’, which was held in Buenos Aires from July 23 to 25, 2008. The goals of the Seminar were the following: to provide a space for continued reflection and knowledge-sharing regarding violence in cities from a gender perspective, to facilitate dialogue between a diversity of actors in order to broaden and deepen proposals, to generate results reflective of the conceptual debates underway and to develop new strategies for action in the region. Details: Santiago, Chile: Women and Habitat Network of Latin America/Ediciones SUR, 2010. 177p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2010 at: http://www.redmujer.org.ar/pdf_publicaciones/art_40.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Central America URL: http://www.redmujer.org.ar/pdf_publicaciones/art_40.pdf Shelf Number: 120493 Keywords: Intimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women (Latin America)Violent Crime |
Author: Clark, Haley Title: Insights Into Sexual Assault Perpetration: Giving Voice to Victim/Survivors' Knowledge Summary: Significant proportions of women in Australia have been sexually assaulted: national victimisation surveys consistently estimate that around one in six women experience sexual assault from the age of 15.1 At local, state and national levels, reducing the incidence of sexual violence is a pressing concern and a core focus of policy development. However, those responsible for developing prevention strategies face the challenge that there is a lack of knowledge about sexual offending. Research has established that women are primarily assaulted by people they know, often in contexts of trust and familiarity. We also know that this acts as a barrier to disclosing sexual assault and many offences therefore remain hidden. Few victim/survivors report offences to police and fewer still see their perpetrator convicted. Most of what we know about male sexual offenders is based on the small minority who have been detected. The research base suggests that these men may not be representative of undetected offenders or the types of sexual offences regularly perpetrated. To date, the sexual offending literature has emphasised instances involving adult sexual assault where perpetrators and victims know each other. Relatively little is known about the situational circumstances in which sexual assault occurs, the factors that facilitate or inhibit it occurring, the use of strategies by offenders, and how these aspects all fit together. The Giving Voice project adds to our understandings of sexual offending by asking victim/survivors how the sexual assault(s) they experienced happened; what factors they thought facilitated it; and what strategies, behaviours and tactics perpetrators used to offend against them. Building the evidence on how sexual assault occurs, and particularly the strategies used by men to perpetrate, can assist in the development of prevention initiatives. Details: Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2010. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. 18: Accessed December 15, 2010 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport18/rr18.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport18/rr18.pdf Shelf Number: 120520 Keywords: RapeSex OffendersSexual Assault (Australia) |
Author: Krebs, Christopher P., Lindquist, Christine H. Title: The Historically Black College and University Campus Sexual Assault (HBCU-CSA) Study Summary: Sexual assault has a substantial impact on both victims and society. Victims of sexual assault may suffer both immediate and long-term physical and mental health consequences, including injury, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy. Victims of sexual assault report increasing their visits to physicians by 18% the year of the assault, by 56% the year after the assault, and by 31% two years after the assault. Four out of five rape victims subsequently suffer from chronic physical or psychological conditions, and rape victims are 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than persons who have not been crime victims and 6 times more likely than victims of other crimes. Overall, rape is believed to carry the highest annual victim cost of any crime: $127 billion (excluding child sex abuse cases). It is followed by assault at $93 billion per year, murder (excluding arson and drunk driving) at $61 billion per year, and child abuse at $56 billion per year. Given the substantial impact that sexual victimization has on individual victims and society, collecting information that advances our understanding of sexual assault, helps us prevent victimization, and better meets the needs of victims is critical. Although a considerable amount of research on sexual violence on college campuses has been conducted, very little of this research has involved historically black college and university (HBCU) students. As a result, there is a substantial gap in the literature and knowledge base about the magnitude of the problem, what is being done to reduce the problem, and what more can be done to prevent sexual violence and meet the needs of victims of sexual assault on HBCU campuses. The gap in research makes it difficult to fully understand the sexual assault experiences of African American students in general, given that almost 20% of African American baccalaureates receive their degree from HBCUs. RTI International was funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct the HBCU Campus Sexual Assault (HBCU-CSA) Study. The HBCU-CSA Study was undertaken to document the prevalence — as well as associated personal and behavioral factors, context, consequences, and reporting—of distinct forms of sexual assault. This study also examines campus police and service provider perspectives on sexual victimization and student attitudes toward law enforcement and ideas about prevention and policy. Faculty, staff, and students at all four of the participating HBCUs, many of whom were women of color, played an invaluable role in ensuring that the study was culturally sensitive and would be well received by the population of undergraduate women at HBCUs. HBCU faculty, staff, and students collaborated with RTI on all aspects of the study including design, instrumentation, marketing and recruitment, and analysis and dissemination of findings. In the HBCU-CSA Study, the term “sexual assault” includes a wide range of victimizations, including rape and other forms of unwanted sexual contact (e.g., sexual battery). Following the typology put forth in the previously conducted CSA Study, we classify sexual assault based on how the assault was achieved. Virtually all sexual assault research distinguishes between assaults occurring as a result of physical force or threats of physical force and those that do not involve the use or threat of force. Similarly, in the HBCU-CSA Study, we consider physically forced sexual assault as a distinct category of assault. Another means through which sexual assault is achieved is incapacitation of the victim. Legal definitions of sexual assault factor in one’s ability to provide consent, and individuals who are incapacitated because of the effects of alcohol or drugs (or otherwise incapacitated, such as when they are unconscious or asleep) are incapable of consenting. Incapacitated sexual assault can be broken down into three subtypes: alcohol or other drug (AOD)-enabled, drug-facilitated, and other incapacitated sexual assault. Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is defined as unwanted sexual contact occurring when the victim is incapacitated and unable to provide consent after she has been given a drug without her knowledge or consent. If a woman experiences unwanted sexual contact when she is incapacitated and unable to provide consent because of voluntary consumption of alcohol or other drugs, we classify it as AOD-enabled sexual assault. Other incapacitated sexual assaults capture the remaining, and uncommon, situations in which a victim can be incapacitated, such as by being asleep or unconscious. The HBCU-CSA Study addresses several gaps in the existing literature and makes a number of contributions to the field. It is the first to generate prevalence estimates of sexual assault on a collection of HBCU campuses and thus enable us to explore whether findings on sexual assault generated from the “general” population of undergraduate women are consistent with the experiences of undergraduate women attending HBCUs. Furthermore, it is among the first to explore in substantial detail the responses to sexual assault by campus law enforcement (as well as service providers) based on data gathered both from victims themselves and from law enforcement and service provider staff. Learning more about the extent to which sexual assault is reported among HBCU students, and the criminal justice and service provider response to such reporting, is extremely important so we can assess the efficacy of these responses and make necessary policy and practice changes capable of improving the services for victims and ultimately preventing sexual assault. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2010. 93p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/233614.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/233614.pdf Shelf Number: 121049 Keywords: Colleges and UniversitiesMinoritiesRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictims of Crime |
Author: Firmin, Carlene Title: This Is It. This Is My Life... Female Voice in Violence Final Report On the Impact of Serious Youth Violence and Criminal Gangs on Women and Girls Across the Country Summary: This report presents a follow-up to ROTA (Race on the Agenda) Female Voice in Violence report that discovered the use of "rape as a weapon of choice" against women and girls in London finds more weapons, less choice for females suffering from serious violence across the country. Girls and women across the country who disclose experience of rape, torture, abuse, exploitation and manipulation as a result of their relationships with gang-associated male family members and peers are at risk of repeat abuse and victimisation. The report draws on face-to-face research with 352 friends, relatives, victims or perpetrators of gangs and gang violence. Ranging in age from 13-52, the experiences of these women and girls highlight lessons for policy makers and those working to prevent serious youth violence. The research highlighted concerns about the lack of appropriate services available to those females caught up in gangs, the use of sexual violence by gang members, and the impact of serious violence on their sexual and mental health. Details: London: Race on the Agenda (ROTA), 2011. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2011 at: http://www.rota.org.uk/downloads/ROTA_FVV_FINALREPORT_LoRes.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.rota.org.uk/downloads/ROTA_FVV_FINALREPORT_LoRes.pdf Shelf Number: 121105 Keywords: GangsRapeSexual AssaultYouth Violence (U.K.) |
Author: Ajayi, Titilope Title: State Responses to Women’s Security Challenges: An Assessment of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit – Lessons for Nigeria Summary: Violence against women (VAW) is violence that is committed against women because they are women. It affects an estimated 1 in every 3 women worldwide (United Nations, 2006), depriving them of ‘their ability to achieve their full potential by threatening their safety, freedom and autonomy’. VAW has important health, social, and economic consequences for survivors, their families, and the communities and countries where they live (World Health Organisation, 2009). In the face of high levels of VAW and sexual victimization in Nigeria, much of it perpetrated with impunity by security officials, the blatant dearth of state-sponsored support services has contributed to low levels of reporting and unequal access to justice. Civil society has advocated actively against this and provided support in the form of counselling, shelters, hotlines, training and other activities intended to enhance police capacity to handle VAW. The impact that has been made, such as the creation of a gender violence desk in the Ilupeju police station in Lagos, Nigeria, is limited due to a lack of resources and inadequate government support. For this reason, there is a need for more targeted and coordinated interventions within the framework of national level policy support that would be best provided by a national domestic violence (DV) bill that has been pending since 2003. Gender desks exist in some police stations in Nigeria. Yet uneven knowledge of their status and mandate, even among police personnel, calls into question their effectiveness and relevance. This disparity, juxtaposed with UNIFEM’s praise for the desks as a useful tool for addressing VAW, indicates that the issue needs to be revisited and leads this paper to recommend the reorientation and reintroduction, as appropriate, of VAW units within the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and set out guidelines for this project. Women’s police stations and units created within police stations to handle VAW are relatively recent and increasingly popular international phenomena recommended by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) as appropriate and effective tools for combating VAW. In Africa, these units currently exist in Namibia (1993), South Africa (1995), Sierra Leone (2001), Lesotho (2003), Liberia (2005), and Tanzania (2008) with mandates to eradicate gender based violence (GBV), including against children, regardless of where it occurs. Established in 1998, the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) is one of a few in Africa set up exclusively to handle cases of VAW. Although it is not perfect and this approach is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution to the scourge of VAW, there are important lessons to be learned from DOVVSU’s experiences. In light of prevailing high rates of VAW in Nigeria, and as a complement to ongoing police reform efforts there, there is a strong case for establishing a similar unit within the NPF. This report distils these lessons in an effort to assist the NPF in tackling Nigerian women’s security challenges in a more coherent and lasting manner. Section two discusses some common ‘causes’ of VAW while section three outlines the general context of security in the countries under study. Sections four and five examine state and non-state responses to VAW in both countries with a focus on what has driven and sustained the DOVVSU in Ghana. A final section sets out guidelines for improving the NPF’s response to VAW based on lessons from Ghana. Details: Santiago de Chile: The Global Consortium on Security Transformation (GCST), 2011. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: New Voices Series, No. 11: Accessed April 4, 2011 at: http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/publicaciones/200_New_Voices_Series_11_-_State_Responses_to_Womens_Security_Challenges.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/publicaciones/200_New_Voices_Series_11_-_State_Responses_to_Womens_Security_Challenges.pdf Shelf Number: 121240 Keywords: Domestic Violence (Africa)Intimate Partner ViolencePolice and Domestic ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultVictims of Domestic Violence, Services forViolence Against Women |
Author: Kavanaugh, Philip R. Title: Storylines of Physical and Sexual Assault in Urban Nightlife: The Impact of Individual Disposition and Social Context Summary: The primary purposes of the current research are: (1) to examine how individual disposition and social context in criminal offending and victimization, and (2) examine this relationship in understudied crime locations – in this study, urban nightlife venues (i.e., bars and nightclubs). These social contexts provide a major source of leisure activity for numerous young adults today but remain an understudied hot-spot in mainstream criminology, despite the fact that levels of crime and victimization associated with these scenes is regarded as widespread and increasing. Examining crime and victimization in this increasingly popular socio-cultural context has the potential to expand the scope of criminology by accounting for settings and populations not sufficiently addressed in prior work. Theoretically I draw on the recently proposed storyline approach outlined by Robert Agnew. Using storylines as an analytical framework, I posit that as an individual enters certain social contexts, situations will arise that lead to opportunities for crime, deviance, and victimization. Whether outcomes such as physical and sexual assault occur depend on the three factors: (1) a certain individual disposition – which includes more static characteristics influenced by one’s background, as well as more ephemeral characteristics such emotional state and role identity, (2) a social context or spatial location that is either conducive to or prohibitive of criminal outcomes, and (3) a confrontation or situation that arises where an individual makes certain behavioral choices. Depending on the confluence of these three factors, some individuals will engage in crime, some will become victims, and others will either experience non-criminal outcomes or walk away from potentially dangerous situations. In order to provide empirical support for this thesis I use multi-method ethnographic data to construct: (1) storylines about respondent experiences with physical and sexual assault, (2) identity profiles to identify key dispositional or “background” factors, and (3) contextual profiles detailing the organization and atmosphere of the social spaces in which their criminal and victimization experiences occurred. The analysis then pairs 1-3 into what kind of combinations resulted in physical and sexual assault, and reveals the contribution of each of the three factors specified: situation, disposition, and context. This dissertation is a secondary analysis of a previous ethnographic study on which this author served as the primary research assistant/co-investigator. All analyses are based on information collected in this 2005-2006 ethnographic study. Details: Newark, DE: University of Delaware, 2010. 272p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 13, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/230408.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/230408.pdf Shelf Number: 121324 Keywords: Alcohol Related CrimeBars and NightclubsRapeSexual AssaultVictimization |
Author: Success Works Ptd. Ltd. Title: Sexual Assault Reform Strategy: Final Evaluation Report Summary: The evaluation of the Sexual Assault Reform Strategy (SARS) commenced in August 2008. This report details the findings from the summative evaluation over the entire evaluation period. The Sexual Assault Reform Strategy is made up of a complex web of strategies and processes designed to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system and therefore the experience of sexual assault victim survivors who report a sexual assault to the police. The unwritten assumption is that an improved experience for victim survivors will result in an increased reporting rate of sexual assault which is, as the Victorian Law Reform Commission noted in 2004, the most underreported personal crime in our society. A further unwritten assumption is that an improved reporting rate would represent a more just, equitable and safe society. Based on all of the evidence considered for this evaluation, it is clear that the Sexual Assault Reform Strategy has started to make a real difference for many victim survivors of sexual assault and that the investment in the sexual assault reform is cost effective. However, it is also clear that more still needs to be done to ensure that access to the criminal justice system is equitable for all and that those who manage the process are able to maintain their level of specialisation. This is a journey begun, not a journey ended and now is not the time to ‘take the foot off the accelerator’. The recommendations in this evaluation have been developed to guide the future direction of the strategy. Details: Melbourne: Victoria Department of Justice, 2011. 249p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2011 at: http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/justlib/DOJ+Internet/resources/3/d/3df3cc00468072d18d509d4d58beb1dd/SexualAssaultReformStrategyFinalEvaluationReportJanuary2011.PDF Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/justlib/DOJ+Internet/resources/3/d/3df3cc00468072d18d509d4d58beb1dd/SexualAssaultReformStrategyFinalEvaluationReportJanuary2011.PDF Shelf Number: 121476 Keywords: RapeSexual Assault (Victoria, Australia)Sexual ViolenceVictims of Sexual Assault |
Author: Kelly, Jocelyn Title: Hope for the Future Again: Tracing the Effects of Sexual Violence and Conflict on Families and Communities in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Summary: The vicious and widespread sexual violence that characterizes the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) not only traumatizes individuals, it fractures families and communities. In our search for solutions to this protracted and brutal war, the collective voice of affected communities has been largely silent. This project is an attempt to amplify these community voices – bringing forward their own words, needs, concerns and hopes for the future. This report outlines how violence in general, and sexual violence in particular, has changed the family foundations, economies and community structures of those touched by it. While difficult to trace and quantify, these effects are not secondary to individual trauma – they are fundamental to how individuals, families and communities experience, and ultimately recover from, conflict. Only through understanding the ripple effects of this particularly savage and destabilizing violence can we begin to address holistic needs for healing. Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2011. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2011 at: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13218750/Hope-for-the-Future-Again-report-2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13218750/Hope-for-the-Future-Again-report-2011.pdf Shelf Number: 121617 Keywords: RapeSexual Violence (Democratic Republic of the Congo)Violence |
Author: Roth, Francoise Title: Using Quantitative Data to Assess Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Colombia: Challenges and Opportunities Summary: Via Resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008) and 1889 (2009), the United Nations Security Council has strongly promoted the collection of data about wartime sexual violence and other issues related to gender equality in situations of armed conflict. The resolutions do not fully appreciate the size of the task laid out. Sexual violence, in wartime or in peacetime, is among the most notoriously difficult forms of violence to measure. A data mandate that does not point the way toward data quality leaves policy-makers in the dark as they seek to prevent or mitigate sexual violence, to punish perpetrators, or to make reparations to victims. Worse, poor-quality data on sexual violence may give a false impression of specificity and reliability, leading to incorrect policy assessments, misallocation of resources, and other outcomes that are assuredly not in line with the United Nations’ goals on this issue. This report addresses the challenges of sexual violence measurement in a specific context: Colombia’s ongoing internal armed conflict. After discussing in depth the difficulties faced by researchers attempting to measure sexual violence around the world, the report addresses several Colombian data collection efforts more specifically. Both governmental and non-governmental data sources are considered; more importantly, the authors outline several key cultural and political issues affecting sexual violence data collection in Colombia. In particular, the research team found, sexual violence reporting procedures in Colombia are fragmented and incomplete. Sexual violence is frequently viewed as a domestic violence or criminal justice issue; it is seldom considered as a phenomenon in its own right, or as an outcome associated with armed conflict. Details: Colombia: Corporación Punto de Vista; Palo Alto, CA: Benetech Technology Serving Humanity, 2011. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 5, 2011 at: http://www.hrdag.org/resources/publications/SV%20report%20april%2026,%202011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.hrdag.org/resources/publications/SV%20report%20april%2026,%202011.pdf Shelf Number: 121657 Keywords: Armed ConflictRapeSex OffensesSexual Violence (Colombia) |
Author: Wilson, Doug Title: An Evaluation of the Rhode Island Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Summary: The Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center (SATRC) of Rhode Island contracted with BOTEC Analysis Corporation with funding from the National Institute of Justice1 to undertake an evaluation of the principal legal effects on clients of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) operated by the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center. Local police, in the United States, have the unique role of determining the pool of defendants in crime investigations, given the ability and willingness of the victim to confirm them. Prosecutors then guided by the informal norms of the courtroom workgroup and their discretion choose from the pool of defendants. Police decisions to arrest and the prosecutor’s decision to file a felony complaint in sexual assaults constitute the primary official screening of these crimes. In the past 25 or more years, the criminal justice system has reformed sexual assault laws and communities have developed programs, such as rape crisis centers, and SART and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs, which are designed to provide catalysts to the effects of legal reforms. This evaluation is the first outcome evaluation of a SART program. The evaluation describes the SART process, which is a coordinated effort between the victim, The Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center (SATRC), the police department, the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General, the prosecuting agency for felony sexual assaults. It also examines the outcome of this process. The SART program was initiated in January 2002. The evaluation covers assaults for a period, from September 2002 – August 2003 following the initial implementation phase. The cases were followed until July 2004. As should be expected the program is still developing, but nevertheless it has demonstrated positive effects in that there is demand among sexual assault victims for SART services. Victims who seek SART services have significant odds of being assaulted by a friend, acquaintance or relative, have a subsequent forensic exam, and believe that the offense is first degree sexual assault. Also, users of SART services are importantly less likely to have an initial finding of probable cause found by the police. The estimated probability of a victim choosing to be a SART client, whose assault is without these assault characteristics and the police find probable cause is 3 percent, while the probability of a victim seeking SART services with all of these assault characteristics and the police do not initially find probable cause is 89 percent. At this stage in the development of the SART program there is, however, no clear effect on the legal outcome of cases. Contingency analyses examined seven hypotheses about the legal effects of SART. They are: 1. SART increases the pool of defendants. 2. SART cases that are intimate partner sexual assaults are more likely to be charged in Superior Court. 3. Victims with forensic exams are more likely to have defendants charged in Superior Court. 4. SART victims with forensic exams are more likely to be charged in Superior Court. 5. Judicial processes for SART cases move more slowly and thus understate the effect of SART because of a SART case backlog. 6. SART cases after they are filed in Superior Court are less likely to be dismissed. 7. SART cases are more likely than non-SART cases to be charged in Superior Court. The application of Fisher’s exact test to each of these seven hypotheses provided no evidence that the null hypotheses should be questioned. These results, however, should be viewed with circumspection. The statistical power of the contingency analyses was modest, due to small sample sizes. That is, a longer test of SART and a larger sample might produce somewhat different results. Also, it may be that SART efforts have helped to maintain a “level playing field” and that that the consistent null results in the contingency analyses demonstrates SART’s success at maintaining the likelihood that acquaintance assaults will be prosecuted, which is an outcome of rape law reform legislated several years earlier. That is, SART programs may be a lagged social response to social-legislative-judicial change. Finally, SART’s effect may “spillover” to the prosecution of sexual assault cases in which the victim does not use SART services. As a result there is a null difference between the outcome of SART and non-SART cases. The literature review of police and prosecution of sexual assault in other jurisdictions indicates that the reform of sexual assault laws has increased the likelihood of the prosecution of acquaintance rapes relative to stranger rapes. Nevertheless discussions with the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General indicate that SART cases, many of which by their characteristics are acquaintance assaults and are coupled with a lack of an initial finding by the police of probable cause, are more difficult to prosecute. Furthermore, as is discussed in the literature review, informal arrest and prosecution guidelines for sexual assault continue to apply extra-legal standards, such as evidence of resistance. For example, in this study, when the police failed to find probable cause it was strongly related to a lack of injury; that is, a failure to resist. Details: Waltham, MA: BOTEC Analysis Corporation, 2005. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210584.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210584.pdf Shelf Number: 121699 Keywords: ProsecutionRapeSex OffendersSexual AssaultVictims of Sexual Assault |
Author: Contreras, Juan Manuel Title: Sexual Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Desk Review Summary: The World Health Organization defines sexual violence as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work”. A limited but growing body of evidence suggests that sexual violence is a serious problem throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) – both as a public health problem and a violation of human rights. This document reviews what is known about sexual violence in the LAC region. It aims to explore the magnitude, patterns and risk factors associated with sexual violence, as well as the legal and policy frameworks, women’s responses to sexual violence, access to services and service responses, promising interventions, research gaps and priorities for future research. Over two hundred published and unpublished documents were reviewed to prepare this document. Grey literature was identified through internet-based searches and from experts working in the region. The scope of this review is primarily based on research produced between 2000 and the present. While an effort has been made to cover the entire Latin American and Caribbean region, research is not available for all countries in the region. As such, this document should be considered the first phase in an ongoing process of consolidating the existing evidence and identifying research gaps and priorities for this culturally, racially and geographically diverse region. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Gender and Health Research Unit. Medical Research Council, 2010.92p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2011 at: http://www.svri.org/SexualViolenceLACaribbean.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Central America URL: http://www.svri.org/SexualViolenceLACaribbean.pdf Shelf Number: 121723 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseDomestic ViolenceIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (Latin America and Caribbean) |
Author: Gulik, Gauri van Title: “He Loves You, He Beats You”: Family Violence in Turkey and Access to Protection Summary: In Turkey, approximately 42 percent of all women, and 47 percent of women in rural areas, have experienced physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner at some stage in their lives. “He Loves You, He Beats You” documents the experiences of women in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Van, Trabzon, and Diyarbakır who endured violence and sought help from the state. Women we interviewed described brutal and long-lasting violence by husbands, in-laws, and other family members. Human Rights Watch documented women and girls as young as fourteen being raped, stabbed, kicked in the abdomen when pregnant, beaten with hammers, sticks, branches, and hoses to the point of broken bones and fractured skulls, locked up with dogs or other animals, starved, shot with a stun gun, injected with poison, pushed off a rooftop, and subjected to severe psychological violence. Despite some impressive law reforms to address violence against women in Turkey, including the availability of civil protection orders, there are gaps in law and even greater failings in implementation, making the protection system unpredictable at best. Domestic violence shelters in Turkey, far too few to meet the demand, exclude certain categories of women, and in some cases have poor conditions and inadequate security. The Turkish government should amend the family protection law to fill the gaps and should systematically and proactively improve its implementation. Failing to do so constitutes not just a violation of Turkish law, but also violations of international and regional human rights law. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2011. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2011 at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2011/05/04/he-loves-you-he-beats-you-0 Year: 2011 Country: Turkey URL: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2011/05/04/he-loves-you-he-beats-you-0 Shelf Number: 121770 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily Violence (Turkey)RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Bhuller, Manudeep Title: Broadband Internet: An Information Superhighway to Sex Crime? Summary: Does internet use trigger sex crime? We use unique Norwegian data on crime and internet adoption to shed light on this question. A public program with limited funding rolled out broadband access points in 2000-2008, and provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables and fixed effect estimates show that internet use is associated with a substantial increase in reported incidences of rape and other sex crimes. We present a theoretical framework that highlights three mechanisms for how internet use may affect reported sex crime, namely a reporting effect, a matching effect on potential offenders and victims, and a direct effect on crime propensity. Our results indicate that the direct effect is non-negligible and positive, plausibly as a result of increased consumption of pornography. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor, 2011. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 5675: Accessed July 21, 2011 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5675.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Norway URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5675.pdf Shelf Number: 122136 Keywords: Computer CrimesInternet (Norway)PornographyRapeSex Crimes |
Author: Kernaghan, Charles Title: Sexual Predators and Serial Rapists Run Wild at Wal-Mart Supplier in Jordan. Young women workers raped, tortured and beaten at the Classic Factory Summary: According to witnesses who work at Classic Fashion, scores of young Sri Lankan women sewing clothing for Wal-Mart and Hanes have suffered routine sexual abuse and repeated rapes, and in some cases even torture. One young rape victim at the Classic factory in Jordan told us her assailant, a manager, bit her, leaving scars all over her body. Women who become pregnant are forcibly deported and returned to Sri Lanka. Women who refuse the sexual advances of Classic's managers are also beaten and deported. Classic, the largest garment export factory in Jordan, sews clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes, Kohl's, Target and Macy's. The garments enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. On the weekly holiday, the alleged serial rapist general manager, Anil Santha, sends a van to bring four or five young women to his hotel, where he abuses them. The lives of the young Sri Lankan rape victims are completely shattered, as in their culture, virginity is highly prized and critical for a good marriage. In October 2010, 2,400 Sri Lankan and Indian workers went on strike demanding the removal of the alleged rapist, Anil. Classic's owner, Sanal Kumar, sent Anil away, but he returned after one month. Through the Institute/National Labor Committee's reports, the Ministry of Labor has been made aware of the sexual abuse as early as 2007, but has done nothing. The standard shift at Classic is 13 hours a day, six and seven days a week, with some 18 ½ hour shifts before the clothing must be shipped to the U.S. According to witness testimonies, workers are routinely cursed at, hit and shortchanged of their wages for failing to reach their mandatory production goals. To press the women to work faster, managers grope and fondle them. The workers - who are from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Egypt, earn a take-home wage of just 61 cents an hour. The workers are housed in primitive dorms lacking heat or hot water, but which are infested with bed bugs. The women have extremely limited freedom of movement and are allowed to leave the factory compound just one day a week for six hours. When they are forced to work through their weekly holiday, they may be allowed out just once or twice a month. The minimal efforts of Wal-Mart, Hanes and the other labels to monitor factory conditions at Classic have failed completely. Workers are threatened by management and forced to say that conditions are good. We are strongly urging representatives of the labels to join us in Jordan on Friday, June 17 for a large meeting with the Classic workers. It is our intention, along with the United Steelworkers and our women's rights colleagues in Sri Lanka, to rescue the women who have been victimized and return them safely home to their families. We expect Wal-Mart, Hanes and the other labels to pay significant compensation to the rape victims to restore some dignity to their lives. This is the least they can do. The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement has also failed over the last ten years to protect the basic rights of the 30,000 foreign guest workers sewing garments for export to the U.S. One Bangladeshi worker recently deported from the Classic factory told us today that, "all the workers of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh...everybody will testify that Anil raped the Sri Lankan women. Everybody knows. In a safe place, the workers will testify." Preface Details: Pittsburgh, PA: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2011. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2011 at: http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/Content-Classic-0607-final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Jordan URL: http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/Content-Classic-0607-final.pdf Shelf Number: 122251 Keywords: Female VictimsRapeSexual AbuseSexual Assault, Workers (Jordan) |
Author: Cohen, Dara Kay Title: Causes of Sexual Violence During Civil War: Cross-National Evidence (1980-2009) Summary: Why do some armed groups commit wartime rape on a large scale, while others never turn to sexual violence? Although scholars and policymakers have made many claims about the rates, severity and locations of wartime sexual violence, there have been few systematic efforts to gather data on sexual violence during conflict. Using an original dataset, I examine the incidence of sexual violence by both insurgent groups and state actors during civil wars between 1980-2009. I first establish that there is substantial variation in the severity of wartime sexual violence, both across and within conflicts. I then use the data in a statistical analysis to test a series of competing hypotheses about the causes of wartime sexual violence. I find strong evidence that the choice of recruitment mechanism—namely, whether the armed group abducted or press-ganged its members—predicts the use of sexual violence. I maintain that this finding supports an argument about the use of rape as a method of combatant socialization, in which members of armed groups who are recruited by force use rape to create and to maintain unit cohesion. I also find that contraband funding and genocide predict sexual violence by insurgents. Notably, there is no support for several common explanations for wartime sexual violence, including ethnic war and gender inequality. Drawing on data from the Sierra Leone civil war, I examine the observable implications of the proposed mechanism on the micro level in a brief case study. The results undermine conventional wisdom on the causes of sexual violence and suggest that multiple mechanisms may be at work in understanding wartime sexual violence. Details: Minneapolis: Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 2011. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 9, 2011 at: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/gpa/globalnotes/Cohen%20MIRC%203-28-11.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/gpa/globalnotes/Cohen%20MIRC%203-28-11.pdf Shelf Number: 122329 Keywords: Civil WarRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Quixley, Suzi Title: The Right to Choose: Enhancing Best Practice in Responding to Sexual Assault in Queensland Summary: This report proposes an evidence-based, holistic response to sexual assault in Queensland. It advocates a system designed to enable Queensland to move toward the reduction, and ultimate elimination, of sexual violence. This requires viewing sexual assault as primarily a social, rather than an individual or medical, problem. Details: Brisbane(?): Queensland Sexual Assault Services, 2010. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2011 at: http://www.communitydoor.org.au/sites/default/files/Right%20to%20choose%20final%20pdf%20with%20covers.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.communitydoor.org.au/sites/default/files/Right%20to%20choose%20final%20pdf%20with%20covers.pdf Shelf Number: 122360 Keywords: RapeSexual Assault (Australia)Sexual ViolenceVictim Services |
Author: Amnesty International Title: The Time for Justice is Now: New Strategy Needed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Summary: The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been beset by violence and human rights abuses for two decades. Crimes under international law – including mass rape, torture and murder – have been committed in almost every corner of the country and are still being committed with alarming frequency. Impunity remains pervasive: while millions of men, women and children have suffered as a result of the violence, only a handful of perpetrators have ever been brought to justice. After decades of neglect, mismanagement and poor governance, the Congolese justice system is largely unable to deliver accountability, address impunity and secure reparation. Its credibility is low because of political and military interference, endemic corruption, lack of personnel, training and resources and its failure to protect victims and witnesses, provide legal aid, enforce its own rulings or even keep convicted prisoners behind bars. Despite some efforts at reform, the government has not shown the clear political and financial commitment necessary to respond to the Congolese population’s need for justice. This report identifies fundamental flaws within the criminal justice system that are more often than not overlooked by current policy and programmes. It examines the complementary role that some proposed transitional justice mechanisms could play. Amnesty International calls for the development of a comprehensive justice strategy that can deliver long-term and sustainable reform of the Congolese justice system in order to overcome impunity. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2011 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR62/006/2011/en/6cd862df-be60-418e-b70d-7d2d53a0a2d4/afr620062011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR62/006/2011/en/6cd862df-be60-418e-b70d-7d2d53a0a2d4/afr620062011en.pdf Shelf Number: 122373 Keywords: Criminal Justice ReformCriminal Justice SystemsCriminal Justice, Administration of (Democratic ReCriminal ViolenceHomicidesRape |
Author: Campbell, Rebecca Title: Adolescent Sexual Assault Victims’ Experiences with SANE-SARTs and the Criminal Justice System Summary: The purpose of this project was to examine adolescent sexual assault survivors’ help-seeking experiences with the legal and medical systems in two Midwestern communities that have different models of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) / Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) interventions. This project had two main objectives. First, we conducted qualitative interviews with adolescent sexual assault victims regarding their initial post-assault disclosures and their pathways to seeking help from the medical and legal systems. It is important to understand how and why teen survivors decide to seek help from these programs in the first place. Although SANE-SART interventions have the potential to be useful resources to teen victims, they are only useful insofar as they are utilized by survivors. In Study 1, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with N=20 adolescent sexual assault victims 14-17 years old. From these interviews, we identified three distinct patterns of survivors’ post-assault disclosures and their pathways to seeking help from SANE programs and the criminal justice system: voluntary (survivors’ contact with the legal and medical system was by their choice), involuntary (system contact was not by choice), and situational (circumstances of the assault itself prompted involuntary disclosure). Victims with voluntary disclosures patterns were more likely to remain engaged with the legal system throughout the investigation process. Those in the involuntary disclosure pattern were only sometimes willing to continue to pursue legal prosecution. There were too few situational disclosures to examine the impact of system entry on subsequent system involvement. The second objective was to conduct a quantitative analysis to determine what factors predict successful prosecution of adolescent sexual assault cases. Once teen victims are “in the system” what factors determine whether a case will be prosecuted? Criminal justice prosecution is a multi-step process, from reporting to referral, arrest, prosecution (which itself has many steps), and final case outcome. Rather than focusing at any one stage, we assessed progress through this system as an ordinal variable in order to capture incremental change. We examined how differences between the two SANE-SART models—and the evolution of these models over time—predicted prosecution outcomes relative to the predictive utility of victim characteristics, assault characteristics, and medical forensic evidence findings. In Study 2, we obtained SANE program records, police and prosecutor records, and crime lab findings for a sample of N=392 adolescent sexual assault victims who sought services from the focal SANE programs. The overall rate of guilty plea/trial convictions was 40.3% for sexual assaults committed against adolescents aged 13-17. Using multi-level ordinal logistic regression, we found that cases involving younger victims (13-15) were significantly more likely to progress further through the system than assaults against older victims, and assaults committed against adolescents with documented developmental delays were eight times as likely to move further through the criminal justice system. We found no significant effects for victim race/ethnicity and alcohol use on legal case outcomes. Victim-offender relationship was a significant predictor of case progression, such that non-stranger assaults were more likely to be prosecuted than stranger assaults. The specific kinds of forced penetrations (i.e., vaginal vs. oral vs. anal penetrations) did not affect case outcomes, but the cumulative number of the assaultive acts perpetrated against the victim did increase the likelihood that the case would progress further through the criminal justice system. With respect to medical forensic evidentiary findings, the more delay there was between the assault and when the survivor had the medical forensic exam, the less likely the case would progress through the system. Cases with positive DNA evidence were five times as likely to progress further through the system, but there were no significant effects for specific physical or anogenital injuries. With respect to site differences, there were no significant main effect differences between the two SANE/SART programs studied , suggesting that one model of SANE-SART intervention was no more or less effective than the other with respect to achieving prosecution success. Details: East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2010. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 23, 2011 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/234466.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/234466.pdf Shelf Number: 122466 Keywords: CounselingRapeSexual Assault, AdolescentsVictims of Sexual Assault |
Author: Amnesty International Title: 'This Is What We Demand, Justice!’ Impunity for Sexual Violence Against Women in Colombia's Armed Conflict Summary: sexual violence is endemic to colombia’s long-running armed conflict. Mmembers of all the warring parties – paramilitary groups, guerrilla groups and the colombian security forces – have sexually abused and exploited women and girls. They have done so for a variety of reasons – to exploit them as sexual slaves, to sow terror within communities, to wreak revenge on an adversary, and to silence women leaders. Rape and sexual violence are not the only forms of gender-based violence women experience. however, they fall into a special category for one fundamental reason: they are the most invisible of human rights abuses. survivors rarely report such crimes and, when they do, their abusers are almost never brought to justice. This is a human rights scandal that re-victimizes survivors of sexual violence. It vividly reveals the deeply entrenched impunity that has for so long shielded from justice human rights abusers of all kinds in colombia. At the heart of this report are the voices of survivors of sexual violence in Colombia’s bloody conflict, women and girls who have for so long been silenced, overlooked and ignored. the message they gave in sharing their stories with amnesty international was both clear and compelling. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 26, 2011 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR23/018/2011/en/d4396a83-c078-46f0-96ff-94f6d667b6bc/amr230182011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR23/018/2011/en/d4396a83-c078-46f0-96ff-94f6d667b6bc/amr230182011en.pdf Shelf Number: 122903 Keywords: RapeSexual ExploitationSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women (Colombia) |
Author: Schwartz, Martin D. Title: National Institute of Justice Visiting Fellowship: Police Investigation of Rape-Roadblocks and Solutions Summary: This project began as a qualitative investigation into the views of sexual assault detectives. However, in consultation with NIJ Managers, the decision was made to add a quantitative component. Since these two parts are related, but are comprised of vastly different data gathering and analysis schemes, so too this report will be similarly split. The first part of this report covers what was designed to be an exploratory study to explore the attitudes and experiences of active and experienced police rape investigators. The second half of the study, a pencil and paper study of active duty patrol officers (as opposed to investigators), will be reported in the second section of this report. An important supposition behind this study has been that despite an enormous literature on police investigation of sexual assault, very little of this prior study involved speaking to police officers themselves. In particular, part one of the study was designed to ask police detectives what they perceived as their frustrations, roadblocks, or obstacles to successfully completing a rape investigation, and then as a follow-up to ask these same officers what they have been able to successfully do in order to bypass these roadblocks or obstacles. In these qualitative interviews a variety of subtopics was drawn from the literature to be investigated. In some cases these subtopics were ones commonly represented in the literature as problems often faced by police. In other cases, informants, women’s groups, and the various published stories of rape survivors suggested other topics that traditionally have not been discussed extensively in the police literature. Finally, some attempt was made to discuss frustrations or roadblocks that officers might have within their own organizations, with other organizations (e.g., the district attorney’s office) that might hinder successful prosecution of cases, from their point of view. In the report below, the basic literature that led to the various questions and topics will be reviewed. After this, the literature in each of the subtopics will be introduced, and the findings of this study will be explained in that area. The most important findings will appear toward the end, in dealing with false reports. Finally, a first attempt at recommendations that come out of this study will be made. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2010. 77p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2011 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232667.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232667.pdf Shelf Number: 122908 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationsPolice AttitudesRapeSexual AssaultVictims of Sexual Assault |
Author: Loots, Lizle Title: Global Review of National Prevention Policies Summary: This review involves an analysis of literature on risk factors and social dynamics underpinning rape and critique of best practice in rape prevention policy internationally. Over 140 National policies and action plans from 110 different countries are currently being reviewed to identify gaps in government prevention efforts. This review is being undertaken internally by the SVRI secretariat. This review will be used to identify and address the critical areas that need to be a focus of attention in developing evidence-based strategies and national policies. On completion of this review, a workshop will be convened with multi-sectoral invitees from Government, as well as researchers and representatives from non-governmental organisations. The review will be presented at the workshop and at least two other stakeholders in the field will be asked to present, including responding to the review and to discuss its policy implications. This review will ultimately contribute towards shifting the policy arena in the area and honing of the research agenda on preventing rape. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Initiative; South African Medical Research Council, 2011. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed Ocboer 6, 2011 at: http://www.svri.org/GlobalReview.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.svri.org/GlobalReview.pdf Shelf Number: 122997 Keywords: RapeSex CrimesSex OffendersSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Ricardo, Christine Title: Men, Masculinities, Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Violence: A Literature Review and Call for Action Summary: This paper explores possible linkages between masculinities and different forms of sexual exploitation and sexual violence. Specifically, it seeks to answer the question: How do prevailing norms and views of manhood, or masculinities, contribute to some men’s use of sexual violence, and the “demand-side” of sexual exploitation? We critically review existing literature on the topic, with a particular focus on recommendations for action. From what we know about how prevailing gender norms contribute to some men’s use of sexual violence and sexually exploitative practices, what can we propose to reduce sexual exploitation by working with men and boys to question salient gender norms that drive the demand? In terms of programs to reach men and boys on this issue there are a few examples – some which address sexual exploitation specifically, others which address questions of masculinities and gender equality more broadly. However, most of these projects have been small-scale, and with little impact evaluation to date. There are also examples of policies that have incorporated an understanding of the demand side of sexual exploitation and the need to move beyond a mostly punitive model toward a more comprehensive one that includes sanctions as well as preventive approaches, such as engaging men and boys with messages that question sexual exploitation and the “commodification” of women and girls (and boys and men). Overall, we affirm the need to increase attention and action to engage men and boys in questioning and overcoming gender norms that contribute to sexual violence and exploitation. Details: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Promunda and MenEngage, 2008. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 6, 2011 at: http://www.promundo.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Homens-Masculinidades-Explora%C3%A7%C3%A3o-Sexual-e-Viol%C3%AAncia-Sexual-ING.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://www.promundo.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Homens-Masculinidades-Explora%C3%A7%C3%A3o-Sexual-e-Viol%C3%AAncia-Sexual-ING.pdf Shelf Number: 122999 Keywords: GenderMasculinityRapeSex OffendersSexual AssaultsSexual ExploitationSexual Violence |
Author: Kelly, Liz Title: A Missing Link? An Exploratory Study of the Connections Between Non-Consensual Sex and Teenage Pregnancy Summary: Teenage pregnancy has been a policy priority traversing health, education and crime agendas at national and local levels for a decade. In 1999 a twin track strategy for England and Wales was introduced that aimed to halve teenage conception rates among under 18s by 2010, whilst simultaneously reducing social exclusion among teenage parents (SEU, 1999). Although the 1999 strategy identifies sexual abuse as a risk factor for teenage conception, this link is not evident in annual reports and evaluations of the strategy. Moreover, whether or not teenage pregnancies are a result of non-consensual sex has yet to be specifically addressed in the substantial UK evidence base on risk factors, conducive contexts, interventions and outcomes. That said, international research findings demonstrate connections between sexual abuse, coercion and intimate partner violence and teenage conception rates. The potential links are reiterated in the public consultation on the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (DCSF, 2010) 2010 and Beyond and the NHS Taskforce on Violence against Women and Children refers to teenage pregnancy as one of many impacts of abuse. This report presents findings from the first contemporary UK study to focus on this association. Details: London: London Metropolitan University, Child & Woman Abuse Studies Unit, 2010. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.cwasu.org/publication_display.asp?pageid=PAPERS&type=1&pagekey=44&year=2010 Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cwasu.org/publication_display.asp?pageid=PAPERS&type=1&pagekey=44&year=2010 Shelf Number: 123153 Keywords: Date RapeIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual Abuse (U.K.)Teenage Pregnancy |
Author: Smits, Rosan Title: Increasing Security in DR Congo: Gender-Responsive Strategies for Combating Sexual Violence Summary: Current efforts of the international community to combat rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo are often not responsive to the manner in which masculinity and femininity are performed in relation to sexual violence in the aftermath of armed conflict. This may put a strain on their effectiveness. Focusing on the phenomenon of sexual violence among civilians in a post-conflict environment this policy brief offers an analysis of how an intensified focus on the gender-dimensions of violence will improve programmatic effectiveness in the fight against sexual violence. Details: The Hague: Clingendael Conflict Research Unit, 2011. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: CRU Policy Brief #17: Accessed November 7, 2011 at: http://www.cd.undp.org/mediafile/20110531_cru_Policybrief_rsmits.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.cd.undp.org/mediafile/20110531_cru_Policybrief_rsmits.pdf Shelf Number: 123249 Keywords: RapeSexual Violence (Democratic Republic of Congo) |
Author: Baaz, Maria Eriksson Title: The Complexity of Violence: A Critical Analysis of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Summary: Reporting on armed conflicts invariably relies on one or more basic storylines that impart sense to the unfolding events and the roles of actors. Such a narrative usually casts some in the role of victims and others as perpetrators. The most prevalent storyline of violence in the reporting on the warscape of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been rape. Indeed, the DRC has become infamous globally through the reports on the massive scale of sexual violence. In response to the ways in which sexual violence in the DRC has been described and conceptualised, this report sets out to identify and critically reflect upon various factors that may contribute to this violence. The report will not embark on a description of the character of the violence by citing survivor testimonies, since this has already been done in numerous other reports. Neither will it embark on the impossible task of trying to assess the real numbers of violations committed. In sum, this report aims at contributing to a better understanding of the circumstances in which sexual violence is committed. In doing so, the report underscores the complexity of Gender-based Violence and the problems inherent in one-sided explanations and a singular focus on Sexual Gender-based Violence as separate from other forms of violence. Details: Uppsala, Sweden: Nordic Africa Institute // Nordiska Afrikainstitutet // Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2010. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 7, 2011 at: http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?searchId=1&pid=diva2:319527 Year: 2010 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?searchId=1&pid=diva2:319527 Shelf Number: 123250 Keywords: RapeSexual Violence (Democratic Republic of Congo) |
Author: Shannon, David Title: Child Rapes Reported to the Police: An Update and Comparison of the Years 1995-2008 Summary: It is widely accepted that the dark figure for sexual offences against children is very large. Since the 1980s, however, as the level of attention focused on children’s exposure to sex crime has increased, the number of sex offences against children reported to the Swedish police has also increased substantially, and continues to rise. In the context of the generally increasing trend in the number of reported sex offences against children, Swedish crime statistics show marked differences in the trends for different categories of sex crime. Since the mid-1990s, for example, and particularly subsequent to 2004, there has been a very marked increase in the number of child sex offences that have been registered by the police as suspected completed rapes. At the same time, the number of reported offences registered under the crime codes for sexual exploitation/sexual assault and attempted rape have followed somewhat different trends. It is likely that the variation in the statistical trends followed by different types of registered sex offences is due to a combination of different factors. One central factor, however, is that the Swedish sex crime legislation has undergone substantial changes since the mid-1990s, not least with regard to the way the rape offence is defined in the Swedish penal code. Against this background, this study has two principal objectives: • To illuminate possible changes in the type of reported offences that the police have registered as rapes against persons under the age of eighteen between the mid-1990s and the latter part of the 2000s. • To present a more detailed description of the incidents registered by the police as rapes against persons under the age of eighteen towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century – here the focus is directed primarily at age-based variations in the type of situations in which the offences have been committed, and in the nature of the relationships between perpetrators and victims. Details: Stockholm: Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, 2012. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: English summary of Brå report 2011:6; Accessed March 21, 2012 at: http://www.bra.se/download/18.1ff479c3135e8540b2980002845/2012_Child_rapes_reported_to_the_police.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sweden URL: http://www.bra.se/download/18.1ff479c3135e8540b2980002845/2012_Child_rapes_reported_to_the_police.pdf Shelf Number: 124628 Keywords: Child Sex OffensesChild Sexual Abuse (Sweden)RapeSexual Assault |
Author: Seelinger, Kim Thuy Title: The Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Summary: Sexual violence occurs all over the world. A form of gender-based violence, sexual violence has been defined as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic a person’s sexuality, using coercion, threats of harm or physical force, by any person regardless of relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.” It takes myriad forms – for example, sexual assault, rape, forced marriage, genital mutilation, sexual slavery or trafficking. It can happen in a bedroom, alleyway or war zone. And, though the vast majority of victims are women, men and boys can also be victims, and women can be perpetrators. In this paper, we review the many challenges of prosecuting crimes of sexual violence, describing those challenges at each stage of the “life-cycle” of a sexual violence case. Although the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has greatly increased the international community’s ability to prosecute sexual violence, national courts remain the principal site for rendering individuals accountable. The experience of the ICC and other international tribunals provides key lessons in how these cases should be prosecuted, and we draw on them extensively in this paper. However, our ultimate goal is to highlight some promising practices for the effective prosecution of sexual violence crimes in national courts. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California Berkeley, 2011. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Sexual Violence and Accountability Project, Working Paper Series: Accessed March 29, 2012 at: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/HRCweb/pdfs/SVA_IandP.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/HRCweb/pdfs/SVA_IandP.pdf Shelf Number: 124763 Keywords: Prosecution, Sex CrimeRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Koenig, K. Alexa Title: The Jurisprudence of Sexual Violence Summary: This paper provides an overview of the international jurisprudence of sexual violence, focusing on legal milestones realized by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court. This paper also offers a brief, comparative case study of how Kenya and its neighbors are currently adopting and adapting international criminal law to enhance their domestic legal frameworks, to facilitate the prosecution of sexual violence within their borders. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California Berkeley, 2011 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Sexual Violence and Accountability Project, Working Paper Series: Accessed March 29, 2012 at: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/HRCweb/pdfs/SVA_Jurisprudence.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/HRCweb/pdfs/SVA_Jurisprudence.pdf Shelf Number: 124764 Keywords: Prosecution, Sex CrimesRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Roth, Francoise Title: Using Quantitative Data to Assess Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Colombia: Challenges and Opportunities Summary: This report addresses the challenges of sexual violence measurement in a specific context: Colombia's ongoing internal armed conflict. After discussing in depth the difficulties faced by researchers attempting to measure sexual violence around the world, the report addresses several Colombian data collection efforts more specifically. Both governmental and non-governmental data sources are considered; more importantly, the authors outline several key cultural and political issues affecting sexual violence data collection in Colombia. In particular, the research team found, sexual violence reporting procedures in Colombia are fragmented and incomplete. Sexual violence is frequently viewed as a domestic violence or criminal justice issues; it is seldom considered as a phenomenon in its own right, or as an outcome associated with armed conflict. Details: Corporación Punto de Vista; Palo Alto, CA: Benetech, 2011. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2012 at: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/CPV_UsingQuantitativeDatatoAssessConflictRelatedSexualViolenceinColombia.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/CPV_UsingQuantitativeDatatoAssessConflictRelatedSexualViolenceinColombia.pdf Shelf Number: 124813 Keywords: Armed ConflictHuman RightsRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (Colombia) |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Rape and Sexual Violence: Human Rights Law and Standards in the International Criminal Court Summary: This document identifies how the crimes of rape and sexual violence must, as a requirement of its own statute and a matter of international human rights law, be interpreted and applied with equality between men and women by the International Criminal Court (the Court). The Court has yet to rule on this matter in its jurisprudence. Such incorporation of human rights law and standards in the prosecution of rape and sexual violence should be undertaken by other international courts, as well as national courts, in order to discharge states’ duties under treaty and customary law. In order to incorporate human rights law and standards in its practice, the Court’s interpretation of the definition of the crimes should address the behaviour and actions of the perpetrator, and how this affects the victim’s ability to exercise free and genuine choice, that is, to enjoy his or her human right to physical and mental integrity and sexual autonomy, without discrimination. The Court’s deliberation should not just address the victim’s purported ‘consent’ in isolation. Human rights law and standards requires that investigations and prosecutions of the crimes of rape and sexual violence must be undertaken with careful attention given to the task of challenging stereotypes, which tend to undermine women’s equality before the law. The integrity of investigations and prosecutions should not be tainted by stereotypical assumptions, including assumptions about sexual violence towards men and boys, as well as towards women and girls. All references to the term ‘consent’ within the Elements of Crimes must be interpreted consistently with a fuller, more accurate and human-rights based understanding of the word consent – that a consensual decision is a decision made without force, threat of force, coercion, or taking advantage of a coercive environment. Where evidence of force, threat of force or coercion is present, there should absolutely be no additional element of law of consent for the prosecution to prove. Acts of rape which are committed in the jurisdiction of the Court can be identified as war crimes and crimes against humanity of rape and torture. The requirement in human rights law to eradicate stereotypes requires all acts of rape within the jurisdiction of the Court to be prosecuted as torture, in order to address stereotypical assumptions that rape, particularly rape of women and girls, is not a serious crime, and to acknowledge and make clear the perpetrators’ use of rape and sexual violence to intimidate, discriminate and humiliate victims. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2012 at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/IOR53/001/2011/en/7f5eae8f-c008-4caf-ab59-0f84605b61e0/ior530012011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/IOR53/001/2011/en/7f5eae8f-c008-4caf-ab59-0f84605b61e0/ior530012011en.pdf Shelf Number: 124947 Keywords: Human RightsInternational Criminal CourtsLegislationRapeSexual Assault |
Author: Morrison & Foerster, DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith for MADRE Title: Achieving Justice for Victims of Rape and Advancing Women's Rights: A Comparative Study of Legal Reform Summary: The aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 saw a dramatic increase in sexual violence and gave fresh impetus to long standing calls for rape law reform. International women's rights organisation MADRE requested this research to support the subsequent reform of rape legislation. The report reviews rape legislation and procedures in Brazil, Canada, France, South Africa, Sweden and the United States and supplies concrete examples of laws and policies that implement women's human rights. It includes models for statutes, protocols for victim services, and guides to police and prosecutorial procedures which respect the experiences of victims and advance gender justice. Morrison & Foerster led and coordinated this research, working with DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith. Aside from the Haitian context, the research undertaken should be equally useful for the development of gender-based violence laws all over the world. Details: London: Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2011. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 26, 2012 at: http://www.trust.org/documents/connect/Madrev16-1final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.trust.org/documents/connect/Madrev16-1final.pdf Shelf Number: 125066 Keywords: Human RightsRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Great Britain. Home Office Title: Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Summary: There were over 1 million female victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales in the last year. Over 300,000 women are sexually assaulted and 60,000 women are raped each year. Overall in the UK, more than one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, often with years of psychological abuse, Worldwide violence against women and girls can be a problem of pandemic proportions. This is unacceptable. The vast majority of these violent acts are perpetrated by men on women. In 2009/10, women were the victim of over seven out of ten (73%) incidents of domestic violence. More than one third (36%) of all rapes recorded by the police are committed against children under 16 years of age. This is unacceptable. Internationally, findings in a number of developing countries suggest that violence against women and girls is significant and is often endemic. Between 40% and 60% of women surveyed in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru, Samoa, Thailand and Tanzania said that they had been physically and/ or sexually abused by their close partners. This is unacceptable. Details: London: Home Office, 2012. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2012 at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-paper?view=Binary Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/call-end-violence-women-girls/vawg-paper?view=Binary Shelf Number: 125114 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceGender-Related ViolenceIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultViolence Against Women, Children (U.K.) |
Author: Cale, Jesse Lee Title: The Antisocial Trajectories in Youth of Adult Sexual Aggressors of Women: A Developmental Framework for Examining Offending, Motivation, and Risk of Recidivism in Adulthood Summary: Distinct typologies of sexual aggressors of women have been established over the years to explain their heterogeneity. To date, typologies have distinguished these offenders based on differences in victim and offence characteristics, motivation, and, the level of risk of reoffending posed by the offender. These distinct typologies have often emerged parallel to policies changing the way these offenders are dealt with in the criminal justice system. The current dissertation departs from previous classification strategies by exploring the utility of a developmental framework for classifying sexual aggressors of women. To this end, it is organized into three separate but related empirical studies. The first study examined the presence of antisocial trajectories in youth using a dynamic classification procedure and uncovered, contrary to current theoretical propositions, that the antisocial development of sexual aggressors of women in youth was characterized by much heterogeneity. More specifically, two meta-trajectories were uncovered, an early- and a late-onset trajectory, the former composed of three pathways, and the latter composed of two. Furthermore, the trajectories discovered were differentially related to several dimensions of general, violent, and sexual offending in adulthood. In the second study, the two meta-trajectories were examined in terms of mating effort and sexual drive, and while a high level of mating effort characterized the late-onset trajectory, the early-onset trajectory was characterized by both high mating effort and high sexual drive. In addition, sexual drive and mating effort were also related to an early-onset and higher frequency of sexual offending in adulthood suggesting that these measures may be associated with the motivation to sexually offend. In the third study, the two meta-trajectories were assessed in terms of their association with violent/sexual reoffending in adulthood. The results indicated that an early-onset antisocial trajectory, characterized by a pattern of escalation in youth, predicted violent/sexual reoffending in adulthood. In addition, the predictive aspect of these measures was demonstrated independently, and in conjunction with current measures that are typically included in many current actuarial risk assessment instruments. Taken together, the results of these three studies challenge current classification strategies, and, developmental conceptualizations, of sexual aggressors of women. Details: Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University, 2012. 231p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 14, 2012 at: https://theses.lib.sfu.ca/thesis/etd6083 Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: https://theses.lib.sfu.ca/thesis/etd6083 Shelf Number: 125258 Keywords: Criminal CareerRapeRapistsRecidivismSex OffendersSexual AggressionSexual Assault |
Author: Meng, Grace Title: Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Summary: Producing food consumed throughout the country, hundreds of thousands of immigrant women and girls in the United States today work in fields, packing houses, and other agricultural workplaces where they face a real and significant risk of sexual violence and sexual harassment. Cultivating Fear, based on interviews with over 50 farmworkers and 110 advocates, agricultural industry representatives, and government officials, documents cases of rape, stalking, unwanted touching, exhibitionism, and verbal harassment, perpetrated by supervisors, co-workers, employers, and others in positions of power. Although farmworkers are protected in theory from workplace sexual violence and harassment under US civil and criminal law, farmworker women and girls face systemic barriers—as farmworkers and often as unauthorized immigrants—to reporting abuses and helping bring perpetrators to justice. Human Rights Watch calls on employers to take responsibility for the safety of their workers and on local police to ensure unauthorized immigrant victims are able to report crimes without fear of deportation. Most critically, Human Rights Watch calls on the US government to reform immigration and labor law and policy, at the federal and state levels, to ensure that the workers whose labor sustains US agriculture are able to fully assert their rights to protection from workplace sexual violence and harassment. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2012. 101p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0512ForUpload_1.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0512ForUpload_1.pdf Shelf Number: 125258 Keywords: Immigrants (U.S.)RapeSex OffensesSexual HarassmentSexual Violence |
Author: Peterson, Joseph Title: Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Study Summary: Sexual assault is one of the most serious crimes facing society and, over the past several decades, increasing attention has been paid to the proper collection of physical evidence from victims to document and reconstruct the crime, to identify the assailant, and to aid in the prosecution of the assailant. When victims report such offenses to the police and are examined at hospitals, medical personnel employ sexual assault kits and accompanying protocols to guide the collection of evidence from the victim. Sexual assault kit (SAK) report forms also record important information from the victim about activities prior to, during and after the assault. Given the likely transfer of biological secretions in such crimes, sexual assault kits and DNA evidence have the power to verify the crime and pinpoint the identity of the assailant. The probative value of such scientific evidence, however, depends largely on the circumstances of the particular case, being pivotal in one instance and less important in another. Although law enforcement agencies and hospitals have greatly improved and expanded procedures to gather sexual assault kit evidence, scientific resources and procedures to test such evidence have not kept pace. The National Institute of Justice staff, researchers and investigative journalists have uncovered the fact that backlogged and untested sexual assault kits (SAKs) are a major problem facing forensic crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. The combined untested SAKs from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reached 10,895 cases in the fall of 2008. As the result of growing public concern, Human Rights Watch undertook a study in Los Angeles to document reasons behind the accumulation of these untested kits and found a number of organizational and resource deficiencies throughout the city and county. They were not crime laboratory backlogs per se but were untested kits held in police property rooms in cold storage, where investigators and prosecutors had not requested that the SAK be tested. In 2009, however, the chief executives of Los Angles city and county law enforcement agencies announced that all backlogged kits would be tested, using outside private DNA testing laboratories. The untested sexual assault kit problem in Los Angeles, coupled with the fact that agencies had decided to test all such kits for the presence of DNA evidence, presented a unique research opportunity. The Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Project at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) was funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 2009 to accomplish four primary objectives: 1) evaluate the results of scientific tests performed by private laboratories on backlogged sexual assault kit (SAK) evidence from the LASD and LAPD crime laboratories, 2) review the sexual assault case processing literature and the role played by evidence and other factors in solving and prosecuting such cases; 3) determine the criminal justice dispositions of a sample of backlogged and non-backlogged cases before and after kit testing; and 4) identify principal case and evidence characteristics that could be used by forensic laboratories to evaluate and prioritize sexual assault evidence submitted to crime laboratories. The accomplishment of such goals would aid all law enforcement agencies and associated crime laboratories about the value of testing backlogged sexual assault kits and to set guidelines for processing such evidence in the future. Details: Los Angeles: California State University - Los Angeles, School of Criminal Justice & Criminalistics, 2012. 133p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed june 28, 2012 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238500.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238500.pdf Shelf Number: 125377 Keywords: Criminal EvidenceCriminal ForensicsCriminal InvestigationDNA TypingRapeRapistsSexual Assault (U.S.) |
Author: Just Associates Title: From Survisors to Defenders: Women Confronting Violence in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala Summary: Targeted killing of women—including women human rights defenders—has risen alarmingly in recent years in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, reaching crisis proportions, says a new report. In January 2012, the Nobel Women’s Initiative and JASS (Just Associates) organized a 12-day fact-finding mission to these countries led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum to review the situation of violence against women. The delegation met with grassroots and national women’s organizations working to end violence against women and their communities and learn about the strategies these women are using to end the violence. The report from this fact-finding delegation documents numerous cases of violence against women and women activists – including disappearances, murder and rape- and examines the efforts of women to address the increased violence, and how militarization and security policies are contributing to the increased violence. The report includes specific recommendations for the governments of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Canada and the United States. These findings and conclusions are based on the testimonies and meetings with more than 200 women and government officials from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. Details: Just Associates, 2012. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://www.justassociates.org/documents/mesoamerica/Women-Confronting-Violence-Delegation-Report-2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Central America URL: http://www.justassociates.org/documents/mesoamerica/Women-Confronting-Violence-Delegation-Report-2012.pdf Shelf Number: 125480 Keywords: HomicidesHuman RightsRapeViolence Against Women (Mexico, Honduras, Guatemal |
Author: McLeod, Rosie Title: Understanding the Progression of Serious Cases through the Criminal Justice System: Evidence Drawn from a Selection of Casefiles Summary: There is wide interest in understanding how cases progress through the Criminal Justice System (CJS). This project was commissioned to improve understanding of attrition for serious offences, in order to inform future policy development. The project focused on four serious offences: rape, sexual assault, grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent and GBH without intent. A random sample of 1,149 casefiles from eight police force areas was collated and a database was compiled using information that was present in the casefiles. This report summarises some initial findings in relation to the criminal justice process from allegation to outcome, re-grading of offences, decision making at key stages, false allegations and the circumstance of victims and suspects. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2012. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Ministry of Justice Research Series 11/12: Accessed July 21, 2012 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/research-and-analysis/moj-research/understanding-progression-serious-cases.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/research-and-analysis/moj-research/understanding-progression-serious-cases.pdf Shelf Number: 125712 Keywords: Criminal Case ProcessingCriminal Justice SystemRapeSexual AssaultViolent Crimes (U.K.) |
Author: Australia. Victims of Crime Coordinator Title: A Rollercoaster Ride: Victims of Sexual Assault: Their Experiences with and Views about the Criminal Justice Process in the ACT 2009 Summary: This report provides information principally derived from two studies involving a number of adults who had experienced a sexual assault and who had reported the incident to police in the ACT. The first component involved qualitative interviews with individual victims of sexual assault to ascertain in depth their views and experiences of the criminal justice process. The second involved the research participants answering questions about procedural fairness using a computer program specifically designed for a larger national research project. The decision to report a sexual assault to police has far reaching implications for the women and girls, men and boys who chose to do so. While any individual person will be influenced by a range of factors in deciding to disclose, or not, those interviewed for this research primarily felt motivated to protect themselves and to protect the community by reporting the incident(s) to police. Victims of sexual assault who participate in the criminal justice process do so with a high degree of ambivalence mixed with a strong sense of responsibility to see justice done. Victims of sexual assault value highly the principles of procedural fairness. They rank highly the principles of honesty, absence of bias, fair and just decision-making, and inclusion. They value being treated with respect, sensitivity and fairness. They value being made to feel safe and being given clear and timely information. How victims of sexual assault experience these principles and values in reality produces a mixed picture in the ACT. Most of those interviewed for this research found the police, prosecutors and victim liaison staff to be supportive and positive. Consequently, they did not consider withdrawing their report. For those who actually appeared in court, the judiciary was experienced as supportive and respectful. Interviewees valued the contact made by victim liaison staff in the justice agencies, and considered the support and counselling provided by the various victim services to be helpful and encouraging. Those victims who appeared in court generally found the experience of defence lawyers to be humiliating and difficult. A range of specific aspects to the criminal justice process were noted by the participants to this research to be unhelpful and discouraging. In particular, comments or behaviour from justice practitioners that was interpreted as lacking in empathy, understanding or belief, inadequate information, insufficient preparation and lack of follow up, not being given opportunities to be involved or to be heard, some counselling support being difficult to access, the length of time the process took and number of adjournments, and media intrusiveness. Perhaps surprisingly, victims interviewed for this report were unanimous that their decision to report to police was right for them and that they would encourage reporting to a friend who was sexually assaulted. One, however, was ambivalent about reporting in the future if she herself was sexually assaulted again. All participants wanted the offender apprehended, charged, convicted and rehabilitated (often in prison) because they wanted to ensure that others were safe. On the question of victim choice and control, all participants in the research project thought the police and prosecutors needed to have the control over the laying of charges and decisions to prosecute. They believed it shouldn’t be about their preference. At the same time, all those interviewed felt that police and prosecutors should ask victims their views, and be supportive and respectful of these in the decision-making process. Similarly, all participants in the research project felt that their views should be taken into account at sentencing but did not feel the decisions about length of sentence and type of punishment should be up to them. They thought the judge should take account of their views and their victim impact statement but that the decision should remain with the judge. A number of matters limit the general applicability of the findings of this research project. These are that only a small number of people provided feedback, the participants were all adult, and a majority of participants not only had the offence committed against them charged and prosecuted, but also the majority had their case result in a plea or finding of guilt. These last two factors are generally atypical in all Australian jurisdictions. Details: Canberra: ACT Government, 2009. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 23, 2012 at: http://www.unb.ca/observ/documents/ARollercoasterRideFINAL.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Australia URL: http://www.unb.ca/observ/documents/ARollercoasterRideFINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 125741 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceVictims of CrimesVictims of Sexual Assault, Criminal Justice System |
Author: Jewkes, Rachel Title: Rape Perpetration: A Review Summary: Rape can have an enduring impact on the lives, and health of victims, their families and communities. Both men and women perpetrate sexual violence (Sikweyiya Y and Jewkes 2009), however the majority of sexual offences are committed by men (Steffensmeier D, Zhong H et al. 2006). Research on what drives perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence is needed to inform prevention programmes – for this it is necessary to study men. This review summarises research on risk factors for sexual violence perpetration, the methodologies used to identify these risk factors and discusses the implications of this research for rape prevention strategies. Most of the literature reviewed focused on perpetration of sexual violence by men against women and girls. For the purposes of this review, risk factors are factors that increase the risk (likelihood) of a person perpetrating sexual violence. The review provides an overview of current discussions in the research literature around the main factors associated with rape perpetration, it does not follow the approach of systematic review, although the authors sought to identify all published papers on rape perpetration. In identifying this literature an internet search was conducted for published papers or reports with empirical research on rape perpetration from 1990 onwards. In so doing, 3,325 abstracts were identified; yielding 293 papers of interest for the study. The review includes qualitative and quantitative studies along with studies that discussed the origins, risk factors or frameworks for thinking about perpetration. Only English language databases were searched. Details: Pretoria: Oak Foundation, 2012. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2012 at: http://www.svri.org/RapePerpetration.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.svri.org/RapePerpetration.pdf Shelf Number: 125865 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Davies, Helen Title: Sexual Violence in London - A Needs Assessment to Inform the Review of the London Havens Sexual Assault Referral Centres Summary: The London Sexual Violence Needs Assessment was commissioned by the NHS in London (through the Specialised Commissioning Group) and the Metropolitan Police Service (Operation Sapphire). The NHS and MPS jointly fund Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provision for people who have been raped or sexually assaulted in London. Commissioners initiated the needs assessment process as part of a review of Havens services eleven years since the first London Haven was established. This is the first London-wide Sexual Violence needs assessment, and its purpose is to: - quantify and better understand the needs of Londoners who have experienced sexual assault; - identify / estimate the levels and nature of unmet or partially met need; - map supply and uptake of sexual assault services, including the Havens; - identify gaps between need and SARC supply in London - identify issues related to quality of services and/or equity of access - support consideration of options for improving Londoners’ access to appropriate SARC provision - influence decisions regarding future commissioning priorities for the London Havens. Details: London: MBARC, 2012. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 7, 2012 at: http://www.avaproject.org.uk/media/99053/final-needs-assessment.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.avaproject.org.uk/media/99053/final-needs-assessment.pdf Shelf Number: 125898 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (London, U.K.)Victims of Crime |
Author: Roth, Lenny Title: Provocation and Self-Defence in Intimate Partner and Sexual Advance Homicides Summary: The partial defence of provocation [2]: Provocation is a partial defence to murder. If the prosecution or jury accepts the defence, it results in a conviction for manslaughter instead of murder. The defence developed in English courts in the 16th and 17th centuries. At that time, the death penalty was mandatory for persons convicted of murder. In addition, it was considered virtuous for a man of honour to respond with controlled violence to certain forms of offensive behaviour. If he overreacted to some degree, but not disproportionately, such overreaction was considered to be natural human frailty. The current statutory version of the defence in NSW applies where: (a) the act causing death was the result of a loss of self-control on the part of the accused that was induced by any conduct of the deceased towards or affecting the accused; and (b) that conduct of the deceased was such as could have induced an ordinary person in the position of the accused to have so far lost self control as to have formed an intent to kill, or to inflict grievous bodily harm upon, the deceased. Debate about the provocation defence [3]: Several criticisms have been made about the defence including that provocation and a loss of self-control is an inappropriate basis for a partial defence; that the defence is gender-biased; that the test for the defence is conceptually confused and difficult for juries to understand; and that, as there is no longer a mandatory sentence for murder, provocation should be taken into account in sentencing. Concerns have, in particular, been expressed about the acceptance of the defence in cases where men have killed their female partners; and in cases where men have killed in response to a non-violent sexual advance by a homosexual person. Some argue that the provocation defence should be reformed, and others, that it should be abolished. Arguments for retaining the defence include that provoked killers are not 'murderers'; that juries should decide questions of culpability; that abolishing the defence would lead to increased sentences and uncertainty, and that it would also increase community dissatisfaction with sentencing. Statistics on use of provocation defence [4]: A report by the Judicial Commission of NSW contains data on the use of provocation in NSW in the period from 1990 to 2004. The report found that provocation was raised in 115 cases and it was successful in 75 of these cases. Other findings included that: · there were 11 male offenders that successfully relied on provocation in the context of infidelity or the breakdown of an intimate relationship; · there were 3 male offenders that successfully relied on provocation in the context of an alleged violent confrontation with his female partner; · there were 11 offenders who successfully relied on provocation in the context of an alleged homosexual advance; and · there were 10 cases where a woman successfully relied on provocation after killing her violent male partner. Kate Fitz-Gibbon conducted a review of convictions for manslaughter on the basis of provocation in the NSW Supreme Court in the period from January 2005 to December 2012. This review identified 15 cases where the provocation defence was successful. It was noted that five of these cases involved a non-violent confrontation. In three of these cases the victim was the current or estranged female partner of the male defendant; and in two of these cases, the killing resulted from an allegation of infidelity by the defendant. Recent provocation defence cases in NSW [5]: A recent provocation defence case is Singh v R. In that case, Mr Singh had moved to Australia on a spousal visa, his wife having already moved to Australia on a study visa. Their relationship began to deteriorate from the time of his arrival in Australia. During an argument, Mr Singh killed his wife, strangling her and cutting her throat at least eight times with a Stanley knife. According to the offender, during their confrontation, his wife had slapped him several times, and told him that she had never loved him, that she only loved another man, and that she would make sure he was kicked out of the country. The offender was charged with murder but the jury convicted him of manslaughter on the basis of provocation. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years. Provocation reform proposals in NSW [6]: In 1997, the NSW Law Reform Commission published a report on provocation, which recommended retaining the defence but reformulating it. The Commission rejected the option of specifically excluding the operation of the defence in cases where men killed female partners after a relationship breakdown, or in cases of killings in response to homosexual advances. It also rejected the option of removing the “loss of self-control” requirement in the defence to make it more available to women who kill their violent partners. In 1998, a Working Party published its report on killings in response to homosexual advances, which recommended amending the defence. The recommendations that were made by the Commission and the Working Party have not been implemented. Provocation reforms in other States [7]: In 2003, Tasmania became the first Australian jurisdiction to abolish the provocation defence. Since then, two other States have also abolished the defence: Victoria in 2005 and Western Australia in 2008. In Queensland, the defence was recently amended to reduce the scope of it being available to those who kill out of sexual possessiveness or jealousy. The Queensland Law Reform Commission had recommended amending, rather than abolishing, the defence but the mandatory life sentence for murder weighed heavily in coming to this conclusion. The Queensland Government has recently stated that, at this stage, it will not amend the defence to expressly exclude cases involving non-violent sexual advances. This is a reform that has been enacted in the ACT and Northern Territory. Provocation reforms in other countries [8]: The defence of provocation was abolished in New Zealand in 2009. In the United Kingdom, provocation was replaced in 2009 with a new partial defence known as "loss of control". This defence only applies if the defendant's loss of self-control had a "qualifying trigger". One of the triggers is that the loss of self-control was attributable to a thing done or said which constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character; and which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being wronged. However, "the fact that a thing done or said constituted sexual infidelity is to be disregarded". The other trigger is if the defendant's loss of self-control was due to the defendant's fear of serious violence from the victim or another person. In 2009, the Law Reform Commission of Ireland recommended retaining but reformulating the partial defence. Self-defence and excessive self-defence [9]: The defence of self-defence is a complete defence to murder. If the jury accepts the defence it results in an acquittal. Previously, the defence was defined by the common law. In 2001, the defence was codified in legislation in NSW. The defence applies if: (a) a person believed that their conduct was necessary to defend themself or another person; and (b) the person's conduct was a reasonable response in the circumstances as they perceived them. In 2001, the partial defence of excessive self-defence was also reintroduced in NSW (as with the defence of provocation, this partial defence reduces murder to manslaughter). The partial defence of excessive self-defence applies if a person believed that their conduct was necessary to defend themself but this conduct was not to a reasonable response in the circumstances as they perceived them. Self-defence and women who kill their violent partners [10]: Longstanding concerns have been held about the difficulties women face in relying on self-defence when they have killed male partners in the context of a prolonged period of domestic violence and for reasons of self-preservation. The difficulties have arisen, in part, because of the traditional association of self-defence with a one-off spontaneous encounter, such as a pub brawl. The legal test for self-defence has evolved over time and may be broad enough to accommodate women's experiences. The current provision does not require that the threat be imminent or that the response be proportionate. However, the application of the defence in this context is still problematic because these continue to be significant factors in determining whether the defence has been made out. In response to the difficulties that women have faced in relying on self-defence, defence lawyers have attempted to call expert evidence showing that a woman who killed her abusive partner was suffering from "battered woman syndrome". One part of this "syndrome" is that women find it difficult to break out of a cycle of violence because of "learned helplessness". In the 1998 decision of Osland v The Queen, the High Court affirmed that this evidence was admissible but Justice Kirby noted that the syndrome was controversial. More recently, reliance on the battered woman syndrome has been criticised, and researchers have called for an acceptance of expert evidence which places greater emphasis on the social realities of a woman's situation and which reflects the current state of knowledge about the dynamics of abusive relationships. The reintroduction of the partial defence of excessive self-defence may assist women who have killed their abusive partner but who cannot satisfy all of the elements of self-defence. However, a concern has been raised that the availability of this defence may prevent women from being acquitted on the basis of self-defence, due to the existence of an 'easy' middle option. A Judicial Commission of NSW study on partial defences found that between 2002 and June 2005, two women had successfully relied on the partial defence of excessive self-defence after killing their male partners. In both cases, the woman was under attack when she killed her partner. Self-defence reforms in other States [11]: Since 1987, most Australian jurisdictions have enacted new statutory provisions on the complete defence of self-defence. Some jurisdictions have also reintroduced the partial defence of excessive self defence. This paper focused on developments in three States: Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland. Victoria (in 2005) and Western Australia (in 2008) both enacted new provisions on the complete defence of self-defence and they also both reintroduced the partial defence of excessive self-defence (in Victoria, this was achieved by enacting a new provision on "defensive homicide"). Victoria also introduced special provisions that apply when family violence is alleged. The provisions state that a person may have reasonable grounds for believing that their conduct was necessary to defend themself even if they were responding to harm that was not immediate, or their response involved the use of excessive force. The provisions also set out a non-exhaustive list of the kinds of evidence that might be relevant to determining whether the person had the requisite belief and whether there were reasonable grounds for the belief. The way in which the defensive homicide provision has operated in Victoria (being mainly used by men) has attracted criticism and it is currently under review. In Queensland, the provisions on self-defence have not been reformed but in 2011 a new partial defence to homicide was enacted: "killing for preservation in an abusive relationship". This implemented, in part, the recommendations by two academics, who were commissioned by the Attorney-General in 2009 to consider the development of a separate defence for battered persons who kill their abusers. The report by the academics noted that there was a strong preference from within the legal community for a separate defence rather than for reform of the general law of self-defence. The report also noted that there was insufficient support for a separate complete defence. Commentators have been critical of the new partial defence which, they say, is very similar to the defence of self-defence but leads to a different result. Self-defence reports in other countries [12]: There have been no legislative reforms to self-defence in other countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. Of these countries, only in New Zealand and Ireland has the relevant law reform commission considered the issue of self-defence for women who kill their violent partners. In 2001, the New Zealand Law Reform Commission recommended amending the law of self-defence to make it clear that there can be situations in which the use of force is reasonable where the danger is not imminent but is inevitable. A 2009 report by the Law Reform Commission of Ireland did not recommend any major reforms. National report on legal responses to family violence [13]: In October 2010, the Australian Law Reform Commission and the NSW Law Reform Commission jointly published a comprehensive report on family violence. One section of the report examined defences to homicide, including provocation and self-defence. The report made some general recommendations including: that governments should ensure that defences to homicide accommodate the experiences of family violence victims who kill; that governments should review their defences; and also that legislation should provide guidance about the potential relevance of family-violence related evidence in the context of a defence to homicide (along the lines of the Victorian model). Details: Sydney: NSW Parliamentary Research Services, 2012. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper No 5/2012: Accessed August 11, 2012 at: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/F2BA1BFEED2D87EECA257A4800001BD7/$File/briefing%20paper.provocation%20and%20self-defence.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/F2BA1BFEED2D87EECA257A4800001BD7/$File/briefing%20paper.provocation%20and%20self-defence.pdf Shelf Number: 125970 Keywords: HomicidesIntimate Partner Violence (Australia)Provocation, Criminal LawRapeSelf-DefenseSexual Violence |
Author: Informal Sector Service Centre Title: A Study on Violence due to Witchcraft Allegation and Sexual Violence Summary: Nepal, as a member state of the United Nation, has ratified various International human rights treaties and convention related to the rights of women which explicitly shows Nepal’s commitment towards protecting and promoting the rights of women. However, the situation of women doesn’t seem satisfactory. More than 50 per cent of Nepal’s population is women but their status is still very poor. They have a lower status than men in each aspect of the Human Development Index. Illiteracy, patriarchal society and the economic dependency of women on man create grounds for male domination over woman. Accusations of the so-called practice of witchcraft, rape and incidents of sexual violence are some of the examples of violence against women which occur in Nepalese society. Women are able to gain 33% seats in the Constituent Assembly, but their voices are still suppressed and issues of women have not been sufficiently raised in the Constituent Assembly. The lack of effective laws, the poor implementation of existing laws and the unaccountability of the government authorities also contributed to the occurrence of violence against women. However, the pro-active role of the court and progressive decisions in some cases concerning women rights present a cause for hope. Still, so many improvements are required to prevent violence against women. In the year 2011, it was recorded that many women and girls were abused after being blamed of practicing witchcraft. Similarly, many more were made victims of rape and sexual abuse. The incidents of rape, sexual violence and accusations of the practice of witchcraft can be reduced by the combined efforts of multiple stakeholders. The role of civil society and human rights organizations remain crucial in this regard. A Study on Violence due to Witchcraft Allegation and Sexual Violence; 3 INSEC has presented the overall description and details of incidents of rape and sexual violence, and accusations of the practice of witchcraft practices in this report in the context of 102nd International Women's Day which I felt could be important means by which to assess the situation of women in Nepal and the respective authorities in addressing these problems in society. Details: Kathmandu, Nepal: INSEC, 2012. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2012 at: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/INSEC_AStudyOnViolenceDueToWitchcraftAllegationAndSexualViolence.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Nepal URL: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/INSEC_AStudyOnViolenceDueToWitchcraftAllegationAndSexualViolence.pdf Shelf Number: 125983 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against WomenWitchcraft (Negal) |
Author: Bartlett, Helen Title: Sexual Violence Against People with Disabilities: Data Collection and Barriers to Disclosure Summary: The report focuses on analysing data on experience of sexual violence by people with disabilities collected in the RCNI Database over 2008-2010; understanding barriers to disclosure for people with disabilities; and reviewing and analysing relevant database models used to record incidents of sexual violence as experienced by people with disabilities. The report analyses data from the Rape Crisis Network Ireland Database. Incidents of sexual violence reported by people with disabilities in the Republic of Ireland in the three years from 2008 to 2010 were analysed from this dataset. Findings from this analysis will inform broader policy on providing appropriate and accessible disclosure support and abuse monitoring structures for people with disabilities. We elicited input from people with disabilities through an anonymous online survey. People with disabilities are best placed to contribute to policy development by identifying barriers that limit their access to information and supports concerning sexual violence. Their insights will progress policy on how sensitive data is captured, while protecting privacy and ensuring easy access to people with any form of disability. Barriers were identified and solutions to challenges proposed by the survey respondents. The analysis of the survey will be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders including those who support people with disabilities and those who support survivors of sexual violence. The research also reviews existing data collection mechanisms in order to identify international models of good practice and makes practical recommendations for nationally coordinated data collection on sexual violence experienced by people with disabilities. The recommendations also have relevance for monitoring other forms of abuse against people with disabilities. Details: Galway: Rape Crisis Network Ireland, 2011. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2012 at: http://www.rcni.ie//uploads/SexualViolenceAgainstPeopleWithDisabilities2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Ireland URL: http://www.rcni.ie//uploads/SexualViolenceAgainstPeopleWithDisabilities2011.pdf Shelf Number: 126008 Keywords: Adults with DisabilitiesPeople with DisabilitiesRapeSexual HarassmentSexual Violence (Ireland) |
Author: Bileski, Matthew Title: The Reporting of Sexual Assault in Arizona, CY 2001-2010 Summary: Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) §41-2406, which became law in July 2005, requires the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) to maintain information obtained from disposition reporting forms submitted to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) on sexual assault (A.R.S. §13-1406) and the false reporting of sexual assault involving a spouse (A.R.S. §13-2907.03). Utilizing DPS disposition data, ACJC is mandated to provide an annual report briefing the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house, the secretary of state, and the director of the Arizona state library, archives, and public records on sexual assault in Arizona. According to statute, the report is to contain the total number of police reports filed, the number of charges filed, the number of convictions, and the sentences assigned for sexual assault, sexual assault involving a spouse, and false reporting of sexual assault involving a spouse separately. All data for sexual assault involving a spouse must include whether or not the victim and the victim’s spouse were estranged at the time of the assault. The disposition data come from an extract of the Arizona Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) record system provided by DPS to ACJC in January 2012. By statute, the ACCH repository is populated with arrest and disposition reporting form information for all felony, sex offense, driving under the influence, and domestic violence-related charges submitted to DPS by local law enforcement, prosecuting attorneys, and the courts. This report focuses on data from calendar years (CY) 2001 to 2010 and updates data reported in The Reporting of Sexual Assault in Arizona, CY2008-2009 report. Details: Tuczon: Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, Statistical Analysis Center, 2012. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2012 at: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2012%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report_Final.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2012%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 126374 Keywords: RapeSexual Assault (Arizona)Sexual ViolenceSpouse AbueViolence Against Women |
Author: Nainar, Vahida Title: Litigation Strategies for Sexual Violence in Africa Summary: This paper is a manual that examines the different legal options available to a victim/survivor of sexual violence or a rights group on her behalf. Although these legal options serve the overall goal of justice, they have different requirements of documentation, need different levels of victim participation and focus on a specific aspect of the remedy. The Manual aims to provide an overview of the legal options available to women to pursue justice for sexual violence and discusses the legal strategies that influence the choice of any given option. The overview of the legal options at the domestic level are provided by laying out laws and systems typical of the three broad types of legal systems in Africa – the common law system, the civil law system and Islamic law. For options at regional and international levels, the Manual lays out the basics of various regional and international human rights mechanisms and the instruments applying international humanitarian and criminal law. From a discussion of the practical possibilities or impediments at the domestic level; the decisions of the regional and international human rights mechanisms; and the judgments of the regional and international courts and tribunals emerge strategies that women and victims of sexual violence may employ in their pursuit of justice, with varying degree of potential success. Details: London: The Redress Trust, 2012. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2012 at: http://www.uianet.org/sites/default/files/VAWManual27Aug2012_1.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Africa URL: http://www.uianet.org/sites/default/files/VAWManual27Aug2012_1.pdf Shelf Number: 126446 Keywords: RapeSex OffensesSexual AssaultSexual Violence (Africa) |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Colombia: Hidden from Justice. Impunity for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, A Follow-Up Report Summary: Conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls in Colombia has long been a largely hidden human rights tragedy. Members of all parties to the conflict – paramilitaries, the security forces and guerrilla groups – have been responsible for these crimes, and almost all have evaded justice. This was the picture painted in Amnesty International’s September 2011 report, “This is what we demand. Justice!”: Impunity for sexual violence against women in Colombia’s armed conflict. Following publication of that report, the authorities in Colombia made a number of commitments to comply with their national and international legal obligations to end all forms of sexual violence, including those committed in the context of the conflict, and to bring those responsible for such crimes to justice. This report details what progress has been made over the past year and what still remains to be done. It ends by calling on the government to intensify its efforts to ensure the rights of women and girls in Colombia to freedom from violence and to justice. amnesty.org Details: London: Amnesty International, 2012. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 5, 2012 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR23/031/2012/en/8779cba6-f18f-4f06-9007-4cb337fcd1bd/amr230312012en.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Colombia URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR23/031/2012/en/8779cba6-f18f-4f06-9007-4cb337fcd1bd/amr230312012en.pdf Shelf Number: 126565 Keywords: Armed ConflictHuman RightsRapeSexual Violence (Colombia)Violence Against Women |
Author: Prendergast, John Title: Can You Hear Congo Now? Cell Phones, Conflict Minerals, and the Worst Sexual Violence in the World Summary: The time has come to expose a sinister reality: Our insatiable demand for electronics products such as cell phones and laptops is helping fuel waves of sexual violence in a place that most of us will never go, affecting people most of us will never meet. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the scene of the deadliest conflict globally since World War II. There are few other conflicts in the world where the link between our consumer appetites and mass human suffering is so direct. This reality is not the result of an elaborate cover-up, either. Most electronic companies and consumers genuinely do not appreciate the complex chain of events that ties widespread sexual violence in Congo with the minerals that power our cell phones, laptops, mp3 players, video games, and digital cameras. But now that we are beginning to understand these linkages, we need to do all we can to expose them and bring this deadly war fuelled by “conflict minerals” to an end. As a start, the Enough Project has worked with other like-minded groups to create a conflict minerals pledge that commits electronics companies to ensure their products are conflict-free. We are initiating a consumer campaign aimed at encouraging the users of these electronics products to let the biggest companies know that it matters to us that our purchases don’t prolong this ongoing tragedy. Details: Washington, DC: The Enough Project, 2009. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: October 7, 2012 at http://www.enoughproject.org/files/Can%20Your%20Hear%20Congo%20Now.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/Can%20Your%20Hear%20Congo%20Now.pdf Shelf Number: 126635 Keywords: Armed ConflictCell PhonesConflict Minerals (DRC)RapeSexual Violence |
Author: Buchanan, Kim S. Title: Engendering Rape Summary: This Article highlights a systematic bias in the academic, correctional, and human rights discourse that constitutes the basis for prison rape policy reform. This discourse focuses almost exclusively on sexual abuse perpetrated by men: sexual abuse of male prisoners by fellow inmates, and sexual abuse of women prisoners by male staff. But since 2007, survey and correctional data have indicated that the main perpetrators of prison sexual abuse seem to be women. In men’s facilities, inmates report much more sexual victimization by female staff than by male inmates; in women’s facilities, inmates report much higher rates of sexual abuse by fellow inmates than by male or female staff. These findings contravene conventional gender expectations, and are barely acknowledged in contemporary prison rape discourse, leading to policy decisions that are too sanguine about the likelihood of female-perpetrated sexual victimization. The selective blindness of prison rape discourse to counter-stereotypical forms of abuse illuminates a pattern of reasoning I describe as “stereotype reconciliation,” an unintentional interpretive trend by which surprising, counter-stereotypical facts are reconciled with conventional gender expectations. The authors of prison rape discourse tend to ignore these counter-stereotypical facts or to invoke alternative stereotypes, such as heterosexist notions of romance or racialized rape tropes, in ways that tend to rationalize their neglect of counter-stereotypical forms of abuse and reconcile those abuses with conventional expectations of masculine domination and feminine submission. Details: Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California Gould School of Law, 2012. 60p. Source: Legal Studies Working Paper Series Paper 93: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2012 at http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1228&context=usclwps-lss&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dengendering%2520rape%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D2%26ved%3D0CCkQFjAB%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flaw.bepress.com%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1228%2526context%253Dusclwps-lss%26ei%3DWaB8UM37EsKB0AH9tYDQDQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNGUFk7KqCHUNKrSI7jElZK993YZrw#search=%22engendering%20rape%22 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1228&context=usclwps-lss&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dengendering%2520rape%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D2%26ved%3D0CCkQFjAB%26url%3 Shelf Number: 126744 Keywords: Abuse of InmatesCorrectional Institutions, Sexual MisconductCorrections Officers, Sexual MisconductFemale VictimsMale VictimsPrison RapeRapeStaff-Inmate Relations |
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 AbuseDomestic ViolenceHonor-Based ViolenceHuman TraffickingPornographyProsecutionProstitutionRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women and Girls (U.K.) |
Author: New Zealand. Ministry of Women's Affairs Title: Lightning Does Strike Twice: Preventing Sexual Revictimisation Summary: In 2009, the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MWA) published the findings from a cross-departmental research project on effective interventions for adult victim/survivors of sexual violence. The prevalence and impacts of repeat sexual victimisation (or sexual revictimisation) emerged as an issue of critical importance: preventing it could go a long way to addressing the costs of violence against women to individuals and society. On the basis of that evidence, MWA undertook some early discussions with government agencies and non-government organisations (NGOs), about their understandings of and responses to sexual revictimisation. The discussions indicated that understanding varied and that responses tend to focus on mitigating the impacts of sexual violence, rather than preventing it from happening again. Agencies also indicated that they would welcome an accessible summary of the research literature on sexual revictimisation. This report establishes a platform for identifying the policy and practice implications of sexual revictimisation and other forms of gender-based violence. It summarises key themes in the research literature on sexual revictimisation and includes insights and feedback obtained from workshops to discuss the research findings with representatives of key government agencies and NGOs in the sexual and family violence sectors. Overall the report presents a complex picture of sexual violence and revictimisation, as experienced by many women across the life course. It strengthens our understanding of the profound and far-reaching impacts of sexual victimisation in childhood, adolescence or adulthood. While sexual revictimisation of women is the main focus, the evidence highlights the links between sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, including men’s violence against their female intimate partners (IPV), childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and other types of child maltreatment. It underscores the importance of early identification of repeat victim/survivors, the need to break the cycle of repeat victimisation, and to provide consistent and appropriate support for survivors and their families and whānau, at a systemic level. Details: Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Women's Affairs, 2012. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 9, 2012 at: http://www.mwa.govt.nz/news-and-pubs/publications/lightning-does-strike-twice-preventing-revictimisation.pdf Year: 2012 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.mwa.govt.nz/news-and-pubs/publications/lightning-does-strike-twice-preventing-revictimisation.pdf Shelf Number: 126914 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseFamily ViolenceIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeRepeat Victimization (New Zealand)Sexual AbuseSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Westera, Nina Title: Using Video Recorded Police Interviews to get the Full Story from Complainants in Rape Trials Summary: This Briefing Paper focuses on the importance of complainant testimony in achieving just outcomes in rape trials. The authors undertake a comparative analysis of rape trials, and the types of information elicited during police interviews with complainants, to that provided during evidence-in-chief at trial. The study’s findings indicate that current approaches during trials may lead to potentially important information being excluded. The authors highlight the need for further research into whether pre-recorded interviews with complainants may assist in jury deliberations. Details: Nathan, QLD: ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, 2012. 4p. Source: ARC CEPS Briefing Paper, Issue 17: Internet Resource: Accessed December 2, 2012 at http://www.ceps.edu.au/CMS/Uploads/file/Nina%20Westera%20issue%2017%20WEB.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.ceps.edu.au/CMS/Uploads/file/Nina%20Westera%20issue%2017%20WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 127103 Keywords: Police Interviews, Video RecordingRapeTrials |
Author: Natale, Katrina Title: “I Could Feel My Soul Flying Away From My Body”: A Study on Gender-Based Violence During Democratic Kampuchea in Battambang and Svay Rieng Provinces Summary: More than thirty years have passed since the fall of the Khmer Rouge state, Democratic Kampchea. In this time, the world has become aware of the many atrocities that the population suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, including forced transfer and evacuation, extrajudicial killing, forced labor, starvation, illness and death. In contrast to the widespread scholarship and public acknowledgment that these issues have received, reports of gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge have benefitted from relatively little study and attention. This small-scale study was undertaken to build on the few other research studies which have been conducted on the topic of GBV in Democratic Kampuchea. The main objective of the study was to shed more light on the nature and characteristics of GBV under the Khmer Rouge by gathering data on: 1) the types of GBV perpetrated during Democratic Kampuchea; 2) the victims and perpetrators of this violence; 3) the location and circumstances under which it occurred; and 4) how this data compares to that collected through previous studies. Interviews for this survey were conducted in September and October 2010 with 104 respondents aged between 42 and 84 years old residing in Battambang and Svay Rieng provinces. Respondents were interviewed confidentially about their knowledge and experiences of GBV while living in Democratic Kampuchea using a semi-structured survey questionnaire which included both open and closed questions. As the second case before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) moves forward and other transitional justice and peace-building initiatives are developed, this report aims to raise awareness of the issue of GBV under the Khmer Rouge, bring acknowledgment to the victims, situate the findings of this study within the context of international law and scholarship on GBV, refocus attention on accountability mechanisms targeting GBV and encourage the integration of this knowledge into all initiatives which address the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. Details: Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Cambodian Defenders Project, 2011. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 4, 2012 at: http://www.svri.org/SoulFlying.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Cambodia URL: http://www.svri.org/SoulFlying.pdf Shelf Number: 127120 Keywords: Forced MarriageGender-Based Violence (Cambodia)RapeSexual MutilationSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: South Carolina. Department of Public Safety. Office of Justice Programs Title: Sexual Violence in Private Residences: Whose, How and Why? Summary: Data from the South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System (SCIBRS) provided the initial basis of this report. SCIBRS data starts with the statewide uniform incident report. Whenever a criminal act is reported to law enforcement, the responding officer fills out an incident report. That report contains detailed information about the incident, the victim and the offender as well as any associated arrests. This information is then entered into SCIBRS, which is maintained by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Among the SCIBRS information collected and maintained by SLED is a primary location code identifying the type of premise at which the offense occurred. SCIBRS has twenty-seven location codes which identify the specific type of location at which a criminal incident has been reported. The location codes most frequently associated with sexual violence offenses were those which identified private residences such as houses, apartments, condominiums and other privately owned residences. From 2005 to 2009, 73% of South Carolina’s sexual violence victimizations were reported in private residences (SCDPS, 2010). While that information is important in its own right and tells us a lot about the nature of sexual violence, unfortunately, it is quite limited in that it does not provide questions to some follow up questions that naturally arise in response to this finding. For example, did these acts of sexual violence occur in the victims’ homes, the offenders’ homes or in some other private residence? If the violence occurred in a residence other than the victim’s home, how and why did the victim come to be in that place? If the violence occurred in the victim’s home, how did the offender come to be there? Aside from information that might be contained in the narrative portion of the incident report, which is not forwarded to SLED, answers to these questions were not available from SCIBRS. The purpose of this project was to address these questions and hopefully provide a better understanding of where sexual violence in private residences occurred and how the victims and offenders involved in sexual violence came to be at those places. Details: Blythewood, SC: South Carolina Department of Public Safety, 2012. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 10, 2012 at: www.scdps.gov/ojp/stats/reports.html Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 127200 Keywords: RapeSex OffensesSexual AssaultSexual Violence (South Carolina, U.S.) |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales Summary: This report brings together, for the first time, a range of official statistics from across the crime and criminal justice system, providing an overview of sexual offending in England and Wales. Most of the information presented in this report has been previously published in other official statistics bulletins. The report is structured to highlight: the victim experience; the police role in recording and detecting the crimes; how the various criminal justice agencies deal with an offender once identified; and the criminal histories of sex offenders. Providing such an overview presents a number of challenges, not least that the available information comes from different sources that do not necessarily cover the same period, the same people (victims or offenders) or the same offences. For example, the results from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) are based on self completed questions from a representative sample of adults (aged 16 to 59), asking about an individual’s experiences of sexual offences in the last 12 months. The police recorded and court information cover all sexual offences, as legislated for in law, committed against any individual irrespective of age or when the crime took place, but exclude the large volume of crimes not reported to the police.. O ther issues that prevent direct comparisons include: the CSEW focusing on the most recent experience of adults as a victim of sexual offence in the previous 12 months (thus, for example, does not include sexual offences experienced by children or those aged 60 or over); police recorded crime figures being based on offences per victim (i.e. for each victim in a given incident, a crime is recorded) in the year the crime was reported, irrespective of when the offence took place; the criminal justice outcome information (e.g. cautions and convictions) being on an offender basis at the date of the final outcome, again irrespective of when the crime took place. The latter two points mean that figures between the police and court sources will differ, as there will be crimes involving more than one victim or more than one offender, or possibly multiple victims and offenders relating to a single crime. It is not currently feasible to track individual cases from initial recording by the police through the CJS. When interpreting the flows of offences and offenders through the CJS, it is important to note the various stages of attrition and the inherent challenges associated with detection and prosecution of crime, in particular with sexual offences. Second, the issue of ‘downgrading’ of offences (when a decision is made by the Crown Prosecution Service, between the initial hearing at the magistrates’ court and the first hearing at the Crown Court, that the initial charge is incorrect and should be changed to another offence) as they move through the system presents analytical challenges and requires careful consideration when interpreting the statistics. For example, one method of calculating rape conviction rates often used by commentators shows the number of people convicted of rape as a proportion of all rape crimes recorded. Given the different currencies of the two number and the effect of downgrading of offences through the CJS mentioned above, this method is incorrect and misleading in terms of presenting evidence on convictions for rape. For the purposes of this report, the results from the last three years’ CSEW have been combined to provide a large enough sample to enable more reliable findings to be presented. Elsewhere, the report mainly covers the period 2005 to 2011(for police recoded crime 2005/06 to 2011/12), as 2005 was the first full year following the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Where readily available, longer time series have been provided. Detailed statistical tables are provided in the spreadsheets alongside this bulletin. Tables referenced in the text are included within the bulletin, whereas others referenced are found only within the spreadsheets. I t is acknowledged that any sexual offence will be a traumatic experience for the victim. For ease of reference however, throughout the report, sexual offences have been referred to as falling into two groups: “Most serious sexual offences”, covering all rape, attempted rape and sexual assault offences; and “Other sexual offences”, which includes sexual activity with minors (excluding rape and sexual assaults), exposure, voyeurism etc. A full description of the offence types included, with reference to the relevant legislation, is included in the glossary in the spreadsheet tables accompanying Chapters 3 and 4. A number of summary sexual offences, such as kerb crawling and letting premises for use as a brothel, have been considered outside the scope of the publication. Within each chapter, introductory information is provided (in italics) to give a overview of the chapter content, the basis of the statistics included, and the relevant data sources. Further background information can be found in the ‘Background to the criminal justice system’ and ‘Data sources and quality’ sections of this bulletin. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2013. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistics Bulletin: Accessed January 17, 2013 at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/sexual-offending/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/sexual-offending/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf Shelf Number: 127286 Keywords: Crime StatisticsRapeSex OffendersSex Offenses (U.K.)Sexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Tarczon, Cindy Title: The Nature and Extent of Sexual Assault and Abuse in Australia Summary: This ACSSA Resource Sheet summarises the available statistical information about the nature and extent of sexual assault and abuse in Australia. It draws on Australian data sources, and provides information on the prevalence of sexual violence as well as characteristics of victimisation and perpetration. Because sexual assault and abuse are significantly under-reported in these data sets, this Resource Sheet describes the limitations associated with these collections. It also describes how we can use data that examine sexual victimisation in high-risk populations. Details: Melbourne: Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 2012. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: ACSSA Resource Sheet: Accessed January 23, 2013 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/sheets/rs5/rs5.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/sheets/rs5/rs5.pdf Shelf Number: 127365 Keywords: RapeSex OffensesSexual AbuseSexual Assault (Australia)Sexual Violence |
Author: Danish Refugee Council Title: A Sexual and Gender-based Violence Rapid Assessment: Doro Refugee Camp, Upper Nile State, South Sudan Summary: Since December 2011, approximately 100,000 refugees have fled the State of Blue Nile (BNS) in Sudan and sought shelter in Maban County – Upper Nile State (UNS) – South Sudan as a result of aerial bombardments and armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese People Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N). There are four main locations where the refugees are sheltered in the county: (1) in Doro camp (near the village of Bunj) there are 41,7871 individuals, (2) in Jamam camp (near the village of Jamam) there are 25,176 registered refugees, (3) in Yusuf Batil camp there are 34,112 registered refugees and (4) in the recently opened Gendrassa camp there are 4,484 individuals as of beginning of August 2012. Sudanese refugees started to settle spontaneously in the area later to become Doro refugee camp as early as October 2011. Since then, new influxes of refugees continued to arrive up to May-June 2012 causing the camp to become more and more congested. As a result, some of these communities settled outside the camp boundaries. In May 2012 approximately 3.000 refugees were relocated from Jamam refugee camp to Doro due to increasingly precarious living conditions in Jamam - water provision much below standards, flooding and a hazardous health situation prompted UNHCR and aid agencies to decide for the relocation of part of Jamam camp. Details: Copenhagen: Danish Refugee Council, 2012. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 24, 2013 at: http://www.drc.dk/about-drc/publications/ Year: 2012 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.drc.dk/about-drc/publications/ Shelf Number: 127378 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceHuman RightsRapeRefugeesSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Hales, Liz Title: The Criminalisation of Migrant Women Summary: The work of a number of key organisations, including the International Organisation for Migration, has led to awareness of the extent of national and international people trafficking and exploitation by smugglers and agents of people seeking to leave their country to seek work or asylum. Within the UK, public knowledge has been influenced by the setting up of the UK Human Trafficking Centre in October 2006, the work of a number of human rights organisations, and media interest in some cases. However, to date, there has been no formal recognition of the numbers of potential victims in custody on criminal charges, nor systematic prison based research that provides evidence on how these individuals have been managed within the Criminal Justice System and by the United Kingdom Border Agency, at a time when the percentage of foreign women in the prison estate continues to increase. Our research on the criminalisation of migrant women, funded for 18 months by the ESRC, aimed to fill this knowledge gap. The research was carried out between May 2010 and November 2011 with migrant women in prison and the immigration holding estate in the South-East of England. The key aims were to gather information in relation to the numbers of migrant women being processed through the criminal justice and immigration systems within England and Wales. Within the context of this picture we aimed to see whether there were any women who were victims of trafficking, smuggling and ‘work under duress’ in custody, and by examining case management identify the extent of compliance in relation to the European Convention on Trafficking and the Convention of Human Rights. Key findings In 2009 there were 2,454 foreign national receptions into the female prison estate and during the period of the research foreign national prisoners accounted for 19 per cent of the population in custody and 26 per cent of new untried receptions. In four of the five prisons, where the majority of interviews were carried out, the average population was 30 per cent, rising to 31 per cent in HMP Holloway and HMP Bronzefield in the final month. Analysis of data from fpwp/Hibiscus, a key organisation working with foreign women in custody, showed that 41 per cent of their caseload in 2009 involved women charged with offences such as deception and fraud in relation to their immigration status and related offences of use of false documentation to access work or benefits, or pass through customs on entry or exit from the UK. Prison data gathered in the context of the research indicated that 26 per cent overall were arrested in relation to these offences with an additional 4 per cent arrested on offences such as street robberies and sale of counterfeit goods (offences potentially linked with trafficking). Within the immigration estate in 2010, 4,337 women were taken into detention, of which there were 2,799 receptions at Yarl’s Wood IRC, where monthly figures showed that 112 women, one third, were being held post completion of a prison sentence. In the context of interviews with 103 migrant women in the prison and immigration holding estate, detained or arrested on charges that are potentially linked with entry to or exit from the UK or work under the control of others, evidence gathered indicated that 43 were victims of trafficking, of whom two were formally re-assessed as children whilst in the adult estate.1 An additional five women had entered the country independently, but had then been worked in slavery or servitude like conditions and 10 had entered the UK in the hands of agents and had been arrested resultant on the theft of their relevant documents by their smugglers. The progress of these 58 women within the target group (that is, those who might have been trafficked or smuggled or made to work under duress) was then monitored in terms of their management within the criminal justice and immigration systems. This was carried out by 59 follow up interviews in custody and 14 more in the community, observations of 33 court appearances, ongoing communication by letter and examination of relevant paper documentation held by the interviewees, their legal representatives and others, wherever this was feasible. 38 of the 48 women within the target group (58) for whom there is data on employment were involved in non-skilled work before departure and, for those who were complicit in the decision to travel to the UK, reasons for migration were a mixture of economic necessity and a need for asylum. For all but eight it was their first move from home. Eight of those trafficked did not travel directly to the UK, but were first moved to other countries to work en route. Five had been trafficked as children and one of the children had been re-trafficked to the UK after being deported back to Africa from the first destination country. Twenty of the women trafficked were forced to work in prostitution and fifteen in cannabis production. Eight worked in domestic servitude, two were acting as drug mules and eight were involved in street robberies and the sale of fake goods. An additional five women were forced into these areas of work after entering the country independently of those who controlled them in the work. The common experience of all the women within this target group was one of disempowerment and for those trafficked or smuggled this process started from the point of recruitment. All of those interviewed indicated that they had been victims of physical and/or emotional abuse. Twenty-four women disclosed in interview that they had experienced multiple rapes and for an additional two this had been an ongoing threat. For those who migrated to seek asylum, disclosures indicated that these experiences started prior to their move and were thus the key reasons for migration. For others, disclosures in interview indicated that it was integral to the relationship they had with those who brought them to the UK, who worked them under duress and to whom they had been sold. For many, the hold and threats made by those who had recruited, moved and controlled them did not disappear on arrest. The women’s experiences led to them to report that they felt socially isolated, vulnerable, traumatised, subject to flashbacks, ashamed to tell others what had happened and finding difficulty in knowing whom to trust. They indicated that all of this was exacerbated by the experience of imprisonment and uncertainty about the future and it is not insignificant that being handed over to the police or immigration was a common threat used by those who had held them. In terms of the offences for which they had been arrested, the two key offence groups were in relation to the use of false identity documentation and the production of cannabis. Within the target group of 58, 20 of the primary charges were for use of false instrument with intent and 14 for the production of a controlled drug (cannabis). Of the 43 who were identified as victims of trafficking by the researchers, only 11 were processed through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this did not happen for two of these women until their sentence was completed. Four other women were advised that this option was open to them. Three declined as they were serving short sentences and their goal was to return home as soon as possible, and the fourth was too frightened of the potential implications both to herself and her daughter in making full disclosure of her experiences. With four of these cases, the Conclusive Grounds decision made on their victim status by UKBA (which acted as the competent authority) was negative. To date, one of these decisions has been overturned following a successful judicial review; such a review was being considered for a second. Even where referrals were made to the NRM that resulted in a positive decision and non-prosecution, the victims spent on average four months in custody. For the other 37 there was no formal recognition of their victim status and no access to appropriate support or temporary protection from deportation other than going down the route of applying for asylum. Of equal significance is the fact that, to date, in only one of the cases did victim disclosures result in a full police investigation in relation to the actions of the perpetrators.A key question of this research is therefore why so few of those whose disclosures at interview with the researchers, which exemplified all the key indicators of being a victim of trafficking, had not been identified as such within the criminal justice system. Similarly we looked at why those arrested on offences committed under duress, in ignorance or resultant on the action of those who had controlled them were held entirely responsible for their actions. Details: Cambridge, UK: Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge,, 2012. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 29, 2013 at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/people/academic_research/loraine_gelsthorpe/criminalreport29july12.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/people/academic_research/loraine_gelsthorpe/criminalreport29july12.pdf Shelf Number: 127432 Keywords: Female InmatesHuman TraffickingIllegal ImmigrantsImmigrationMigrant Women (U.K.)RapeSexual AssaultSexual Exploitation |
Author: Darehshori, Sara Title: Capitol Offense: Police Mishandling of Sexual Assault Cases in the District of Columbia Summary: Sexual assault is the most underreported serious crime in the United States. Victims fear authorities will not believe them and that reporting will only cause them more pain. This fear may be well-grounded. Police are often skeptical of victims and sometimes respond to reports of assaults in ways that are re-traumatizing. Based on extensive data analysis, documents from four government agencies, and more than 150 interviews, Capitol Offense examines the handling of sexual assault cases by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of the District of Columbia. The report provides strong evidence that between 2008 and September 2011 the MPD mishandled many complaints of sexual assault in D.C. In several cases, victims who reported sexual assaults to the police never had their case documented, or saw it languish when officers apparently determined without effective investigation that their claims were not credible. Human Rights Watch also documented inappropriate and harmful treatment of victims by MPD, such as questioning victims’ credibility; actively discouraging victims from reporting or providing forensic evidence; or asking victim-blaming questions. Not documenting or investigating reports of sexual assault denies justice to the victims, is a public safety issue, and misrepresents to the public the incidence of sexual assault in D.C. Victims who are not treated appropriately are less likely to cooperate with investigations, further reducing chances that perpetrators will be brought to justice. These problems do not appear to stem from official MPD policy, but rather from practices followed within the MPD that, during the period examined, were inconsistent with departmental policy and post-2008 reforms. Since learning of this report’s findings in May 2012, the MPD has adopted a number of our recommendations and made some policy changes. However, ensuring meaningful and sustained change requires more: it needs a commitment by leadership to change departmental practices, increase accountability and responsiveness, and extend external oversight of reforms to ensure transparency. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2013. 210p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2013 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0113ForUpload_0.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0113ForUpload_0.pdf Shelf Number: 127464 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice InvestigationsRapeSex OffendersSex OffensesSexual Assaults (Washington, DC)Sexual Violence |
Author: Mc Evoy, Claire Title: Battering, Rape, and Lethal Violence A Baseline of Information on Physical Threats against Women in Nairobi Summary: The starting point for this research is the knowledge that gender-based physical and sexual violence targeting women is commonplace in Kenya—and that few cases are reported to the police. Almost half (45 per cent) of Kenyan women aged 15–49 have experienced physical or sexual violence, including ‘forced sexual initiation’, according to the 2008–09 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), which surveyed 6,318 female respondents (KNBS and ICF Macro, 2010, p. 251). Reports of gender-based physical violence targeting women and girls ‘abound’ in the major national daily newspapers, on television, and on the radio (NCGD, 2010b, p. 2). A number of factors contribute to the widely tolerated levels of violence. These include the low status of women in society, patriarchal values and power structures focused on male dominance, discriminatory institutions and implementation of laws, the absence of a legal framework on intimate partner violence (IPV), and a criminal justice system that is largely inaccessible. Crucially, the low socio-economic status of most women—and the low status of poor people in general—perpetuates the status quo. Exacerbating matters, the violence meted out to women is rarely recognized; in a recent poll, for example, 72 per cent of respondents (240 in total, both male and female) from four districts in Kenya said that acts of gender-based physical violence—including rape, defilement, and battering—were not serious crimes (NCGD, 2010b, p. 30). A recent government report notes: ‘This finding on perception is significant in the sense that it brings out the fact that Kenya as a country tolerates a culture of violence against women, and that the country values and positions women much lower than men’. Most of the violence occurs within the domestic sphere, perpetrated by spouses or intimate partners as the women go about their daily routines (AI, 2009). It takes place as part of ‘normal’ life, as opposed to during conflict—although it peaks during times of political strife or tensions. During post-election violence in 2007–08 there was a spike of rapes targeting mostly poor women in their homes; the perpetrators were state security agents— from the Administration Police, Kenya Police, and General Service Unit — organized gangs, neighbours, relatives, and ‘friends’ (CIPEV, 2008, pp. 251–52). Police officers reportedly committed more than one-quarter (26 per cent) of the recorded rapes (HRW, 2011, p. 22). During this period, the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) at Nairobi Women’s Hospital saw 524 cases of rape and defilement, of which almost 60 per cent occurred in Nairobi6 and 89 per cent targeted women and girls (GVRC, 2008b, pp. 7–9, 15). Perpetrators— who attacked in gangs of up to 11—reportedly chanted support for political parties (p. 14). It is unclear whether they were ordered to do so in support of those parties. As of August 2012, no post-election sexual violence cases had been prosecuted in Nairobi. It is important to understand this violence against a backdrop of consistently high levels of violence targeting both men and women—a recognized risk factor for violence against women anywhere in the world. A study in The Lancet, for example, notes that the risk of IPV ‘is greatest in societies where the use of violence in many situations is a socially accepted norm’ (Jewkes, 2002, p. 1423). Cross-cultural studies suggest that IPV is much more frequent in societies where violence is ‘usual in conflict situations and political struggles’ (p. 1428). Kenya’s history is littered with the use of state-sanctioned violence, including widespread, systematic, and grave human rights abuses committed during colonial times and by Kenyan administrations since (Elkins, 2005; KHRC, 2011a, p. 8).10 Ordinary citizens also frequently resort to violence as a dispute resolution mechanism; inter-communal clashes and killings, forced evictions and displacements, mob lynchings, school arson by students, and inter-familial revenge killings and suicides are all regularly reported by the media. Electionrelated violence often occurs in the run-up to, during, and after voting. Physical abuse of children,12 under the guise of ‘disciplinary’ measures, is also commonly reported. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2013. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 13: Accessed February 4, 2013 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP13-VAW-Nairobi.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP13-VAW-Nairobi.pdf Shelf Number: 127468 Keywords: Battered Women (Kenya)Intimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Cohen, Dara Kay Title: Wartime Sexual Violence: Misconceptions, Implications, and Ways Forward Summary: Wartime rape is neither ubiquitous nor inevitable. The level of sexual violence differs significantly across countries, conflicts, and particularly armed groups. Some armed groups can and do prohibit sexual violence. Such variation suggests that policy interventions should also be focused on armed groups, and that commanders in effective control of their troops are legally liable for patterns of sexual violence they fail or refuse to prevent. Wartime rape is also not specific to certain types of conflicts or to geographic regions. It occurs in ethnic and non-ethnic wars, in Africa and elsewhere. State forces are more likely to be reported as perpetrators of sexual violence than rebels. States may also be more susceptible than rebels to naming and shaming campaigns around sexual violence. Perpetrators and victims may not be who we expect them to be. During many conflicts, those who perpetrate sexual violence are often not armed actors but civilians. Perpetrators also are not exclusively male, nor are victims exclusively female. Policymakers should not neglect nonstereotypical perpetrators and victims. Wartime rape need not be ordered to occur on a massive scale. Wartime rape is often not an intentional strategy of war: it is more frequently tolerated than ordered. Nonetheless, as noted, commanders in effective control of their troops are legally liable for sexual violence perpetrated by those troops. Much remains unknown about the patterns and causes of wartime sexual violence. In particular, existing data cannot determine conclusively whether wartime sexual violence on a global level is increasing, decreasing, or holding steady. Policymakers should instead focus on variation at lower levels of aggregation, and especially across armed groups. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2013. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 16, 2013 at: http://www.usip.org/files/resources/SR323.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.usip.org/files/resources/SR323.pdf Shelf Number: 127641 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against WomenWartime Sexual Violence |
Author: Anderson, Jessica Title: Evaluation of the ACT Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP): Final report Summary: In 2005 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) produced a report, Responding to sexual assault: The challenge of change (DPP & AFP 2005), which made 105 recommendations for reforming the way sexual offence cases are handled by the ACT’s criminal justice system. The Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP) is one key initiative developed in response to these recommendations. Managed by the ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS), SARP’s main objective is to improve aspects of the criminal justice system relating to: processes and support for victims of sexual offences as they progress through the system; attrition in sexual offence matters in the criminal justice system; and coordination and collaboration among the agencies involved. In November 2007 the ACT Attorney-General announced $4 million of funding for several SARP reforms. This funding provided for additional victim support staff; a dedicated additional police officer, prosecutor and legal policy officer; and an upgrade of equipment for the Supreme Court and Magistrates Court, including improvements in technology to assist witnesses in giving evidence, and the establishment of an off-site facility to allow witnesses to give evidence from a location outside of the court. In addition, the reform agenda included a number of legislative amendments that changed how evidence can be given by victims of sexual and family violence offences, children and other vulnerable witnesses. The primary objectives of these legislative changes are to provide an unintimidating, safe environment for vulnerable witnesses (including sexual offence complainants) to give evidence and to obtain prompt statements from witnesses to improve the quality of evidence captured (DPP 2009: 13). The funding for SARP reforms also provided for a preliminary evaluation of the reforms; this report outlines findings from the evaluation. The evaluation sought to address whether the program has met its key objectives: better support for victims, lower attrition rates and improved coordination and collaboration among agencies involved in administering SARP. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2012. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Technical and Background Paper Series no. 51: Accessed February 21, 2013 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tbp/41-60/tbp051.html Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tbp/41-60/tbp051.html Shelf Number: 127693 Keywords: RapeSex OffensesSexual Assault Reform Program (SARP)Sexual AssaultsSexual Violence (Australia) |
Author: Sinha, Maire, ed. Title: Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical trends Summary: For the past three decades, Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Ministers responsible for the Status of Women have shared a common vision to end violence against women in all its forms. Violence against women in Canada is a serious, pervasive problem that crosses every social boundary and affects communities across the country. It remains a significant barrier to women's equality and has devastating impacts on the lives of women, children, families and Canadian society as a whole. This report marks the third time that the FPT Status of Women Forum has worked with Statistics Canada to add to the body of evidence on gender-based violence. Assessing Violence Against Women: A Statistical Profile was released in 2002 and was followed by Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006. The 2006 report expanded the analysis into new areas, presenting information on Aboriginal women and women living in Canada's territories. The current report maintains this important focus and also includes information on dating violence, violence against girls and violence that occurs outside of the intimate partner/family context. It also shows trends over time and provides data at national, provincial/territorial, and census metropolitan area levels. A study on the economic impacts of one form of violence against women, spousal violence, is also presented. We acknowledge that there is more to learn to provide a complete picture of violence against women and girls. For example, there are new and emerging issues such as cyber-violence and areas where data gaps continue to exist, such as trafficking in persons, as well as an increasing emphasis on building evidence about promising prevention and intervention practices. Ongoing research and analysis will further our understanding of the complex, gendered dimensions of violence in all its forms and how women's experiences of violence intersect with other aspects of their lives. This report was designed to reach a wide audience. It is intended to support policy and program development and decision making for governments, non-governmental organizations, service providers, academics, researchers and all others working to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. We are confident that as this body of knowledge continues to advance, it will promote prevention efforts and enhance responses to women and girls who experience violence in our communities. Details: Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2013. 120p. Source: Internet Resource: Juristat Article: Accessed March 1, 2013 at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2013001/article/11766-eng.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2013001/article/11766-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 127741 Keywords: Dating ViolenceDomestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeViolence Against Women (Canada) |
Author: Planty, Michael Title: Female Victims of Sexual Violence, 1994-2010 Summary: From 1995 to 2010, the estimated annual rate of female rape or sexual assault victimizations declined 58%, from 5.0 victimizations per 1,000 females age 12 or older to 2.1 per 1,000. In 2005-10, females who were age 34 or younger, who lived in lower income households, and who lived in rural areas experienced some of the highest rates of sexual violence. In 2005-10, 78% of sexual violence involved an offender who was a family member, intimate partner, friend, or acquaintance. In 2005-10, the offender was armed with a gun, knife, or other weapon in 11% of rape or sexual assault victimizations. The percentage of rape or sexual assault victimizations reported to police increased to a high of 56% in 2003 before declining to 35% in 2010, a level last seen in 1995. The percentage of females who were injured during a rape or sexual assault and received some type of treatment for their injuries increased from 26% in 1994-98 to 35% in 2005-10. In 2005-10, about 80% of female rape or sexual assault victims treated for injuries received care in a hospital, doctor’s office, or emergency room, compared to 65% in 1994-98. In 2005-10, about 1 in 4 (23%) rape or sexual assault victims received help or advice from a victim service agency. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2013. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report: Accessed March 14, 2013 at: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf Shelf Number: 127939 Keywords: Crime StatisticsFemale Victims of CrimeRapeSexual AbuseSexual AssaultSexual Violence (U.S.) |
Author: McCleary-Sills, Jennifer Title: Help-Seeking Pathways and Barriers for Survivors of Gender-based Violence in Tanzania - Results from a Study in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, and Iringa Regions Summary: Over the last few decades, gender-based violence has gained international recognition as a grave social and human rights concern. In Tanzania, gender-based violence is widespread; the most recent Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey found that 44% of ever-married women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. ICRW and the University of Dar es Salaam's Department of Sociology and Anthropology, in partnership with EngenderHealth, conducted a qualitative study in three target regions of the country: Dar es Salaam, Iringa, and Mbeya. This report documents community perceptions and attitudes about gender-based violence, identifies the range of informal and formal services currently available to survivors, highlights gaps in service provision, and provides recommendations for improving existing services. The findings are based on 104 key informant interviews conducted with a wide array of stakeholders, service providers, and duty bearers at the national, district, and ward levels, as well as participatory focus group discussions with 96 male and female community members. The research and recommendations currently are informing the overall design of a multi-sectoral intervention to scale up the response to gender-based violence in Tanzania under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS (PEPFAR). Details: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: EngenderHealth/CHAMPION, 2013. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://reliefweb.int/report/united-republic-tanzania/help-seeking-pathways-and-barriers-survivors-gender-based-violence Year: 2013 Country: Tanzania URL: http://reliefweb.int/report/united-republic-tanzania/help-seeking-pathways-and-barriers-survivors-gender-based-violence Shelf Number: 128128 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceGender-Based Violence (Tanzania)RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Cook-Craig, Patricia Title: Youth Sexual Violence Prevention Summary: The risk of sexual violence begins early in life. Despite this, sexual violence prevention efforts have largely focused on college-age students. The need to reach younger populations fuels the momentum to adapt and design programs for sexual violence prevention work with youth. While more attention and research have been placed on college women as a group identified as at higher risk of sexual violence victimization, by the time youth enter high school they have already been exposed to a range of experiences related to both sexual activity and sexual violence. The most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), an annual nationwide schoolbased survey monitoring health risk behaviors by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d.), found that in 2011, nearly half of students in grades 9-12 reported that they had engaged in sexual intercourse, with 33.7 percent having reported sexual activity within the three months prior to the survey (CDC, 2012). Not all adolescent sexual experiences are positive or consensual. Strategies to prevent sexual violence among adolescents have tended to focus on programs that can be delivered in a high school setting and this article is focused on prevention of sexual violence among high school aged adolescents (ages 14-17). The paper will explore the rates and consequences of sexual violence victimization and perpetration among adolescents. We will highlight recent trends in violence prevention strategies to address adolescent sexual violence. Finally, the paper will outline major prevention strategies currently being employed using example programs to illustrate the types of responses used in practice settings. Details: Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, 2012. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 2, 2013 at: http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_YouthSVPrevention.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_YouthSVPrevention.pdf Shelf Number: 128195 Keywords: Adolescent Sexual ViolenceDating ViolenceRapeSexual Violence (U.S.) |
Author: West, Carolyn M. Title: Sexual Violence in the Lives of African American Women Summary: According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 13.6% (42 million) of the population self-identified as Black or African American1 (Rastogi, Johnson, Hoeffel, & Drewery, 2011). African Americans reported substantial rates of criminal victimization, including domestic violence, assault, and robbery (Truman & Planty, 2012). Furthermore, Black women’s sexual victimization has occurred in a unique sociohistorical context. Accordingly, in the first section we will provide a historical overview. Next, we will discuss the characteristics of Black rape survivors2 and the environment in which their assaults occurred. In addition, we will identify risk factors that elevate Black women’s vulnerability to rape and review the physical and mental health problems that are associated with their victimization. To conclude, we will offer culturally sensitive techniques that can be used by professionals and highlight the resilience of African American survivors. Details: Harrisburg, PA: National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, 2012. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 2, 2013 at: http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_SVAAWomenRevised.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_SVAAWomenRevised.pdf Shelf Number: 128196 Keywords: African American WomenMinority GroupsRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (U.S.) |
Author: Sonke Gender Justice Network Title: Gender Relations, Sexual Violence and the Effects of Conflict on Women and Men in North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Preliminary Results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) Summary: In June 2012, Sonke Gender Justice Network, Promundo-US and the Institute for Mental Health of Goma implemented the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)1. A total of 708 men and 754 women between the ages of 18-59 were interviewed in: (1) rural areas outside Goma; (2) Goma proper; (3) an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp; and (4) a military base near Goma (with officers, enlisted men and wives of military personnel). Qualitative research consisted of eight focus group discussions (four with men and four with women totaling 40 men and 51 women) and 24 in-depth individual interviews (10 with men, 14 with women, respectively). This report presents preliminary findings from the study. Details: Cape Town, South Africa: Sonke Gender Justice Network, 2013?. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 3, 2013 at: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/resources/reports.html?view=docman Year: 2013 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/resources/reports.html?view=docman Shelf Number: 128197 Keywords: RapeSex CrimesSexual Violence (South Africa)Violence Against Women |
Author: Levitt, Alison Title: Charging Perverting the Course of Justice and Wasting Police Time in Cases Involving Alledgedly False Rape and Domestic Violence Allegations Summary: The Crown Prosecution Service has come a long way in dealing with cases involving violence against women and girls (VAWG). In the last year (2011-12) we have seen the conviction rate rise to 73%, delivering the lowest attrition rates ever recorded. This report is the product of the first ever study, by the Crown Prosecution Service, of the number and nature of cases involving allegedly false allegations of rape or domestic violence, or both. This is in many ways a trailblazing report, the first time we have clear evidence about the prosecution of this important issue. The report outlines the key findings of that review and the steps that we plan to take in response. In recent years both the police and prosecutors have put a great deal of effort into improving the way we investigate and prosecute sexual offences. The results of the changes and improvements which have been made are encouraging. Our committed and specialist staff have prioritised performance in these important and difficult cases. We have bolstered training, policies and guidance for rape and domestic violence specialists. Closer working with the police and specialist services has helped to address the types of ingrained practices which can ignore, or even add to, the victimisation of women and girls. We are not complacent, however, and in particular, events over the last 12 months show that there is still more that we must do to improve. In recent years we have worked hard to dispel the damaging myths and stereotypes which are associated with these cases. One such misplaced belief is that false allegations of rape and domestic violence are rife. This report presents a more accurate picture. Details: London: Crown Prosecution Service, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/research/perverting_course_of_justice_march_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/research/perverting_course_of_justice_march_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 128332 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFalse Allegations (U.K.)ProsecutionRape |
Author: Fisher, Randy D. Title: Examining the Link Between Sexual Entertainment and Crime: The Presence of Adult Businesses and the Prediction of Crime Rates in Florida Summary: The Supreme Court of the United States has recently considered the constitutionality of anti-nudity legislation passed by municipalities and states. In City of Erie v. Pap's A.M., the Court held that municipalities may under certain circumstances pass anti-nudity ordinances on the assumption that nudity causes adverse secondary effects such as increased crime. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether rates of crime are associated with the rates of adult businesses in the 67 counties of Florida once other variables related to crime are controlled. Three kinds of crime were examined: UCR property crimes, UCR violent crimes, and rape. Rates per 100K people in the population were also computed for the numbers of nonsexual adult businesses: drinking establishments, gambling establishments, and hotels and motels in each county. These measures, along with measures of social disorganization and demographic variables, were examined for their relative ability to predict the three rates of crime. Regression analyses were performed to determine the unique contributions made by the control variables, rates of nude or semi-nude businesses, and rates of nonsexual adult businesses to prediction of the three rates of crime. Results revealed that rates of nude or semi-nude businesses were not significantly related to rates of property crimes or violent crimes. However, they were significantly, though inversely, related to rates of rape when other variables were taken into account. By contrast, rates of nonsexual adult businesses showed strong positive relationships with rates of both property crimes and rape. These results are consistent with previous research using different methodologies and they support the predictions of routine activity theory. However, they may cast doubt upon the validity of the doctrine of the adverse secondary effects of businesses offering nude or semi-nude entertainment. Details: Paper presented to the Law and Policy Division at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, 2004. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: http://www.adultentertainmentforum.com/pdf/Florida_County_rev_May_2.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.adultentertainmentforum.com/pdf/Florida_County_rev_May_2.pdf Shelf Number: 128435 Keywords: City of Erie v. Pap's A.M.Crime RatesEntertainment DistrictsRapeSex-oriented Businesses (Florida) |
Author: International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Title: Violence against Women in Syria: Breaking the Silence. Based on an FIDH assessment mission in Jordan in December 2012 Summary: In December 2012, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in collaboration with the Arab Women Organisation (AWO), sent an international fact-finding mission to meet with Syrian women who had fled the crisis to seek refuge in Jordan. The mission focussed on the impact of the ongoing conflict on women and sought to document specific forms of violence targeting women. The FIDH delegation visited three refugee camps, Al Zaatari, King Abdullah Park and Cyber City and held meetings with 80 refugees living outside “official” camps in Amman, Rusaifa, Dhleil and Sama Sarhan (Zarqa Governorate). It remains extremely difficult to measure the extent of crimes of sexual violence or to draw conclusions on patterns, in particular due to the stigma surrounding such crimes. However, all those interviewed reported having witnessed or heard about cases of sexual violence and said that the fear of being raped had motivated their decision to flee the country. Several of the women interviewed gave indirect accounts of rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by pro-government forces during house searches, following arrest at checkpoints and in detention. There were also accounts of such crimes having been committed by antigovernment armed groups. Many of those interviewed also spoke of the risk of women being abducted, by all parties to the conflict, in order to obtain information or as bargaining tools for the release of prisoners. According to several women and organisations providing support services, survivors of rape are sometimes forced into marriage, in order to “save family honour”. Risks of stigmatisation and rejection of survivors impose a culture of silence, preventing women reporting crimes of sexual violence. As a result, the vast majority of those in need of medical and psycho-social support do not have access to such services. FIDH presents at the end of this briefing paper a set of recommendations towards different stakeholders. Details: Paris: FIDH, 2012. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/syria_sexual_violence-web.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Syria URL: http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/syria_sexual_violence-web.pdf Shelf Number: 128613 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceViolence against Women (Syria) |
Author: Corman, Hope Title: Alcohol Consumption, Deterrence and Crime in New York City Summary: This paper investigates the relationship between alcohol consumption, deterrence, and crime for New York City. We examine high-frequency time-series data from 1983 to 2001 for one specific location to examine the impacts of variations in both alcohol consumption and deterrence on seven “index” crimes. We tackle the endogeneity of arrests and the police force by exploiting the temporal independence of crime and deterrence in these high-frequency data, and we address the endogeneity of alcohol by using instrumental variables where alcohol sales are instrumented with city and state alcohol taxes and minimum drinking age. We find that alcohol consumption is positively related to assault, rape, and larceny crimes but not murder, robbery, burglary, or motor vehicle theft. We find strong deterrence for all crimes except assault and rape. Generally, deterrence effects are stronger than alcohol effects. Details: New York: American Association of Wine Economists, Economics Dept, New York University, 2013. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: AAWE WORKING PAPER No. 135 Economics: Accessed May 20, 2013 at: http://www.wine-economics.org/aawe/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AAWE_WP135.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.wine-economics.org/aawe/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AAWE_WP135.pdf Shelf Number: 128752 Keywords: Alcohol Related Crime, Disorder (New York City, U.AssaultsDrunk and DisorderlyRape |
Author: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Title: Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women. A call to action based on an overview of existing evidence from Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America Summary: Even before the adoption of the declaration in 2007, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) had at its Fifth Session in 2006 recommended to United Nations organizations and States to provide comprehensive reports on violence against indigenous women and girls, particularly sexual violence and violence in settings of armed conflict. This study responds to that call. It finds that violence against these groups must be understood within the broader contexts of indigenous peoples’ historic and continuing marginalization and discrimination, violations of their collective and individual rights, displacement, extreme poverty and often-limited access to culturally appropriate basic services and justice – a finding that is consistent with the views of the UNPFII and the International Indigenous Women’s Forum. However, in all societies there are practices to keep, practices to change and practices to reconsider. While indigenous peoples continue to value and perpetuate their culture and way of life, we should not be exempt from this type of reflection. We hope this report will trigger change so that indigenous communities – women, men, girls and boys – can play their role in guaranteeing a life free from violence and discrimination for indigenous girls, adolescents and young women. As the study exposes gaps in research and data collection in regard to violence against these groups, it is the collective responsibility of States, indigenous The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples includes Article 22, which ensures that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination. At the time of negotiating this provision, the drafters knew that the contexts in which many indigenous women and girls live place them at risk of violence. Foreword Grand Chief Edward John, Chairperson United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Otilia Lux de Coti Executive Director, International Indigenous Women’s Forum peoples, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies, funds, programmes and special mandate holders to further examine and assess their real experiences in order to effectively focus interventions and strengthen protective factors that work to prevent and reduce the likelihood of violence. To truly realize the rights of indigenous girls, adolescents and young women, there must be a positive and cooperative environment for their promotion and protection. It is our hope that this study will catalyse action so that together we will not only declare that violence is unacceptable but also make its prevention and elimination a living reality. Details: New York: UNICEF, 2013. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 30, 2013 at: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/documents/Breaking_the_Silence_on_Violence_against_Indigenous_Girls_Adolescents_and_Young_Women_Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/documents/Breaking_the_Silence_on_Violence_against_Indigenous_Girls_Adolescents_and_Young_Women_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 128883 Keywords: Indigenous PeoplesRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women (Africa, Asia, Latin Americ |
Author: Dickson, Sandra Title: Preventing Sexual Violence: A Stocktake of Tauiwi & Bicultural Primary Prevention Activities 2013 Summary: In 2011 with funding from the Ministry of Justice, Te Ohaakii a Hine – National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together (TOAH-NNEST) established two parallel primary prevention projects, for Ngā Kaitiaki Mauri and Tauiwi Caucus. One key outcome area for Tauiwi Caucus was completing a national stocktake of community groups and state sector agencies delivering or participating in any kind of primary prevention of sexual violence in Tauiwi and Bicultural communities.5 The field of “primary prevention” is relatively young, with specific funding in New Zealand in place for just four years from the Ministry of Justice, though it builds on decades of prevention knowledge held predominantly by the specialist sexual violence sector. This national stocktake was completed in 2012 by Tauiwi Caucus. The stocktake survey defined primary prevention of sexual violence as: “Activities that seek to prevent sexual violence before it occurs by educating people about the issue of sexual violence and by promoting safe and respectful environments, behaviours and social norms.” This report from the Tauiwi Caucus of TOAH-NNEST summarises data gained from the stocktake survey, begun by 52 respondents. Forty-four respondents answered a majority of questions. The analysis in the report reflects only these 44 “active” responses. Details: West Auckland, NZ:WAVES, 2013. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: www.waves.org.nz Year: 2013 Country: New Zealand URL: Shelf Number: 0 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (New Zealand)Violence Prevention |
Author: Farris, Coreen Title: Physical and Psychological Health Following Military Sexual Assault: Recommendations for Care, Research, and Policy Summary: Awareness of military sexual assault — sexual assault of a servicemember — has been increasing within the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD is striving to improve this situation, but unique conditions of life in the military may make response to these events more difficult than within the civilian sector. This paper reviews the prevalence of sexual assault among servicemembers, victim responses in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault, barriers to disclosure, victim needs, and DoD efforts to provide necessary resources to victims. The authors review civilian guidelines for the care of physical injuries, response to STI/HIV and pregnancy risk, forensic services, advocacy and support services, and formal mental health care. They then review DoD directives, forms, and guidelines for sexual assault victim care, revealing that these generally are consistent with civilian guidelines. However, little is known about the fidelity with which these DoD recommendations are implemented. The authors close with recommendations for future research to support the DoD's commitment to a culture free of sexual assault, including a comprehensive, longitudinal epidemiological study of military sexual assault, a needs assessment of disclosed and undisclosed military victims, an evaluation of the training enterprise, and an evaluation to document the extent to which DoD directives requiring immediate, evidence-based care for military victims are being implemented with fidelity. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2013. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper: Accessed July 19, 2013 at: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/OP300/OP382/RAND_OP382.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/OP300/OP382/RAND_OP382.pdf Shelf Number: 129462 Keywords: MilitaryPsychological TraumaRapeSexual Assault (U.S.)Sexual Violence |
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 AbuseDomestic ViolencePolice Misconduct (U.S.)RapeSex CrimesViolence Against Women |
Author: Security Council Report Title: Women, Peace and Security: Sexual Violence in Conflict and Sanctions Summary: Security Council Report’s third Cross-Cutting Report on Women, Peace and Security analyses statistical information on women, peace and security in country-specific decisions of the Security Council and developments in 2012, with a particular focus in the case study on the nexus between sexual violence in conflict and sanctions imposed by the Security Council. The report also examines the Council’s inconsistency in including language on the UN’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse for UN personnel in resolutions establishing or renewing mandates for peace missions. The report will also briefly touch on key developments on the women, peace and security agenda in early 2013. Since our first Cross-Cutting Report on Women, Peace and Security in 2010, there has been significant growth in the UN system’s focus on this thematic issue. The first Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict was appointed in February 2010, and in January 2011 a system-wide entity on women’s equality and empowerment, UN Women, was established. Both the head of UN Women and the Special Representative have briefed the Security Council regularly since taking up their respective positions. Three years since the start of these institutional processes, it seems appropriate to examine how the establishment of these offices at UN headquarters, the continued deployment of gender expertise in the field as well as gender expertise supplementing the work of various sanctions committees’ experts groups have complemented the Security Council’s own approach to the women, peace and security agenda. This report will assess whether a more robust women, peace and security infrastructure has improved the flow of information to the Security Council and, if so, whether such improvement, in turn, has translated into an enhanced focus on these matters in Council decision-making, and in particular, in the work of its sanctions committees. Specifically, this report examines the Council’s follow-through on its own intention expressed in resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1960 (2010) to consider including designation criteria for the imposition of sanctions pertaining to acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence. To examine the nexus between sexual violence and activity by the Security Council and its sanctions committees, this report reviews the mandates of relevant sanctions regimes, the application of sanctions and relevant listing and designation criteria and reporting by associated expert groups on sexual and gender-based violence. The report will consider the sanctions regimes imposed on Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Somalia and Sudan as examples of the Security Council’s approach to women, peace and security issues—in particular whether such tools have been used to enhance accountability for sexual violence in armed conflict. In addressing the issue of accountability for perpetrators of sexual violence, the case study will also briefly touch on parallel international justice mechanisms where they exist. The past two years have been a time of particular division in the Council, with significant push-back by several permanent and elected Council members on the key thematic issues including on women, peace and security, children and armed conflict and protection of civilians. There has been repeated criticism by some Council members that the reporting on women, peace and security, particularly on sexual violence, has gone beyond its mandate by including countries that are not on the Security Council’s agenda. However, the overarching observation of this study is that this push-back has largely played itself out in difficult and protracted negotiations at the thematic level but has not negatively impacted the integrity of the Council’s women, peace and security normative framework. Interestingly, despite this controversy at the thematic level, the women, peace and security agenda continued to be substantively applied in the Council’s country-specific resolutions, the Council expanded its work at the committee-level when considering sexual violence or rape as designation criteria in various sanctions regimes and there has been regular interaction between the Council and UN Women and the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Council’s interaction with the Special Representative has been especially notable at both the Council level—insofar as she has briefed not only on her broader mandate but also on several country-specific situations—and her office’s interactions with several expert groups of the Council’s sanctions committees. However, the study did reveal one area of concern regarding the Council’s inclusion of the UN’s zero-tolerance policy in its relevant resolutions. In a review of the resolutions in effect in 2012 for 12 peacekeeping operations and seven political and peacebuilding missions, only eight had mandates that included a reference to the zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse for UN personnel. In practice, the Council has not been involved in the matter and the issue has been left to the discretion of the Secretariat and troop-contributing countries. Details: New York: Security Council Report, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/cross_cutting_report_2_women_peace_security_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/cross_cutting_report_2_women_peace_security_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 129516 Keywords: Conflict-Related Sexual ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: U.S. Department of Defense. Inspector General Title: Evaluation of the Military Criminal Investigative Organizations Sexual Assault Investigations Summary: What We Did - We evaluated the Military Criminal Investigative Organizations’ (MCIOs’) sexual assault investigation training to determine whether it adequately supports the Department. Our evaluation focused on the following questions: • What sexual assault investigation training do the MCIOs provide? • How do the MCIOs ensure that sexual assault investigation training is effective? • How do the MCIOs leverage their resources and expertise? What We Found - Each MCIO provides initial baseline, periodic refresher, and advanced sexual assault investigation training to assigned criminal investigative personnel who may conduct sexual assault investigations. Between MCIOs, the training hours devoted to initial baseline training tasks varied. Further, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) initial baseline training materials did not cover four required essential training subtasks. All MCIO training academies measure the effectiveness of initial and advanced training courses, and they use the results to adjust training content to increase effectiveness. Conversely, the MCIOs do not measure the effectiveness of periodic refresher training. CID has attempted to consolidate MCIO advanced sexual assault investigation training. CID and NCIS share highly qualified and subject matter experts (HQE and SME) to assist with training course development and delivery. Also, CID assisted NCIS by instructing at their advanced sexual assault investigation training course. What We Recommend • The Director, NCIS, ensure lesson materials for initial sexual assault investigation training covers all essential training tasks. • The Director and Commanders of the MCIOs form a working group to review (1) initial baseline sexual assault investigation training programs to establish common criteria and minimum requirements, (2) periodic refresher sexual assault investigation training programs to establish common criteria and minimum requirements for measuring effectiveness, and (3) advanced sexual assault investigation training programs to further capitalize on efforts to leverage training resources and expertise. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Defense. Inspector General, 2013. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Report No. DODIG-2013-043; Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/documents/DODIG-2013-043.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/documents/DODIG-2013-043.pdf Shelf Number: 129520 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationsMilitaryRapeSexual Assaults (U.S.)Sexual Violence |
Author: Torreon, Barbara Salazar Title: Military Sexual Assault: Chronology of Activity in Congress and Related Resources Summary: This report focuses on activity in Congress regarding recent high profile incidents of sexual assault in the military. Included are separate sections on the official responses related to these incidents by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Administration, and Congress including legislation in the 113th Congress. The last section is a resource guide for sources in this report and related materials on sexual assault and prevention. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2013. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: R43168: Accessed August 6, 2013 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R43168.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R43168.pdf Shelf Number: 129555 Keywords: MilitaryRapeSexual AbuseSexual Assault (U.S.) |
Author: Finkelhor, David: Jones, Lisa Title: Have Sexual Abuse and Physical Abuse Declined Since the 1990s? Summary: This bulletin summarizes statistics on trends for sexual and physical abuse. A decline in sexual abuse since the early 1990s is a conclusion supported by 3 independent sources of agency data and 4 separate large victim surveys. The trend for physical abuse is less clear, since several of the data sources show conflicting patterns. Details: Durham, NH: Crimes against Chidlren Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 2012. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2013 at: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV267_Have%20SA%20%20PA%20Decline_FACT%20SHEET_11-7-12.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV267_Have%20SA%20%20PA%20Decline_FACT%20SHEET_11-7-12.pdf Shelf Number: 129637 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectCrime StatisticsRapeSexual Abuse (U.S.) |
Author: Victoria (Australia). Department of Justice Title: Review of Sexual Offences: Consultation Paper Summary: Many of Victoria's sexual offence laws are complex, inconsistent and unclear. Nowhere is this problem worse than with the offence of rape. These problems make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a judge to explain the law to a jury in a clear and intelligible manner and for the jury to understand and apply the law to the facts in the case. These problems have resulted in numerous appeals, convictions being set aside and retrials being ordered, most notably in Worsnop v The Queen (2010) 28 VR 187 and Getachew v The Queen [2011] VSCA 164. There have been many calls for significant reform of Victoria's rape laws since these decisions. These calls have emanated from the judiciary, lawyers, academics, victim/survivor support groups and the media. The Attorney-General has publicly committed to reforming sexual offence laws and jury directions in order to address the current complexity, inconsistency and uncertainty. Victoria's sexual offence laws are also failing to respond adequately to the problem of persistent sexual abuse of a child. The current approach does not work effectively for child victims/survivors who, because of the repeated and systematic nature of the offending against them, are unable to distinguish between the different instances of abuse. A fresh approach to this problem is needed. While rape laws have been frequently amended in the last 20 years, other sexual offences have not received the same attention. As a consequence, some have become outdated, inconsistent and unclear in their scope, structure and terminology. Other offences fail to recognise that sexual offences can be committed in new ways through advances in technology. This review examines rape and other sexual offences in the Crimes Act 1958, focussing not only on policy issues, but also on the structure and components of each offence. This practical focus is essential for effective reform. Our aim is to make sexual offences as clear, simple, consistent and effective as possible. Simpler and clearer offences will assist judges to direct juries, and juries to understand and apply the law. This will help to reduce successful appeals against conviction for a sexual offence. A better functioning criminal justice system will help to improve the experience of victims/survivors who report a sexual offence to the police. The County Court is Victoria's principal trial court. Almost 50% of all trials that go to verdict in the County Court are sexual offence trials. In 2002/03 only 36% of all trials were sexual offence trials. Over the last 10 years there has been an 81% increase in the number of sexual offence trials. This reflects an increase in the proportion of sexual offence cases as well as an increase in the overall number of trials conducted. Better laws will deliver substantive justice in individual cases and, in combination with other proposed reforms to jury directions, will assist in reducing delay. This paper contains 49 proposals for, and 10 questions about, reform of Victoria's most important sexual offences and procedure. The paper also contains a number of options and questions about possible reforms. The Department of Justice seeks feedback on each of the proposals, options and questions in this paper in order to provide advice to the government on how best to reform sexual offences. Details: Melbourne: Victoria Department of Justice, Criminal Law Review, 2013. 225p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2013 at: https://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/justice/resources/2b77afcd-3c35-4a89-913a-54ced67529c3/reviewofsexualoffencesconsultationpaper2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Australia URL: https://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/justice/resources/2b77afcd-3c35-4a89-913a-54ced67529c3/reviewofsexualoffencesconsultationpaper2013.pdf Shelf Number: 131509 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseRapeSex OffendersSex Offenses (Australia |
Author: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Title: Sexual Assault in the Military Summary: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights chose to focus on sexual assault in the U.S. military for its annual 2013 Statutory Enforcement Report. This report examines how the Department of Defense and its Armed Services - the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force (the Services) - respond to Service members who report having been sexually assaulted ("victims") and how it investigates and disciplines Service members accused of perpetrating sexual assault ("perpetrators"). This report also reviews how the military educates Service members and trains military criminal investigators and military lawyers about sexual assault offenses. The topic is both relevant and timely, as Congress is currently considering ways to address this issue. The Commission has authority to examine questions related to sexual assault in the military because the issues involve both sex discrimination and the denial of equal protection in the administration of justice. The issue of sex discrimination involves female Service members, who represent 14 percent of the military population, but are disproportionately likely to be victims at a rate five times that of their male counterparts. The questions related to a possible denial of equal protection in the administration of justice led the Commission to examine cases in which sexual assault victims, as well as Service members accused of sexual assault, claim unfair treatment in the military justice system. Through this report, the Commission sheds light on the scope, response, investigation, and discipline of sexual assault in the U.S. military. The Commission held a briefing on January 11, 2013 to hear the testimony of military officials, scholars, advocacy groups, and practitioners on the topic of sexual assault in the military. In response to written questions from the Commission, the Department of Defense and its Armed Services provided documents and other materials, including data on investigated sexual assault allegations, which the Commission analyzed. The results of these efforts are memorialized in this report. The report reveals that the Department of Defense may benefit from greater data collection to better understand trends in sexual assault cases and to implement improvements in future initiatives. Although the Department of Defense has already implemented policies to reduce sexual and sexist material from the military workplace in an effort to reduce sexual harassment, the effects of such recent efforts have yet to be measured. The Department of Defense also has a plan to standardize sexual assault response and prevention training across the Services to promote best practices. There will be a need to track the success of such policies over time. Greater commander accountability for leadership failures to implement such policies, especially in cases where victims claim sexual assault at the hands of superiors within the chain of command, should also be considered. Without increased data collection, however, it is difficult to measure the effects of any new changes the military chooses to implement. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Commission Civil Rights, 2013. 238p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 11, 2013 at: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/09242013_Statutory_Enforcement_Report_Sexual_Assault_in_the_Military.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/09242013_Statutory_Enforcement_Report_Sexual_Assault_in_the_Military.pdf Shelf Number: 131639 Keywords: MilitaryMilitary Justice SystemRapeSex Crimes (U.S)Sex DiscriminationSexual AssaultSexual harassmentVictims of Sexual Assaults |
Author: Campbell, Rebecca Title: Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Implementation and Collaborative Process: What Works Best for the Criminal Justice System Summary: Historically, community services for sexual assault victims have been uncoordinated and inadequate (Martin, 2005). Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) were created to coordinate efforts of the legal, medical, and mental health systems, and rape crisis centers, in order to improve victims' help-seeking experiences and legal outcomes. SARTs are espoused as best practice and have been adopted widely across the U.S. (DOJ, 2013; Ledray, 2001). Descriptive research (using convenience sampling) suggests that how SARTs are structured varies from community to community (Zajac, 2006). However, studies have not yet examined how differences in SARTs' structure relate to their effectiveness (Greeson & Campbell, 2013). To address this gap, Study 1 sought to (1) use random sampling methods to identify a nationally representative sample of 172 SARTs; (2) understand the structure and functioning of U.S. SARTs; (3) identify patterns of SART implementation; and (4) examine how these patterns relate to SARTs' perceived effectiveness at improving victim and legal outcomes. Consistent with prior studies of domestic violence coordinating councils, this study examined SART members' perceptions of their SARTs' effectiveness. Specific features of SARTs' structure that were examined included: membership breadth (the number of different stakeholder groups that participated in the collaboration) and implementation (their formalization and use of recommended collaborative activities). Findings confirmed that U.S. SARTs vary in their structure. Using cluster analysis, three types of SARTs were identified. SARTs in the "Low Adopters" cluster (38% of the sample) utilized fewer formal structures, were less likely to institutionalize multidisciplinary trainings and policy/protocol review into their collaboration, and did not engage in program evaluation. The "High Adopters except Evaluation" cluster SARTs (47%) used more formal structures and had greater institutionalization of multidisciplinary trainings and policy/protocol review; however, none of them engaged in program evaluation. The "High Adopters plus Evaluation" cluster (16%) also used more formal structures and had greater institutionalization of multidisciplinary trainings and policy/protocol review, and in addition, engaged in program evaluation. These clusters, and other features of the SARTs and their communities, were examined as predictors of SARTs' perceived effectiveness. The "High Adopters plus Program Evaluation" cluster was perceived as more effective than the "Low Adopters" cluster on all four effectiveness measures. SARTs in the "High Adopters plus Program Evaluation" group perceive themselves as more effective on one of the four domain of effectiveness than SARTs in the "High Adopters except Evaluation" cluster. In addition, active membership from a greater number of sexual assault stakeholder groups was associated with higher perceived effectiveness on all three forms of legal effectiveness. These findings suggest that formalization, regular collaborative processes, and broad active membership from diverse stakeholder groups are key components of successful SARTs. SARTs in the Study 1 "High Adopters plus Evaluation" cluster--the most effective cluster--were then selected to participate in a study of model SARTs. Specifically, in Study 2, we used social network analysis to examine the structure of inter-organizational relationships within model SARTs. Within each SART, all organizations were asked about their relationships with all other organizations that participated in their team (specifically, frequency of communication, the extent to which they felt that other organizations valued their role, and the extent to which they felt that other organizations were a resource to their own organization's work). Findings are based on the three SARTs that fully participated. Results revealed a high degree of connection between organizations both within and across sectors (criminal justice vs. not) in model SARTs. However, findings also revealed occasional stratification of relationships within SARTs. Finally, there was evidence that inter-organizational relationships tended to be mutual, and the three types of relationships were positively correlated with one another. Details: East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2013. 226p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 27, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/243829.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/243829.pdf Shelf Number: 131810 Keywords: CollaborationInteragency CooperationRapeSexual AssaultSexual Assault Response TeamsVictim Services |
Author: Rape Crisis Network Ireland Title: The Older Child and Sexual Violence Summary: One in five girls and one in six boys (aged 0-17) experience contact sexual abuse. There is increasing evidence that children from 13 to 17 years of age experience sexual violence in a way that is significantly different to the younger child in terms of nature, context, relationship to abuser and duration of abuse. This was most recently evidenced in the RCNI's Hearing Child Survivors of Sexual Violence report, (Oct., 2013), regarding children attending specialist sexual violence services in Ireland. This report found that the under 13 child was most likely to experience sexual assault in their own home or the abusers, by a male family member over a period of years. However, the child between 13 and 18 years old was most likely to experience rape, by a friend, acquaintance or neighbour, with the violence lasting for hours and taking place in outdoor or location other than the home. These stark differences demand differences in responses and prevention. With statutory responsibility for children dispersed across a wide range of statutory agencies it has become critical to ask if we are confident that the specific needs of the older child are being fully understood and met. This question is not confined to the Irish context a set of recommendations at European level have been developed by stakeholders, including the RCNI, and are included in the recent Youth Sexual Aggression and Victimisation Report of 2013. When we live in a culture highly sensitised to protecting our children from the less-common 'stranger danger' and the older predator, it can leave the child being threatened and abused in other ways, for example, by a peer, isolated and vulnerable. Ireland is gaining a new understanding of these different experiences of sexual victimisation dependent on age and gender of the child. In general, it can be said, Irish child protection infrastructure is a response to the needs of the younger child. It therefore struggles to respond to the different nature and context of abuse of the teenage child. It is imperative to undertake a comprehensive review of Irish child protection infrastructure and services with regards to the older child. Three critical questions to stimulate discussion and engagement are: 1. How well informed are we about the older child's social realities? 2. Is our child protection infrastructure sufficiently joined up to ensure an appropriate response to teenagers who may experience abuse that more commonly reflects adult experiences than the younger child? 3. Does Ireland's child protection response need a specific 13 to 18 year old focused response? Details: Galway: Rape Crisis Network Ireland, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2014 at: http://www.rcni.ie/wp-content/uploads/Older-Child-Policy-Document-FINAL.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Ireland URL: http://www.rcni.ie/wp-content/uploads/Older-Child-Policy-Document-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132004 Keywords: Child ProtectionChild Sexual AbuseRapeTeenagers |
Author: White House Council on Women and Girls Title: Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action Summary: This report analyzes the most recent, reliable data about rape and sexual assault in our country. It identifies those most at risk of being victims of these crimes, examines the cost of this violence (both to survivors and our communities), and describes the response, too often inadequate, of the criminal justice system. The report catalogues steps this Administration has taken to combat rape and sexual assault, and identifies areas for further action. An overview of the problem: - Women and girls are the vast majority of victims: nearly 1 in 5 women - or nearly 22 million - have been raped in their lifetimes. - Men and boys, however, are also at risk: 1 in 71 men - or almost 1.6 million - have been raped during their lives. - Women of all races are targeted, but some are more vulnerable than others: 33.5% of multiracial women have been raped, as have 27% of American Indian and Alaska Native women, compared to 15% of Hispanic, 22% of Black, and 19% of White women. - Most victims know their assailants. - The vast majority (nearly 98%) of perpetrators are male. - Young people are especially at risk: nearly half of female survivors were raped before they were 18, and over one-quarter of male survivors were raped before they were 10. College students are particularly vulnerable: 1 in 5 women has been sexually assaulted while in college. - Repeat victimization is common: over a third of women who were raped as minors were also raped as adults. Other populations are also at higher risk of being raped or sexually assaulted, including people with disabilities, the LGBT community, prison inmates (of both genders), and the homeless. Undocumented immigrants face unique challenges, because their abusers often threaten to have them deported if they try to get help. Details: Washington, DC: The White House, 2014. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: October 5, 2017 at: https://www.knowyourix.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://iaclea.org/visitors/about/documents/WhiteHouseCouncil_sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf Shelf Number: 132046 Keywords: RapeRepeat VictimizationSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Woodley, Alex Title: Breaking the Silence but Keeping Secrets: What Young People Want to Address Sexual Violence Summary: Teen sexual assault and abuse in New Zealand is a significant problem, with nearly one in five New Zealand teens reporting unwanted sexual touching or being made to do sexual things that they did not want to. Statistically, young people aged 15-24 years are at the highest risk of sexual assault in any age group. HELP (Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation) is a specialist organisation that has been providing sexual abuse support services since 1982. It works with women and children in the Auckland area suffering from the effects of sexual abuse, helping them to regain their lives. Tu Wahine Trust is a Kaupapa Maori organisation providing services to Maori sexual abuse survivors, whanau and families. The research has been commissioned by HELP and the Tu Wahine Trust and is funded by the Lotteries Commission. This report, which is part of an overall research project which aims to identify the needs of young people affected by sexual abuse or assault, aims to investigate the psycho-social service needs of young people who have experienced sexual abuse in order to support improvements to services for sexual abuse victims/survivors. Cultural considerations were particularly important in this project. HELP and Tu Wahine partnered on the research approach, design, and methodology of this project. Whilst HELP focused on identifying the pyscho-social service needs of tauiwi (non-Maori) young people, Tu Wahine focused on the needs of rangatahi Maori (Maori young people). The sister organisations then worked together on the parts of the research process that sought the views of rangatahi Maori who had accessed, or might potentially access, mainstream services. The data collection for this report was undertaken in 2012, and comprised: - A literature review - Interviews with refugee and new migrant stakeholders (including GPs, practice nurses, health workers and youth workers) - Twenty-six focus groups, hui and fono with young people, in which 222 young people participated - Three stakeholder hui (organised by Tu Wahine). - Interviews with 16 service providers and stakeholders Details: Auckland, NZ: Tu Wahine Trust and HELP (Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation, 2013. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2014 at: http://helpauckland.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Breaking-The-Silence-FINAL-FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: New Zealand URL: http://helpauckland.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Breaking-The-Silence-FINAL-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132162 Keywords: AboriginalsChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual AssaultRapeSexual ViolenceVictim Services |
Author: Coy, Maddy Title: "Sex without consent, I suppose that is rape": How young people in England understand sexual consent Summary: This research into young people's understanding of consent to sex was conducted by the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University for the Office of the Children's Commissioner, as part of its national Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG). How young people make sense of sexual consent emerged as a key issue of concern during the first year of the CSEGG Inquiry (Berelowitz et al, 2012). The aim of this study was to explore young people's perceptions of consent, and what informs, influences and constrains their understandings and decision-making processes. Details: London: Office of the Children's Commissioner, 2013. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2014 at: http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_744 Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_744 Shelf Number: 131978 Keywords: RapeSexual AbuseSexual Exploitation |
Author: Bluett-Boyd, Nicole Title: Victim/Survivor-Focused Justice Responses and Reform to Criminal Court Procedure: Implementation, Current Practice and Future Directions Summary: Many of the key narratives of sexual assault that have informed approaches to law reform highlight the unique disadvantage that victim/survivors face within the criminal justice process. Primarily, these concepts - including definitions of the "real" rape standard and the existence of an "ideal" "victim/survivor" draw on problematic, gendered social constructs and requirements that are rarely met by the reality of sexual assault. When projected onto trial settings, these constructs are often exploited through the practices of legal actors and the flexibility of current legislation. This ensures that the process of a criminal trial, and of providing testimony in particular, is traumatising for victim/survivors of sexual assault. The past three decades have seen reform at numerous levels to address these issues, both within and outside of the criminal justice process. While reforms are variable across jurisdictions, key changes include: - the expansion of counsellor/advocate services; - increased specialisation of police and prosecutions; - legislative amendments to the types of evidence that can be introduced at trial; - alternative provisions for giving evidence at trial; and - changes to the instructions given by the judiciary to the jury, including efforts to contextualise sexual assault. Many of these reforms are based on an understanding of the needs of victim/survivors within the criminal justice process. Until relatively recently these needs have conceptually been aligned with those of the justice system; with a focus on increasing convictions and ensuring punitive measures are taken. Recent reforms, including those identified above, appear to reflect an expanded definition of "justice needs", recognising that the criminal justice process intersects with therapeutic and social forms of redress. Details: Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2014. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. 27: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport27/rr27.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport27/rr27.pdf Shelf Number: 132184 Keywords: Criminal CourtsRapeSex OffendersSex OffensesSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictim ServicesVictims of Crime |
Author: Stathopoulos, Mary Title: Sexual Revictimisation: Individual, interpersonal and contextual factors Summary: There is a complex array of variables related to sexual revictimisation. Although prevalence is difficult to ascertain, several studies relate that people who have been sexually abused as children are two to three times more likely to be sexually revictimised in adolescence and/or adulthood. Much of the literature on sexual revictimisation focuses on the individual risk factors for the victim/survivor - their risk perception and emotional dysregulation resulting from initial sexual victimization - and how these create vulnerability for sexual revictimisation. Broader contextual factors beyond the victim/survivor, however, are often ignored. These contextual factors are explored here with a particular emphasis on minority groups, such as people with a disability; gay, lesbian and bisexual people; and Indigenous people. This focus demonstrates that individual risk factors often do not account for how perpetrators may target vulnerable people who have previously been victimised, how community and organizational attitudes and norms may support sexual revictimisation, and how broader social norms create vulnerability for certain groups. A focus on these broader contextual factors helps to inform prevention strategies. Details: Melbourne: Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 2014. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Summary: Accessed May 14, 2014 at: http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/acssa_sexualrevictimisationindividualinterpersonalandcontextualfactors_may_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/acssa_sexualrevictimisationindividualinterpersonalandcontextualfactors_may_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 132347 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseIntimate Partner ViolenceMinority GroupsRapeRepeat Victimization (Australia)Sexual AbuseSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Caruso, Raul Title: What is the Relationship Between Unemployment and Rape? Evidence from a Panel of European Regions Summary: This paper analyzes the relationship between unemployment and rape in a panel of European regions. In particular, this paper is intended to test whether an 'opportunity perspective' holds for rape. The 'opportunity perspective' interprets the level of unemployment as an indicator of 'social inactivity', so that a negative relationship between violent crime and unemployment is predicted. Results show that rape and unemployment are positively associated so not confirming the opportunity perspective. Results are robust using alternative dependent variables, namely (i) the count of rape; (ii) the rape rate per 100,000 people. Details: Munich: Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), 2014. Source: Internet Resource: MPRA Paper No. 54725: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/59041/9/MPRA_paper_59041.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: Shelf Number: 132525 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultUnemployment and CrimeViolence Against WomenViolent Crime |
Author: Freccero, Julie Title: Safe Haven: Sheltering Displaced Persons from Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. Case Study: Thailand Summary: With one of the longest-running civil wars in history, Burma has been plagued by internal conflict between a military-backed government and many ethnic minority insurgent groups for over six decades. Widespread human rights abuses, the confiscation of land, the destruction of villages, and livelihood vulnerability have forcibly displaced millions of people in Eastern Burma, primarily ethnic minorities. Many flee to neighboring Thailand, where an estimated 142,000 Burmese refugees reside in camps along the border and over two million Burmese migrants live throughout Thailand as a whole. Without access to official refugee status in Thailand, Burmese asylum seekers are allowed to temporarily reside in one of the nine camps along the Thailand-Burma border. If they leave the camps without proper documentation, however, they are generally regarded as illegal migrants and are subject to arrest, detention, and deportation by Thai authorities. In the refugee camps, it is believed that insufficient resources, protracted confinement, and high rates of alcohol use contribute, to a high incidence of domestic violence. Service providers have also documented rape, sexual exploitation, and trafficking as significant problems. Outside the camps, local women's groups have identified domestic violence, rape, and trafficking as significant problems in migrant communities. Reporting of this violence is rare, however, as it exposes undocumented migrants to arrest and deportation. Additionally, limited economic opportunity and the undocumented or temporary legal status of migrants leave many vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse by employers, Thai authorities, and others in their communities. In an era of increased attention to conflict-related violence, we are now beginning to understand the continuum of sexual and gender-based harm that men, women, and children can suffer during armed conflict, in flight, and while temporarily resettled in refugee or internal displacement camps. Violence such as rape, gang rape, sexual torture, and sexual slavery can occur during periods of armed conflict, perpetrated by different actors for different reasons. Those fleeing a conflict may still be susceptible to rape, sexual exploitation, or trafficking while attempting to secure transport, cross borders, and find lodging. Finally, even after flight - whether to refugee or internal displacement camps or within urban centers - vulnerability to harm persists, perhaps due to a lack of protective networks, immigration status, or basic resources. In fact, displacement is believed to increase vulnerability through new and exacerbating conditions, such as the breakdown of family and community ties, collapsed gender roles, limited access to resources, insufficient security, and inadequate housing in camp settings. When refugees or internally displaced persons experience sexual and gender-based violence, their needs can be particularly urgent and complex. Survivors may experience compounded levels of physical or psychological distress resulting from individual and collective harms suffered. Unfortunately, multisectoral service options are often scarce in forced displacement settings. It is important to better understand the options for immediate physical shelter that exist in these contexts. In addition to providing immediate physical protection, programs that provide shelter to displaced persons fleeing sexual and gender-based violence may help to facilitate access to other critical services in resource-constrained settings. However, data about shelter-providing programs in such contexts is extremely limited. Evidence-based information about shelter models, client and staff needs, service challenges, and strategies is urgently required to inform policy, programming, and implementation guidance for international, national, and local entities that design or oversee these protection programs. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California - Berkeley, School of Law, 2013. 145p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/HRC/SS_Thailand_web.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Thailand URL: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/HRC/SS_Thailand_web.pdf Shelf Number: 132528 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceGender-Based ViolenceHuman TraffickingRapeRefugeesSexual ExploitationVictim ServicesViolence Against Women |
Author: Horn, Rebecca Title: Safe Haven: Sheltering Displaced Persons from Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. Case Study: Kenya Summary: In the first eight months of 2012, the Dadaab refugee camp complex at the Kenya-Somalia border registered nearly 6,000 new arrivals from Somalia, bringing the total population of the northeastern camps to 474,000. If the Dadaab complex were a city, it would be Kenya's third largest, after Nairobi and Mombasa. A similar population explosion occurred on the other side of the country, in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya's northwest. Nearly 13,000 new refugees were registered between January to August 2012, mostly from South Sudan. The total camp population is now over 101,000. By August 2012, the total number of registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya came to over 630,000-with 55,000 of these residing having migrated internally to Nairobi.2 Camp overpopulation and ongoing security concerns have led to extreme resource constraints and protection challenges. UNHCR's implementing partners report cases of aggression within the camps, including rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Further south in the country, 664,000 Kenyan citizens were displaced as a result of the post-election violence that occurred immediately after December 2007's presidential election results were announced.3 During the two months of inter-ethnic conflict that ensued, approximately 1000 cases of sexual and gender-based violence were treated by the two major gender violence clinics in Nairobi.4 Today, many Kenyans remain displaced, with entire camp communities still clustered in central and western Kenya. Security and service delivery to the camps is low. Rates of sexual and gender-based violence are difficult to assess, but assumed to be largely underreported. In an era of increased attention to conflict-related violence, we are now beginning to understand the continuum of sexual and gender-based harm that men, women, and children can suffer during armed conflict, in flight, and while temporarily resettled in refugee or internal displacement camps. Violence such as rape, gang rape, and sexual torture or slavery can occur during periods of armed conflict and may be perpetrated by different actors for different reasons. Those fleeing a conflict may still be susceptible to rape, sexual exploitation, or trafficking while attempting to secure transport, cross borders, and find lodging. Finally, even in settlement-whether in refugee or internal displacement camps or in urban centers-vulnerability to harm persists due to a number of factors, including lack of protective networks, immigration status, and basic resources. Displacement also increases vulnerability through new and exacerbating conditions, including the breakdown of family and community ties, collapsed gender roles, limited access to resources, insufficient security, and inadequate housing in camp settings. Refugees and internally displaced persons fleeing armed conflict or even natural disasters have few options for immediate physical protection from sexual or gender-based violence-either during flight or in camps. Further, the needs of refugees or internally displaced persons who also experience sexual and gender-based violence are likely to be urgent and complex. They may experience compounded levels of physical or psychological distress stemming from both conflict-related displacement and their experience of sexual and gender-based violence. Providing services to people with such complex vulnerabilities requires multisectoral approaches that address the special needs created by these circumstances. It is important to better understand the options for immediate safe shelter that exist in these contexts. In addition to providing immediate physical protection, programs that shelter those fleeing sexual and gender-based violence may help to facilitate access to other critical services in resource-constrained displacement settings. However, data about shelter-providing programs in these contexts is extremely limited. Evidence-based information about shelter models, client and staff needs, service challenges, and strategies is urgently required to inform policy, programming, and implementation guidance for international, national, or local entities that design or oversee these protection programs. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2013. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://www.unhcr.org/51b6e2fd9.html Year: 2013 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.unhcr.org/51b6e2fd9.html Shelf Number: 132529 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceHuman TraffickingRapeRefugeesSexual ExploitationSexual ViolenceVictim ServicesViolence Against Women |
Author: Heilman, Brian Title: The Making of Sexual Violence. How Does a Boy Grow Up to Commit Rape? Summary: Women and girls around the world experience staggering levels of rape and other forms of sexual violence. This violence devastates lives, unhinges communities, and hampers greater social and economic development. While the severity, frequency, and purpose of this violence can broaden during times of conflict or emergency, its foundations are laid during "peacetime," as is underscored by the extreme levels of violence observed consistently across the globe. Yet it is only in recent decades that policymakers, researchers, and programmers have begun to pay closer attention to this urgent violation of human rights and barrier to sustainable development. This report presents an overview of five study sites of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), presents findings related to men's self-reported perpetration of sexual violence, investigates seven domains of possible influences on men's sexual violence perpetration and provides actionable lessons and recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: International Center for Research on Women and Promundo, 2014. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 26, 2014 at: http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/The%20Making%20Of%20Sexual%20Violence%20-%20June%202014%20-%20WEB%20PREVIEW.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/The%20Making%20Of%20Sexual%20Violence%20-%20June%202014%20-%20WEB%20PREVIEW.pdf Shelf Number: 132556 Keywords: MalesMasculinityRapeSex OffendersSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Ricardo, Christine Title: Engaging Boys and Young Men in the Prevention of Sexual Violence: A Systematic and Global Review of Evaluated Interventions Summary: Violence against women is a widespread issue, one that exists in all cultural and socio-economic contexts. Among the various forms of violence that girls and women suffer, rape is often the least visible and least reported. In many cases, such as in dating or married relationships, rape or other forms of sexual violence may not even be recognized by social or legal norms. While the underlying causes of sexual violence are multiple and complex, among the core causes are unequal gender norms and power dynamics between men and women. Throughout the world, boys and men are largely the perpetrators of sexual violence, and girls and women are the victims. It is increasingly understood that men's use of violence is generally a learned behavior, rooted in the ways that boys and men are socialized. There is evidence that this is often at an earlier age than many of the current violence prevention and sexuality education programs target. Adolescence is a time when many boys and young men first explore and experiment with their beliefs about roles in intimate relationships, about dating dynamics and male-female interactions. Research has shown that this is also the time when intimate partner violence first starts to manifest itself, and the earlier and more often it occurs, the more it reinforces the idea that violence is a "normal" part of dating relationships (Laner 1990). A key challenge, therefore, in primary rape prevention is to intervene before the first perpetration of rape or sexual violence, and to reach boys and young men when their attitudes and beliefs about gender stereotypes and sexuality are developing. In this context, it is necessary to reach boys and young men (and girls and young women) with programs that address sexual violence before expectations, attitudes and behaviors about dating are well developed (Fay and Medway 2006). It is also necessary to challenge gender norms and sexual scripts that often underlie coercion and violence in relationships, including "those cultural norms that normalize intimate sexual violence as a 'natural' or 'exaggerated' expression of innate male sexuality" (Carmody and Carrington 2000). In addition, it is necessary to teach adolescents effective communication and problem-solving skills and to promote a culture of responsibility for preventing sexual violence (Berkowitz 2004). In recent years, there has been a significant increase in attention to programming with boys and men and the evidence base regarding what works and what does not work. Violence prevention is still an area in which there are many questions and there is a need for consolidating evidence for advocacy and practice purposes. While there are already many existing reviews of rape prevention programs with male university students and dating violence prevention programs with adolescents, these reviews have largely been limited to North American or Australian context and most often focused only on those programs published in the academic literature - not grey literature. This review is more extensive, in terms of age range (adolescents) and settings (global), and in terms of program goals and scope because it includes those programs that do not have rape prevention as primary focus, but which address underlying risk factors. Details: Washington, DC: Promundo, 2011. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 2, 2014 at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/menandboys.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/menandboys.pdf Shelf Number: 132611 Keywords: Dating ViolenceGender-Based ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against WomenViolence Prevention |
Author: Slegh, H. Title: Gender Relations, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and the Effects of Conflict on Women and Men in North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: Results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) Summary: Promundo and Sonke Gender Justice have released the complete results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which reveal high levels of gender-based violence and the continuing effects of conflict on couple and family relations. The report will be launched this week at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict at ExCel London. The comprehensive report, Gender Relations, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and the Effects of Conflict on Women and Men in North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, affirms that the devastating impact of war in DRC affects nearly all those living in eastern DRC, and is manifested in highly inequitable and violent partner relations. Approximately 70% of men and 80% of women were directly affected by war and conflict in DRC, and their reports of conflict-related trauma - including physical displacement, injury, death of friends and family members and experiences of sexual violence - are multiple and widespread. The study's results show that years of conflict, combined with persistent poverty, limited functioning of the state and widespread inequitable norms in DRC, create multiple vulnerabilities for women and girls, and no shortage of vulnerabilities for boys and men as well. One key finding is that rates of sexual violence against women in eastern DRC are some of the highest in the world, compared to other settings where the multi-country survey IMAGES has been carried out. Another key finding is that sexual violence as part of conflict, while brutal and traumatic for those who experience it, happens at lower rates than sexual violence carried out in the home, which the study's co-authors Gary Barker and Henny Slegh discuss in the article "Being Honest About Sexual Violence in War, and Everywhere Else." This survey, carried out with 1,500 men and women in eastern DRC, found that 22% of women were forced to have sex or were raped as part of the conflict, as were some 10% of men. In addition, approximately half of women had experienced sexual violence from a husband or male partner. Nearly a third of both women and men reported an unwanted sexual experience as children. In sum, the effects of economic stress, trauma, fear, frustration, hunger and lack of means to sustain the family are felt first and foremost in family and partner relations. Furthermore, in spite of the compounding effects of the conflict, many findings were consistent with IMAGES studies in other parts of the world: men's childhood experiences of violence, binge drinking and inequitable attitudes were associated with their use of intimate partner violence. At the same time, men whose own fathers were involved in the household were more likely to carry out household tasks. The report reveals the urgent need for more intense promotion of gender equality in DRC's education, health and justice sectors, at both the local and national levels; a rollout of psychosocial and secondary prevention that enables boys and girls to overcome violence they have experienced and witnessed; and long-term rebuilding from the conflict that takes into consideration mens and women's sense of loss of status and identity, and their need for psychosocial support. The report also highlights the needs for a more adequate policy framework in DRC and immediate action on those policies. Sonke Gender Justice recently carried out a review (a summary of which is included in this study) of the policies in DRC and the associated challenges. This study in DRC is part of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a multi-year, multi-country study created and coordinated by Promundo and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). IMAGES is one of the most comprehensive studies ever on men's practices and attitudes as they relate to gender norms, attitudes toward gender equality policies, household dynamics including caregiving and men's involvement as fathers, intimate partner violence, health and economic stress. As of 2013, it had been carried out in 10 countries (including this study in DRC) with additional partner studies in Asia inspired in part by IMAGES. Details: Washington, DC, and Capetown, South Africa:Promundo-US and Sonke Gender Justice, 2014. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2014 at: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/101908-gender-relations-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-and-the-effects-of-conflict-on-women-and-men-in-north-kivu-eastern-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/file.html Year: 2014 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/101908-gender-relations-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-and-the-effects-of-conflict-on-women-and-men-in-north-kivu-eastern-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/file.html Shelf Number: 132628 Keywords: Family ViolenceGender-Based ViolenceIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceSocioeconomic Conditions and ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Police Executive Research Forum Title: Improving the Police Response To Sexual Assault Summary: PERF's Summit on "Improving the Police Response to Sexual Assaults," was held on September 23, 2011. This conference brought together approximately 150 police executives, leaders of women's and crime victim organizations, FBI leaders and other federal officials, and others to explore weaknesses in the investigation of sexual assault crimes.At PERF's conference, police executives described several initiatives that have been undertaken to prevent improper "unfounding" of cases, including: - Conducting audits of past cases to identify improperly classified cases; - Eliminating the authority of patrol officers to determine that a case is unfounded, and requiring approval of superior officers to classify a case as unfounded; - Working with advocacy groups to improve transparency and oversight of policing handling of sexual assault cases; and - Improved training of officers regarding the dynamics of rape and how they differ from other crimes. For example, rape victims often feel shame, embarrassment, or stigma that victims of robbery or other serious crimes do not experience. Details: Washington, DC: PERF, 2012. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Critical Issues in Policing Series: Accessed July 16, 2014 at: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20assault%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20assault%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 130802 Keywords: Police Education and TrainingPolice InvestigationsPolice ResponseRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Wall, Liz Title: Under the Influence? Considering the role of alcohol and sexual assault in social contexts Summary: Alcohol has a culturally accepted place in social situations, particularly when young people congregate, however, it is also widely acknowledged that alcohol is often present in many sexual assaults that occur within these social contexts. Although there is extensive research on the link between alcohol and sexual assault, there is still a lack of clarity about the exact role that alcohol plays in facilitating this type of sexual violence. Perpetrators are able to use alcohol to their advantage in a number of ways. Clearly, alcohol is not a causative factor on its own, as many people drink without perpetrating violence. It seems most likely that alcohol acts in multiple ways and interacts with a range of social and individual factors to influence the perpetration of sexual assault. Key messages ◾Alcohol is a feature in a high proportion of sexual assaults. ◾It appears that alcohol has a multi-faceted role in facilitating sexual assault. ◾There are social and gender issues around alcohol consumption that perpetrators are able to exploit to their advantage. ◾Alcohol is used as a tool by perpetrators to increase victim vulnerability and enhance their own confidence. ◾Alcohol is used as an excuse by perpetrators to reduce their culpability and accountability. ◾Alcohol may be consumed voluntarily by victims or perpetrators may coerce consumption or covertly administer alcohol. ◾Alcohol on its own is not a causative factor for sexual assault but it acts together with social and cultural factors that influence behaviour in relation to social scripts and sexual interactions. Details: Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2014. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: ACSSA Issues No. 18: Accessed July 19, 2014 at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/i18/acssa-issues18.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/i18/acssa-issues18.pdf Shelf Number: 132716 Keywords: Alcohol Related Crime, DisorderRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Aubert, Veronique Title: Unspeakable Crimes Against Children: Sexual Violence in Conflict Summary: The prevalence of rape, sexual exploitation and sexual violence against children in conflict is shocking. In some contexts more than 80% of those affected are children. This report addresses key questions to understanding sexual violence against children in conflict: What's the scale of the problem? Who suffers? Where does it happen? Who are the perpetrators? Why does it happen? What's the impact on children? The report looks at how we can protect children in these situations and identifies gaps in funding. It makes recommendations to G8 countries to tackle these horrific crimes against children. Details: London: Save the Children, 2013. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2014 at: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/unspeakable-crimes-against-children Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/unspeakable-crimes-against-children Shelf Number: 132726 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseChildren, Crimes AgainstConflict Related ViolenceRapeSexual Violence |
Author: Barnes, Helen Moewaka Title: Sexual Coercion, Resilience and Young Maori: A scoping review Summary: This report provides an overview of what is known in Aotearoa/New Zealand, particularly Maori perspectives, and internationally, on sexual coercion/violence, resilience and healthy relationships, particularly for indigenous peoples, with an overall focus on rangatahi and rangatahi wahine. The report provides a cohesive critique of the field, describes a recommended methodology for research with young people and outlines stakeholder engagement as a sound basis for future partnerships in research and prevention efforts. Details: Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Women's Affairs | Minitatanga Mo Nga Wahine, 2010. 134p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 25, 2014 at: http://mwa.govt.nz/sites/public_files/sexual-coercion-resilience-and-young-maori-a-scoping-review-pdf.pdf Year: 2010 Country: New Zealand URL: http://mwa.govt.nz/sites/public_files/sexual-coercion-resilience-and-young-maori-a-scoping-review-pdf.pdf Shelf Number: 132751 Keywords: AboriginalsIndigenous PeoplesRapeSex CrimesSexual Violence |
Author: Centre for Innovative Justice Title: Innovative Justice Responses to Sexual Offending: Pathways to better outcomes for victims, offenders and the community Summary: Sexual assault is complex, pervasive and insidious. The criminal justice system is expected to deliver a sense that justice has been done, yet its current response is inadequate for the large majority of sexual assault victims. Victims of sexual assault have historically been met with denial and disbelief, with society failing to develop an adequate response to a crime it did not fully recognise or understand, and to gendered assumptions it refused to relinquish. In recent decades, hard won improvements - called for by reformers and feminists, and implemented by well-intentioned governments - have seen sexual assault taken more seriously in legal and political arenas alike. Investigation, prosecution and court procedures have improved; specialisation has been encouraged; and victims have been provided with fairer treatment and additional support services. Despite this, however, sexual assault remains the most under-reported form of personal violence, while estimates suggest that the crucial evidentiary requirements and standards of proof demanded by the criminal process mean that the chance of a sexual assault incident resulting in a conviction is as low as, and potentially lower than, one in one hundred. Hard hitting policies of tougher penalties, longer sentences and stringent release practices, meanwhile, do little to address the majority of sexual offending, instead making offenders reluctant to take responsibility or their offending and choosing to contest the allegations. This in turn makes victims reluctant to pursue a prosecution, not wanting to be drawn into the protracted adversarial process. In other words, most victims of sexual assault do not report to the police, do not pursue a prosecution, or if they do, do not secure a conviction. This means that the conventional criminal justice system, with its single option of investigation by police and prosecution through the courts, is failing to provide an adequate response to the majority of victims of sexual assault. While the prosecution and collective denunciation of sexual offending should continue to be pursued, and while ongoing efforts to reform the conventional criminal justice system remain critical, alone they will not markedly change this state of affairs. Additional non-criminal law based avenues, meanwhile, such as the pursuit of statutory compensation or damages through the civil jurisdiction, have significant limitations attached. Clearly, victims need more choice in their pursuit of justice - a suite of options from which they can identify the path or paths that best suit their circumstances; options that provide them with the opportunity to tell their story, to have the harm acknowledged, to participate in the process and to have a say in the outcome. Some of these options may, to date, not have been pursued precisely because the area of sexual assault is so complex, yet may improve the justice system's response if implemented in the right way. Accordingly, this report argues that the justice system should be responsive, inclusive, flexible and fair - that justice processes should be designed in a way that make them accessible and a more realistic prospect to more victims of sexual assault, rather than reserved for a select few who happen to have cases which are able to meet high legal thresholds. This report by the Centre for Innovative Justice (CIJ) was commissioned by the Attorney-General's Department (Cth) as one of a series of reports identifying important innovations in the justice system. The CIJ's objective in this report is to identify innovative justice processes that have the potential to meet more of the needs of victims of sexual offending; to address public interest concerns; and to prevent reoffending in ways that the conventional justice system has limited capacity to achieve. In doing so, the report suggests that reform does not depend upon a choice between a 'tough' and a 'soft' response but, rather, upon providing an appropriate response - one that is able to meet the disparate needs of victims, while maintaining the integrity of the rights of offenders. As such, the report builds upon existing theoretical work and proposes a best practice, sexual offence restorative justice conferencing model and framework, influenced by national and international innovations, and which is able to be tailored and implemented in all Australian jurisdictions. Restorative justice conferencing involves a facilitated, safe and structured encounter between the victim and the offender, providing an opportunity to repair the harm caused by the offending. The report explains that, to date, restorative justice conferencing practices have tended to exist on the periphery of Australian criminal justice systems and have not been extended to sexual offending in the adult jurisdiction. This is primarily because of legitimate concerns about victims being re-victimised and sexual assault being re-privatised, rather than condemned in the public sphere. While these concerns must be heeded, the CIJ draws from a range of existing examples and concludes that - with comprehensive safeguards and a coordinated, properly resourced system - sexual offence restorative justice conferencing has the potential to meet more of the justice needs of those victims who are being failed by the existing system. In detailing a best practice restorative justice conferencing model for sexual offending, the report addresses such issues as: - The importance of legislation, overarching principles and operational guidelines - The importance of a restorative justice oversight body, incorporating a specialist gender violence team, to oversee and monitor the implementation of the model - The need for skilled and specialist restorative justice conference facilitators - The need for an expert assessment panel to determine the suitability of individual cases for restorative justice conferencing - The importance of basic eligibility criteria, including that all parties consent, and the need for offender and victim age limits - Pathways into and out of restorative justice conferencing, with appropriate police, prosecution and judicial oversight at different stages of the process - The need for protections around admissions made during a conference - The importance of consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and culturally and linguistically diverse communities around any innovative justice initiatives - The importance of restorative justice processes being responsive to the needs of victims and offenders with cognitive impairments, disabilities and mental illness - The potential outcome agreements and what to do in the event of breakdown - The importance of funded, accessible community based sexual offender treatment programs to complement a restorative justice approach, and - The balance required between victim autonomy and public policy considerations. Details: Melbourne: RMIT, Centre for Innovative Justice, 2014. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/qt1g6twlv0q3.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/qt1g6twlv0q3.pdf Shelf Number: 132790 Keywords: RapeRestorative JusticeSex CrimesSex Offenders (Australia)Sexual ViolenceVictims of Crime |
Author: Bileski, Matthew Title: The Reporting of Sexual Assault in Arizona, CY 2002-2011 Summary: Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) - 41-2406, which became law in July 2005, requires the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) to compile information obtained from disposition reporting forms submitted to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) on sexual assault (A.R.S. - 13-1406) and the false reporting of sexual assault involving a spouse (A.R.S. - 13-2907.03). Utilizing DPS disposition data, ACJC is mandated to provide an annual report briefing the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records on sexual assault in Arizona. The data used to complete this report were extracted from the Arizona Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) records system and provided to ACJC by DPS in January 2013. By statute, local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and the courts are required to submit to the ACCH repository information on all arrests and subsequent case disposition information for felonies, sexual offenses, driving under the influence offenses, and domestic violence offenses. This report focuses on data from calendar years (CY) 2002 to 2011 and updates data reported in the CY2001-2010 report. The ACJC is required to report the law enforcement reporting, filings, and subsequent case disposition findings and sentencing of A.R.S. - 13-1406 sexual assault charges. The following summarizes some of the findings of the research on sexual assault arrest and disposition charges across Arizona: - The total number of arrests involving sexual assault increased from 265 arrests in CY 2002 to 275 in CY 2011, an increase of 3.8 percent. The total number of sexual assault charges increased by 23.1 percent from 442 in CY 2002 to 544 in CY - More than 98 percent of arrestees from CY 2002 to CY 2011 were male, and the proportion that was White ranged between 75.8 percent and 81.8 percent of the total number of sexual assault arrestees. - Convictions for sexual assault increased from 30.8 percent of all disposition findings for sexual assault in CY 2002 to 43.9 percent in CY 2011. - The percentage of convictions that resulted in a sentence of probation ranged from a high of 88.9 percent in CY 2007 to a low of 67.4 percent in CY 2009. The percentage of convictions that resulted in a sentence to prison fell from 62.6 percent in CY 2002 to 54.0 percent in CY 2011, and sentences to jail fell from 5.7 percent to 2.7 percent over the same period. One of the reporting requirements of A.R.S. - 41-2406.C is to identify sexual assault charges involving a spouse. In August 2005, the sexual assault involving a spouse statute (specifically A.R.S. - 13-1406.01) was repealed from the state statutes by Senate Bill 1040. Despite the repeal of A.R.S. - 13-1406.01 as a criminal code, three charges of sexual assault of a spouse were reported beyond CY 2005, two in CY 2007 and one in CY 2008. The following highlights the findings of A.R.S. - 13-1406.01 arrest and disposition charges: - From CY 2002 to CY 2005, the number of arrest charges increased from 17 to 24 charges. - Arrestees for sexual assault involving a spouse were male, more than 84 percent were white/Caucasian, and except in CY 2004, the greatest percentage was between the ages of 25 and 34. - The number of sexual assault involving a spouse finalized disposition charges was 12 in CY 2002 and increased to 18 in CY 2004 before dropping to two in CY 2008. From CY 2002 to CY 2008, the number of convictions ranged from five in CY 2003 down to zero in CY 2007 and CY 2008. - At least 50 percent of convictions for sexual assault involving a spouse resulted in a probation sentence from CY 2002 to CY 2006. The percentage of convictions resulting in a prison sentence ranged from 0.0 percent in CY 2002 and CY 2004 to 60.0 percent in CY 2003, and jail sentencing ranged from 0.0 to 100.0 percent. A.R.S. - 41-2406.C mandates that ACJC report whether the victim and offender were estranged at the time of the offense. Except for a general indication of domestic violence, there is no field on the disposition reporting form that describes the relationship between the victim and the offender or the status of the relationship at the time of the offense. Instead, arrest and disposition information for all sexual assault-related2 charges flagged for domestic violence is reported separately in the report. In order to more comprehensively understand sexual assault in Arizona, this report includes data on violent sexual assault (A.R.S. - 13-1423). Details: Phoenix: Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, Statistical Analysis Center, 2013. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2013%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2013%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 132791 Keywords: Crime StatisticsRapeSex CrimesSex OffendersSexual Assault (Arizona)Sexual Violence |
Author: Great Britain. Ministry of Justice Title: An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales Summary: This report brings together, for the first time, a range of official statistics from across the crime and criminal justice system, providing an overview of sexual offending in England and Wales. Most of the information presented in this report has been previously published in other official statistics bulletins. The report is structured to highlight: the victim experience; the police role in recording and detecting the crimes; how the various criminal justice agencies deal with an offender once identified; and the criminal histories of sex offenders. Providing such an overview presents a number of challenges, not least that the available information comes from different sources that do not necessarily cover the same period, the same people (victims or offenders) or the same offences. For example, the results from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) are based on self completed questions from a representative sample of adults (aged 16 to 59), asking about an individual's experiences of sexual offences in the last 12 months. The police recorded and court information cover all sexual offences, as legislated for in law, committed against any individual irrespective of age or when the crime took place, but exclude the large volume of crimes not reported to the police. Other issues that prevent direct comparisons include: the CSEW focusing on the most recent experience of adults as a victim of sexual offence in the previous 12 months (thus, for example, does not include sexual offences experienced by children or those aged 60 or over); police recorded crime figures being based on offences per victim (i.e. for each victim in a given incident, a crime is recorded) in the year the crime was reported, irrespective of when the offence took place; the criminal justice outcome information (e.g. cautions and convictions) being on an offender basis at the date of the final outcome, again irrespective of when the crime took place. Details: London: Ministry of Justice, 2013. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistics Bulletin: Accessed August 11, 2014 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214970/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214970/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf Shelf Number: 132980 Keywords: Crime Statistics (U.K.)RapeSex OffendersSex OffensesSexual AssaultVictims of Crime |
Author: Tadros, Mariz Title: Reclaiming the Streets for Women's Dignity: Effective Initiatives in the Struggle against Gender-Based Violence in between Egypt's Two Revolutions Summary: This paper is about the struggle to combat gender-based violence in public space in Egypt through the sustained collective action of vigilante groups who organically formed to respond to the increasing encroachment on women in public space from 2011 onwards. The study examines the emergence of a distinct form of collective action (informal youth-led activism aimed at addressing sexual violence in public space) at a very distinct historical juncture in the country's history: the phase after the ousting of President Mubarak in February 2011 through what became known as the 25th of January Revolution and up to the ousting of President Morsi in what became controversially known as the 30th of June Revolution of 2013. Details: Brighton, UK: University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report No. 48: Accessed August 11, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3384/ER48.pdf;jsessionid=9284806762FADD02CC64702506B472CD?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: Egypt URL: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3384/ER48.pdf;jsessionid=9284806762FADD02CC64702506B472CD?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 132986 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women (Egypt) |
Author: Seelinger, Kim Thuy Title: Safe Haven: Sheltering Displaced Persons from Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. Case Study: Haiti Summary: As part of its Sexual Violence Program, the Human Rights Center conducted a one-year study in 2012 to explore and improve understanding of the options for immediate, temporary shelter for refugees, internally displaced persons, and other migrants fleeing sexual and gender-based violence in countries affected by conflict or natural disaster. We define shelter flexibly. For example, it may be in the form of a traditional safe house, or a network of community members' homes, or other safe spaces coordinated by a base organization. Our aim was to generate research-based evidence to inform donors, policymakers, and international and local actors about types of relevant models, priority challenges, and promising practices. The study focused on three key objectives: 1. Identify and describe shelter models available to refugees, the internally displaced, and migrants fleeing sexual and gender-based violence. 2. Identify unique challenges experienced by staff and residents in these settings and explore strategies to respond to these challenges. 3. Explore protection needs and options for particularly marginalized victim groups, such as male survivors, sexual minorities, sex workers, and people with disabilities. The aim and objectives were the same across each of the studies, carried out in Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, and Thailand. Our research focused primarily on programs that served communities of refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons, including those operating in a camp setting. We also studied mainstream shelters to identify protection options and innovations in urban settings. Study outputs include four country-specific reports and one comparative assessment that contain guiding considerations for the UNHCR and other stakeholders involved in the provision of protection to these populations. The Haitian landscape of shelters for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence changed quickly after the 2010 earthquake. Two major safe houses suddenly ceased to operate. One was the Centre Yvonne Hakim Rimpel, run by the Ministere a la Condition Feminine et aux Droits des Femmes (hereinafter Women's Ministry) and funded in part by Eve Ensler's V-Day. The other was a short-term emergency house run by the women's rights organization Kay Fanm. In their place, post-earthquake Haiti saw a proliferation of new shelter efforts supported by international donors, including several of the programs we visited. Our researchers conducted interviews with staff and residents in six shelter programs, including the following: - three traditional safe houses run by local women's rights groups; - one independent living arrangement program funded by a private US-based foundation; - one LGBT rights group that did not run a formal shelter, but which provided ad hoc access to a community host network; - one hybrid shelter space that consisted of dormitory space downstairs in the office of a women's rights organization. We also learned of other developing shelter options, such as temporary plywood housing, or "T-shelters," erected by various international groups in certain camps, an IOM project in Croix-des-Bouquets, and a safe house planned by the French Red Cross in conjunction with a local Haitian organization in Petit Goave. However, these emerging programs were not included in our study sample. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California - Berkeley, School of Law, 2013. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2014 at: http://www.unhcr.org/51b6e2b29.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Haiti URL: http://www.unhcr.org/51b6e2b29.pdf Shelf Number: 133038 Keywords: Domestic Violence Gender-Based Violence (Haiti)Human Trafficking Rape Refugees Sexual Exploitation Victim Services Violence Against Women |
Author: Breiding, Matthew J. Title: Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization - National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011 Summary: This report examines the prevalence of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization using data from the 2011 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. In the United States, an estimated 19.3% of women and 1.7% of men have been raped during their lifetimes; an estimated 1.6% of women reported that they were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey. An estimated 43.9% of women and 23.4% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes. The percentages of women and men who experienced these other forms of sexual violence victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey were an estimated 5.5% and 5.1%, respectively. An estimated 15.2% of women and 5.7% of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes. An estimated 4.2% of women and 2.1% of men were stalked in the 12 months preceding the survey. The lifetime and 12-month prevalences of rape by an intimate partner for women were an estimated 8.8% and 0.8%, respectively. An estimated 15.8% of women and 9.5% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, while an estimated 2.1% of both men and women experienced these forms of sexual violence by a partner in the 12 months prior to the survey. Details: Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Surveillance Summaries, Vol. 63, no. 8: Accessed September 12, 2014 at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6308.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6308.pdf Shelf Number: 133290 Keywords: Intimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual Abuse (U.S.)Sexual AssaultSexual ViolenceStalkingViolence Against Women |
Author: Rehal, Manjit Title: The Price of Honour: Exploring the Issues of Sexual Violence within South Asian Communities in Coventry Summary: Sexual violence is an appalling crime that constitutes a serious public and human rights problem. It can devastate the lives of victims, survivors and their families and inspire fear in our communities. It has both short and long-term consequences for victims and survivor's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. It also has significant consequences for the public purse and for the economy. This report highlights some of the key issues that have prevented victims of sexual violence, from Asian communities within Coventry, disclosing or reporting their abuse. In particular it highlights how victims can be silenced by a culture of so called honour and shame. This has resulted in many victims being unable to access support and pursue justice for the abuse which they have experienced. Details: Coventry, UK: CRASAC, 2014. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed October 15, 2014 at: http://www.crasac.org.uk/uploads/2/1/6/0/21603882/the_price_of_honour_full_report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crasac.org.uk/uploads/2/1/6/0/21603882/the_price_of_honour_full_report.pdf Shelf Number: 133923 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence (U.K.)Violence Against Women |
Author: Yung, Corey Rayburn Title: Concealing Campus Sexual Assault: An Empirical Examination Summary: This study tests whether there is substantial undercounting of sexual assault by universities. It compares the sexual assault data submitted by universities while being audited for Clery Act violations with the data from years before and after such audits. If schools report higher rates of sexual assault during times of higher regulatory scrutiny (audits), then that result would support the conclusion that universities are failing to accurately tally incidents of sexual assault during other time periods. The study finds that university reports of sexual assault increase by approximately 44% during the audit period. However, after the audit is completed, the reported sexual assault rates drop to levels statistically indistinguishable from the pre-audit time frame. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the ordinary practice of universities is to undercount incidents of sexual assault. Only during periods in which schools are audited do they appear to offer a more complete picture of sexual assault levels on campus. Further, the data indicate that the audits have no long-term effect on the reported levels of sexual assault as those crime rates return to previous levels after the audit is completed. This last finding is supported even in instances when fines are issued for non-compliance. The study tests for a similar result with the tracked crimes of aggravated assault, robbery, and burglary, but reported crimes show no statistically significant differences before, during, or after audits. The results of the study point toward two broader conclusions directly relevant to policymaking in this area. First, greater financial and personnel resources should be allocated commensurate with the severity of the problem and not based solely on university reports of sexual assault levels. Second, the frequency of auditing should be increased and statutorily-capped fines should be raised in order to deter transgressors from continuing to undercount sexual violence. The Campus Accountability and Safety Act, presently before Congress, provides an important step in that direction Details: Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas School of Law, 2014. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2504631 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2504631 Shelf Number: 133920 Keywords: Campus CrimeColleges and UniversitiesRapeSexual Assault (U.S.) |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "Those Terrible Weeks in their Camp". Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in Northeast Nigeria Summary: In April 2014, the Islamist group Boko Haram abducted 276 female students from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, in Nigeria's northeast. The group has abducted more than 500 women and girls from Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States since 2009. Based field research in northeast Nigeria and Abuja, the capital city, including interviews with women and girls who escaped abduction or were freed from captivity, social workers, journalists, religious leaders, civil society workers, state and federal government officials, and witnesses of abductions, "Those Terrible Weeks in their Camp" documents how Boko Haram targets women and girls. The report highlights the harrowing experiences of some of the abducted women and girls, many of whom have endured physical and psychological abuse, forced conversions, coerced marriages, forced labor, sexual violence and rape. To ensure accountability, the report calls on Nigerian authorities to investigate and prosecute, based on international fair trial standards, those who committed serious crimes in violation of international law, including Boko Haram, members of the security forces and pro-government vigilante groups. In addition, the government should provide adequate measures to protect schools and the right to education, and ensure access to medical and mental health services to victims of abduction and other violence. The government should also ensure that hospitals and clinics treating civilian victims of Boko Haram atrocities are equipped with medical supplies to treat survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Details: New York: HRW, 2014. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/nigeria1014web.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/nigeria1014web.pdf Shelf Number: 133881 Keywords: AbductionBoko HaramGender-Based ViolenceKidnappingRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against GirlsViolence Against Women (Nigeria) |
Author: Heisecke, Karin Title: Ending Violence against Women and Girls: The world's best laws and policies Summary: In 2014, the Future Policy Award celebrates laws and policies that contribute to ending one of the most pervasive human rights violations: violence against women and girls. One in three women worldwide suffers some form of violence in her lifetime. By restricting women's choices and limiting their ability to act, the persistence of violence against women has serious consequences for peace and security, economic development and poverty reduction. Thus, it hampers all efforts towards a future just society. International experts from academia, civil society and international organisations have nominated twenty-five policies from around the world which were implemented to improve the lives of women. Together, they reflect the broad scope of existing policy responses at local, national and transnational levels. It is important to acknowledge that violence against women and girls is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and, in order to end it, a transformation of gender relations towards a more gender just society is necessary. This cannot be achieved through any single law or policy: the winners of the Future Policy Award provide inspiration for specific "parts of the puzzle" of a range of policy measures that can together lead to an end of violence against women and girls. Our analysis and the Jury's decision on the winners have provided important insights into the key elements of best laws and policies in this field. We have summarised them in the section "key recommendations". Details: Hamburg, German: World Future Council, 2014. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Future_Policy_Award/FPA_2014/fpa2014_brochure_en_final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Future_Policy_Award/FPA_2014/fpa2014_brochure_en_final.pdf Shelf Number: 133940 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceGender-Based ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence against Women and Girls |
Author: McCallion, Gail Title: Sexual Violence at Institutions of Higher Education Summary: In recent years, a number of high-profile incidents of sexual violence at institutions of higher education (IHEs) have heightened congressional and administration scrutiny of the policies and procedures that IHEs currently have in place to address campus sexual violence and how these policies and procedures can be improved. Campus sexual violence is widely acknowledged to be a problem. However, reported data on the extent of sexual violence at IHEs varies considerably across studies for a variety of methodological and other reasons. Victims of sexual violence may suffer from a range of physical and mental health conditions including injuries, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidality, and substance abuse. College students who are the victims of sexual violence may experience a decline in academic performance, and they may drop out, leave school, or transfer. Currently, there are two federal laws that address sexual violence on college campuses: the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act, P.L. 101-542) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX, P.L. 92-318). These two statutes differ in significant respects, including in their purpose, coverage, enforcement, and remedies. The Clery Act requires all public and private IHEs that participate in the student financial assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA, P.L. 89-329) of 1965 to track crimes in and around their campuses and to report these data to their campus community and to the Department of Education (ED). EDs Federal Student Aid (FSA) Office oversees educational institutions compliance with Title IV student financial aid requirements, including requirements related to the Clery Act. In this role, FSA conducts program reviews of IHEs compliance with student aid and Clery provisions. Title IX is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under any education program or activity that receives federal funding. Under Title IX, sexual harassment, which includes sexual violence, is a form of unlawful sex discrimination. Unlike the Clery Act, whose coverage is limited to IHEs that receive student financial aid funds under the HEA, Title IX is applicable to recipients of any type of federal education funding, including any public or private elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school that receives such funds. Although each federal agency enforces Title IX compliance among its own recipients, ED, which administers the vast majority of federal education programs, is the primary agency conducting administrative enforcement of Title IX. Such enforcement by EDs Office for Civil Rights (OCR) may occur as part of a routine compliance audit or in response to a complaint filed by an individual. Members of Congress have been actively involved in seeking ways to improve how IHEs respond to, investigate, and adjudicate incidents of campus sexual violence. Several bills that would strengthen existing laws pertaining to campus sexual violence have been introduced during the 113th Congress. In January 2014, the Obama Administration established a White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. In April 2014, the Task Force issued its first reportNot Alone and created a website that addresses campus sexual violence. Among other things, the report included an extensive list of actions that the Administration will take (or has already taken) to address campus sexual violence. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: CRS R43764: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43764.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43764.pdf Shelf Number: 133948 Keywords: Campus Crimes (U.S.)Clery ActColleges and UniversitiesRapeSexual AssaultsSexual Violence |
Author: Vetten, Lisa Title: Domestic violence in South Africa Summary: South Africa's response to domestic violence is of relatively recent origin, with 1993 marking both the introduction of the first legal remedy to address domestic violence, and the recognition of marital rape as a crime. This first attempt to deal with domestic violence through legislation, namely the Prevention of Family Violence Act, was further developed and strengthened through the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (DVA), which is widely considered one of the more progressive examples of such legislation internationally. This policy brief describes the extent and nature of domestic violence in South Africa and considers aspects of the implementation of the DVA, the state's most prominent intervention in the problem of domestic violence. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 71: Accessed November 13, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf Year: 2014 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf Shelf Number: 134074 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectDomestic Violence (South Africa)Elder AbuseMarital RapeRapeSexual AssaultViolence Against Women |
Author: Ferstman, Carla Title: Criminalizing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Peacekeepers Summary: Summary - Sexual exploitation and abuse continue to pervade peacekeeping missions, and peacekeepers benefit from near-total impunity. - Several seminal United Nations (UN) studies and expert reports provide a useful blueprint of where the gaps lie, what must be done to address them, and how to do so. - Zero-tolerance UN policies have focused on preventing new abuse and strengthening codes of conduct. These goals are laudable but undermined when not accompanied by consistent discipline and criminal accountability. - Despite eight years of annual resolutions that underscore the need to address the problems, there is no evidence of greater accountability. - More work is needed to finish the job. States are responsible for disciplining and punishing their troops, but the UN must do more to ensure that this happens. - The UN needs to work actively with states to bridge the gaps in domestic legislation by issuing written advice and publishing model legislation. - The UN should publicly name and shame those states that fail to investigate and prosecute credible cases. - The UN should refrain from accepting troop contingents from countries that repeatedly fail to live up to their written assurances to investigate and prosecute. - The memorandum of understanding governing the relationship between the UN and troop-contributing countries should be further revised to introduce greater conditionality into the acceptance and removal of troop contingents. Details: Washington, DC: United State Institute of Peace, 2013. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report: Accessed November 15, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR335-Criminalizing%20Sexual%20Exploitation%20and%20Abuse%20by%20Peacekeepers.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR335-Criminalizing%20Sexual%20Exploitation%20and%20Abuse%20by%20Peacekeepers.pdf Shelf Number: 134091 Keywords: MilitaryRapeSex OffendersSex OffensesSexual AbuseSexual Exploitation |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Escape from Hell: Torture and Sexual Slavery in Islamic State Captivity in Iraq Summary: As they swept through large parts of northern Iraq, fighters with the armed group calling itself "Islamic State" (IS) systematically targeted members of non-Arab and non-Sunni Muslim communities, as well as Sunni Muslims who oppose them. But even within the context of its persecution of minority groups and Shi'a Muslims, the IS has singled out the Yezidi minority, notably its women and children, for particularly brutal treatment. In August 2014, IS fighters abducted hundreds, possibly thousands, of Yezidi men, women and children who were fleeing the IS takeover from the Sinjar region, in the north-west of the country. Hundreds of the men were killed and others were forced to convert to Islam under threat of death. Younger women and girls, some as young as 12, were separated from their parents and older relatives and sold, given as gifts or forced to marry IS fighters and supporters. Many have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and have likewise been pressured into converting to Islam. Up to 300 of those abducted, mostly women and children, have managed to escape IS captivity, while the majority continue to be held in various locations in Iraq and in parts of Syria controlled by the IS. They are moved frequently from place to place. Some are able to communicate with their displaced relatives in areas outside IS control but the fate and whereabouts of others are not known. Some of the women and girls who have escaped IS captivity, as well as some of those who remain captive, have given harrowing accounts to Amnesty International of the torture and abuses they have suffered. Details: London: AI, 2014. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 9, 2015 at: https://www.es.amnesty.org/uploads/media/Escape_from_hell_-_Torture_and_sexual_slavery_in_Islamic_State_captivity_in_Iraq_-_English.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Iraq URL: https://www.es.amnesty.org/uploads/media/Escape_from_hell_-_Torture_and_sexual_slavery_in_Islamic_State_captivity_in_Iraq_-_English.pdf Shelf Number: 134581 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women (Iraq) |
Author: Redress Title: Redress for Rape. Using international jurisprudence on rape as a form of torture or other ill-treatment Summary: Rape is an egregious crime with devastating consequences for victims. However, until relatively recently it has not been the subject of serious attention within the international human rights law framework. Rape - at both the domestic and international level - was traditionally largely invisible, or trivialised as a "private matter", an unfortunate incident, the result of a woman's careless conduct, or the inevitable result of war. As such, it was not cast as the responsibility of states, was rarely addressed in international human rights discourse, and was not to be found explicitly within the human rights violations prohibited by the core international conventions adopted during the course of the twentieth century. The past two decades have seen a significant normative change in this area. It is now clearly established at the international level that rape is a crime of the highest order, that states do have the responsibility to prevent and respond to it, whoever commits it, and that survivors of rape are entitled to the same level of protection and response as any other victim of violence. This normative change has started to have an impact in achieving accountability in some high profile individual cases, has increased scrutiny by international human rights bodies on the practices of states, and may have helped to improve responses of authorities in some jurisdictions. However the reality is that rape continues on a massive scale, and the majority of victims of rape around the world - both women and men - face almost insurmountable barriers to justice. This report hopes to provide a useful resource for those seeking to build upon these developments, helping to translate them into change for individuals and communities. It does so by focusing on one strategy which has been fruitfully used both to bring rape within the international legal framework, and to seek justice in individual cases: making the link between rape and torture and other prohibited ill-treatment. Details: London: Redress, 2013. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2015 at: http://www.redress.org/downloads/publications/FINAL%20Rape%20as%20Torture%20(1).pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.redress.org/downloads/publications/FINAL%20Rape%20as%20Torture%20(1).pdf Shelf Number: 135000 Keywords: RapeRape and WarSexual ViolenceTortureVictims of Crime |
Author: Young Women's Empowerment Project Title: Denied help! How youth in the sex trade and street economy are turned awary from systems meant to help us and what we are doing to fight back Summary: Why we started this research: We decided to do this research to show that we are not just objects that violence happens to - but that we are active participants in fighting back and bouncing back. We wanted to move away from the one-dimensional view of girls in the sex trade as only victims and look at all aspects of the situation: violence, our response to the violence, and how we fight back and heal on a daily basis. We build our community by figuring out how we can and do fight back collectively and the role of resilience in keeping girls strong enough to resist. Our research shows that girls in the sex trade face harm from both individuals and institutions. Nearly all the research we could find about girls in the sex trade only looks at individual violence. Many people seem to think that more institutions or social service systems is the solution. YWEP agrees that institutions can be helpful at times, but we also wanted to show the reality that we face: every day, girls are denied access to systems due to participation in the sex trade, being drug users, identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or being undocumented. We know institutions and social services can and do cause harm in our lives. We present this research to show that the systems that claim to help girls are also causing harm. We want to show that girls in the sex trade are fighting back and healing on their own - within their communities and without relying upon systems. Details: Chicago: Young Women's Empowerment Project, 2012. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2015 at: https://ywepchicago.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bad-encounter-line-report-20121.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://ywepchicago.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bad-encounter-line-report-20121.pdf Shelf Number: 135075 Keywords: ProstitutesProstitutionRapeSex TradeSex WorkersSexual Violence |
Author: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Evaluation and Inspections Division Title: The Handling of Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Allegations by the Department's Law Enforcement Components Summary: The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review to assess how the Department of Justice's (Department) four law enforcement components respond to sexual misconduct and harassment allegations made against their employees. This review examined the nature, frequency, reporting, investigation, and adjudication of such allegations in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the United States Marshals Service (USMS). The findings in today's report include: - Component supervisors did not always report allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct to their respective internal affairs offices as required by component policies. In several instances, these supervisors were not disciplined for their failure to report. Additionally, at the FBI and USMS, the internal affairs offices chose not to investigate some allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct despite significant evidence that misconduct had occurred, and DEA's internal affairs office did not always fully investigate allegations of sexual misconduct related to prostitution. - At ATF, DEA, and USMS, we found a lack of coordination between the internal affairs offices and security personnel. As a result, security departments at these components were sometimes unaware of allegations that may impact an employee's eligibility to hold a security clearance and access classified information. In contrast, we found that the FBI's internal affairs office alerts the FBI security department to any such misconduct allegations it receives. - All of the components we reviewed either did not have adequate offense tables or did not properly use their offense tables for charging employees with sexual harassment and sexual misconduct offenses. The offense tables at ATF, DEA, and USMS did not contain adequate language to address the solicitation of prostitutes in jurisdictions where the conduct is legal or tolerated. The FBI offense table contains such a category, but we found instances where general offense categories were applied instead of the specific category. - All four components have weaknesses in detecting the transmission of sexually explicit text messages and images by employees. Although the FBI archives and proactively monitors its employees' text messages, there are limitations to its ability to use this information, and misconduct investigators at ATF, DEA, and USMS cannot easily obtain such text message evidence. These issues may hamper the components' ability to conduct misconduct investigations, fulfill their discovery obligations, and deter misconduct. Finally, today's report notes that the OIG's ability to conduct this review was significantly impacted and unnecessarily delayed by repeated difficulties we had in obtaining relevant information from both the FBI and DEA. Specifically, the FBI and DEA initially refused to provide the OIG with unredacted information which the OIG was entitled to receive under the Inspector General Act. When they finally did provide the information without extensive redactions, we found that it still was incomplete. We were also concerned by an apparent decision by DEA to withhold information regarding a particular open misconduct case despite the fact that the OIG was authorized to receive the information. Because of these difficulties, we cannot be completely confident that the FBI and DEA provided us with all information relevant to this review. Our report reflects the findings and conclusions we reached based on the information made available to us. The report makes eight recommendations to improve the law enforcement components' disciplinary and security processes relating to allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment. The DOJ and the four components reviewed concurred with all of the recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2015. 139p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 2, 2015 at: http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2015/e1504.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2015/e1504.pdf Shelf Number: 135145 Keywords: Child PornographyLaw Enforcement InvestigationsMilitary (U.S.)ProstitutionRapeSextingSexual AbuseSexual HarassmentSexual Misconduct |
Author: Gillibrand, Kirsten Title: Snapshot Review of Sexual Assault Report Files at the Four Largest U.S. Military Bases in 2013 Summary: On February 10, 2014, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, in her oversight role as Chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, requested the Department of Defense (DoD) provide her office with files pertaining to the investigation and adjudication of sexual assault cases, from 2009 to 2013, at the largest U.S. base for each military service. These installations are the Army's Fort Hood in Texas, Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. On December 15, 2014, 308 days after the initial request, the Department of Defense provided 107 redacted sexual assault case files from the year 2013. Senator Gillibrand had requested "all reports and allegations of rape, forcible sodomy, sexual assault, sex in the barracks, adultery and attempts, conspiracies, or solicitations to commit these crimes" for the last five years. Despite two separate assurances from then-Secretary of Defense Hagel directly to Senator Gillibrand that all files would expeditiously be provided, the DoD reluctantly agreed to provide just one year's worth of files after then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin intervened. The larger request remains unfulfilled. This refusal from the DoD to provide basic information pertaining to sexual violence and military justice to the former Personnel Subcommittee chair with oversight duties calls into question the Department's commitment to transparency and getting to the root of the problem. While the case files do shed some light on how the military has dealt with the scourge of sexual assault on bases, with many findings consistent with the Associated Press's accounts of sexual assaults at American military bases in Japan, it is important to note that the files are redacted, incomplete, and often do not contain all relevant data pertaining to the cases. Our review of the 107 case files provided by the Department of Defense sheds further light on the true scope of sexual violence in military communities, including two large but overlooked segments of the military population - military spouses, and civilian women living near military bases - that are not counted in the DoD's surveys on sexual assault prevalence. The documents analyzed by our office suggest that civilians (including spouses) are especially vulnerable, and that the military justice system continues to struggle to provide justice. Details: Washington, DC: Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, 2015. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2015 at: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Gillibrand_Sexual%20Assault%20Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Gillibrand_Sexual%20Assault%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 135536 Keywords: Military (U.S.)RapeSexual AssaultSexual HarassmentViolence Against Women |
Author: Angiolini, Elish Title: Report of the Independent Review into The Investigation and Prosecution of Rape in London Summary: The review relates only to the service provided to complainants of rape and serious sexual offences who are supported by Sapphire investigation teams. Offences that are perpetrated against children within parent or carer relationships are within the remit of the Child Abuse Investigation Teams and fall outside the scope of this report. Serious sexual offences against children falling outside of parent or carer relationships are dealt with by Sapphire investigation teams. However, the remit for this review focusses on the response to adult complainants only as the specifics of managing child complainants demand a further and distinct skill set which was outwith the scope of this review. There are, therefore two sets of data. Appendix A relates to all allegations of rape and penetration which are investigated within the Metropolitan Police Service. Appendix B relates only to rape and penetration offences investigated by Sapphire investigation teams. Sapphire crime data will include complainants who are children. 2. The review took place in three distinct phases, - Phase 1. Benchmarking of current structures, service provision and performance of both the police and Crown Prosecution Service. - Phase 2. A review in London of a broad sample of police and Crown Prosecution Service case files with a particular emphasis on any attitudinal barriers that may 'prevent an effective criminal justice response'. - Phase 3. Consultation with panels of experts, practitioners and complainants of rape in order to identify how the service to complainants can be improved. Details: London: Metropolitan Police Service and Crown Prosecution Service, 2015. 161p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 8, 2015 at: http://content.met.police.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3D%22494%2F967%2FDame+Elish+Angiolini+Rape+Review+2015%2C0.pdf%22&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1283963458477&ssbinary=true Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://content.met.police.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3D%22494%2F967%2FDame+Elish+Ang Shelf Number: 135967 Keywords: Police InvestigationsRapeSex OffendersSexual AssaultViolence Against Women |
Author: Sinozich, Sofi Title: Rape and Sexual Assault Victimization Among College-Age Females, 1995-2013 Summary: This report uses the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to compare the rape and sexual assault victimization of female college students and nonstudents. For the period 1995-2013 - - The rate of rape and sexual assault was 1.2 times higher for nonstudents (7.6 per 1,000) than for students (6.1 per 1,000). - For both college students and nonstudents, the offender was known to the victim in about 80% of rape and sexual assault victimizations. - Most (51%) student rape and sexual assault victimizations occurred while the victim was pursuing leisure activities away from home, compared to nonstudents who were engaged in other activities at home (50%) when the victimization occurred. - The offender had a weapon in about 1 in 10 rape and sexual assault victimizations against both students and nonstudents. - Rape and sexual assault victimizations of students (80%) were more likely than nonstudent victimizations (67%) to go unreported to police. - About a quarter of student (26%) and nonstudent (23%) victims who did not report to police believed the incident was a personal matter, and 1 in 5 (20% each) stated a fear of reprisal. - Student victims (12%) were more likely than nonstudent victims (5%) to state that the incident was not important enough to report. - Fewer than 1 in 5 female student (16%) and nonstudent (18%) victims of rape and sexual assault received assistance from a victim services agency. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2015 at: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf Shelf Number: 136624 Keywords: Campus CrimeCollege and UniversitiesRapeSex OffendersSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictim ServicesVictimization Survey |
Author: Cantor, David Title: Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct Summary: Members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) are working to combat sexual assault and misconduct on their campuses. As an association of research universities, AAU decided in 2014 that the best way to help its members address this issue was to develop and implement a scientific survey to better understand the attitudes and experiences of their students with respect to sexual assault and sexual misconduct. The survey's primary goal was to provide participating institutions of higher education (IHEs) with information to inform their policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and misconduct. In addition, members hoped that the survey would provide useful information to policymakers as well as make a significant contribution to the body of academic research on this complex issue. In the fall of 2014, AAU contracted with Westat, a research firm, to work with a university team of researchers and administrators to design and implement the survey, entitled the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct. The survey was administered at the end of the spring 2015 semester on the campuses of 27 IHEs, 26 of which are AAU member universities. This report provides a description of the survey methodology and key results. The survey was designed to assess the incidence, prevalence and characteristics of incidents of sexual assault and misconduct. It also assessed the overall campus climate with respect to perceptions of risk, knowledge of resources available to victims, and perceived reactions to an incident of sexual assault or misconduct. The report provides selected results for five questions: - How extensive is nonconsensual sexual contact? - How extensive is sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence? - Who are the victims? - To whom do students report or talk about the incidents? - What is the campus climate around sexual assault and sexual misconduct? This study is one of the first to provide an empirical assessment of these questions across a wide range of IHEs. Prior studies of campus sexual assault and misconduct have been implemented for a small number of IHEs or for a national sample of students with relatively small samples for any particular IHE. To date, comparisons across surveys have been problematic because of different methodologies and different definitions. The AAU study is one of the first to implement a uniform methodology across multiple IHEs and to produce statistically reliable estimates for each IHE. It was designed to provide separate estimates for incidents involving two types of sexual contact (penetration and sexual touching) and four tactics (physical force, drugs and alcohol, coercion, absence of affirmative consent), as well as behaviors such as sexual harassment, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Providing this level of detail allows campus administrators to tailor policies by these very different types of sexual assault and misconduct. Details: Rockville, MD: Westat, 2015. 288p. Source: Internet Resource: Prepared for: The Association of American Universities: Accessed September 21, 2015 at: https://www.aau.edu/uploadedFiles/AAU_Publications/AAU_Reports/Sexual_Assault_Campus_Survey/Report%20on%20the%20AAU%20Campus%20Climate%20Survey%20on%20Sexual%20Assault%20and%20Sexual%20Misconduct.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.aau.edu/uploadedFiles/AAU_Publications/AAU_Reports/Sexual_Assault_Campus_Survey/Report%20on%20the%20AAU%20Campus%20Climate%20Survey%20on%20Sexual%20Assault%20and%20Sexual%20Misconduct.pdf Shelf Number: 136848 Keywords: Campus CrimesColleges and UniversitiesIntimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultsSexual HarassmentSexual MisconductStalking |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: Justice on Trial: Lessons from the Minova Rape case in the Democratic Republic of Congo Summary: In November 2012, thousands of defeated army troops rampaged through the small eastern town of Minova and neighboring villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, pillaging and raping as they went. It was one of the worst incidents of sexual violence in Congo in recent years. A year later, under intense international pressure, Congolese judicial authorities brought to trial 25 soldiers and 14 officers for war crimes before a domestic military court. The Minova rape trial raised high hopes and drew intense international scrutiny. It was seen as a key test for providing accountability for the pervasive sexual violence and other abuses that have plagued eastern Congo. Yet, despite massive international support, the proceedings failed to deliver justice: none of the high level commanders with overall responsibility for the troops in Minova were indicted and some of those who went to prison were convicted on questionable evidence without right to appeal. Justice on Trial is based on extensive interviews with military justice officials, lawyers, victims who testified, United Nations staff, and local activists, and analysis of public court documents. It examines the inner workings of the Congolese military justice system and highlights - through the shortcomings in this case - the barriers that often thwart effective justice for atrocities in Congolese courts, including insufficient expertise in handling grave international crimes, violations of fair trial rights, and an apparent unwillingness to pursue high-level commanders. The scale of serious crimes committed in Congo, and the limitations of the International Criminal Court, increase the burden on the Congolese justice system to develop the capacity and will to prosecute crimes competently, independently, and impartially. Details: New York: HRW, 2015. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 8, 2015 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/drc1015_4up_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/drc1015_4up_0.pdf Shelf Number: 136972 Keywords: Criminal TrialsMilitary CourtsRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF Title: Violence Against Children in Kenya: Findings from a 2010 National Survey Summary: The 2010 Kenya Violence against Children Study (VACs) is the first national survey of violence against both female and male children in Kenya. The survey is the most up to date National assessment of households covering 1,306 females and 1,622 males aged between 13 to 24 years. The Kenya VACs was designed to yield lifetime and current experiences of emotional , physical and sexual violations for female and male children from the following age groups: - 18 to 24 year olds who experienced acts of violence prior to age 18 (lifetime events). - 13 to 17 year olds who experienced acts of violence during the 12 months prior to the survey (current events). The 2010 Kenya VACs was guided by a Technical Working Group (TWG). The group was assembled in view of their expertise in issues of children in Kenya and the mandates of their organizations. The findings from the survey indicate that violence against children is a serious problem in Kenya. Levels of violence prior to age 18 as reported by 18 to 24 year olds (lifetime experiences) indicate that during childhood, 32% of females and 18% of males experience sexual violence . 66% of females and 73% of males experienced physical violence and 26% of females and 32% of males experience any violence as a child. 13% of females and 9% of males experienced all three types of violence during childhood. The most common perpetrators of sexual violence for females and males were found to be boyfriends/girlfriends/romantic partners comprising 47% and 43% respectively followed by neighbors, 27% and 21% respectively. Mothers and fathers were the most common perpetrator of physical violence by family members. For males, teachers followed by Police were the most common perpetrators of physical violence by an authority figure. Emotional violence for both females and males was most often inflicted by parents. Regardless of the type of violence, less than one out of every females or males who experienced sexual, physical, or emotional violence as a child knew of a place to go to seed professional help. Most importantly, less than 10% of females and males who experienced sexual, physical or emotional violence as a child actually received some form of professional help. Females aged 18 to 24 who reported experiencing sexual violence in childhood were significantly more likely to report feelings of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and fair/poor health than those females who did not experience sexual violence. Three out of every ten females 30% aged 18 to 24 who reported experiencing unwanted completed intercourse before the age of 18 (i.e., sex that was physically forced or pressured ) became pregnant as a result. About 90% of females and males who experienced sexual violence as a child reported of a place to go for HIV testing. Among females aged 18 to 24 who experienced sexual violence as a child, about 7% had received money for sex compared to 2% of those who did not experience violence prior to age 18. Females and males age 18 to 24 who experienced sexual violence prior to age 18 (7% versus 2% for females; 53% versus 35% for males). Over half females and males age 18 to 24, regardless of whether they experienced violence prior to 18, believe that it is acceptable for a husband to beat his wife. Furthermore, 40% of females and 50% of males believed that a woman should tolerate spousal violence in order to keep her family together. Details: Nairobi: UNICEF - Kenya Office, 2012. 178p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2015 at: https://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/documents/docs/VAC_in_Kenya.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Kenya URL: https://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/documents/docs/VAC_in_Kenya.pdf Shelf Number: 137028 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild MaltreatmentEmotional AbuseFamily ViolenceRapeSex OffensesSexual ViolenceViolence Against Children |
Author: National Gender and Equality Commission Title: National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework towards the Prevention of and Response to Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Kenya Summary: Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a human rights violation, developmental concern and a public health problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), GBV is, "Any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person's will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females." Gender based violence includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering; the threat of such acts; and coercion and other deprivations of liberty. The term "gender-based violence" is often used interchangeably with (but not synonymous to) the term "violence against women". The different forms of GBV include physical, sexual, emotional (psychological), and economic violence, and harmful traditional practices. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 150 million girls and 73 million boys experienced sexual abuse before attainment of 15 years. The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (2008-09) showed that almost half (45 percent) of women aged 15-49 have experienced either physical or sexual violence. The 2011 police crime report documented 2,660 cases of defilement and 130 cases of sodomy. The Violence Against Children study undertaken in Kenya in 2010 corroborated the existing trends of GBV in the country. According to the study, nearly one in three females and one in five males experience at least one episode of sexual violence before reaching age 18, an experience that can shape their futures in terms of their attitudes towards violence, their adoption of risky behaviors and their emotional health. The Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (CIPEV) Report (2008)3 noted that approximately 524 or 80% of survivors of GBV treated at the Nairobi Women's Hospital suffered from rape and defilement, 65 or 10% from domestic violence with the remaining 10% from other types of physical and sexual assault. The report further observed that some victims of sexual violence already had HIV/ AIDS and others contracted it as a result of being raped and being unable to access medical services in time to reduce the chances of or prevent infection. LVCT Health's data on sexual violence from supported health facilities in the country recorded 4,944 cases of sexual violence in 2014. Women and girls constituted 90.8% of the cases whereas children under the age of eighteen accounted for 61.9% of all survivors reported by LVCT Health. In 2011-2012, the Nairobi Women's Gender Violence Recovery Centre recorded 2,532 cases of sexual violence. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: The Commission, 2014. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2015 at: http://www.ngeckenya.org/Downloads/National-ME-Framework-towards-the-Prevention-Response-to-SGBV-in-Kenya.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.ngeckenya.org/Downloads/National-ME-Framework-towards-the-Prevention-Response-to-SGBV-in-Kenya.pdf Shelf Number: 137040 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultSodomyViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Karp, Aaron Title: Unheard and Uncounted: Violence against Women in India Summary: Violence against women, and the reluctance of authorities to deal with it, present a serious challenge to Indian society, law enforcement, and judicial affairs. Numerous incidents involving group rapes and rape and murder-such as the Nirbhaya case in New Delhi in 2012-have captured national and international attention. While domestic violence and public intimidation are familiar to women across India, statistics remain scarce and unreliable. A new Issue Brief from the Small Arms Survey's India Armed Violence Assessment project, Unheard and Uncounted: Violence against Women in India, discusses the prevalence of violence against women in India and the status of research to date. The Issue Brief finds: Underreporting appears to affect virtually all forms of violence against women in India, including rape. Estimates of the proportion of rapes in India reported to police range from 1 in 10 to 1 in 200. Such estimates suggest as many as several million rapes are unreported annually. A range of violent social practices, including selective abortion and foeticide, regional cultures of violence, and armed conflict, elevate the danger of violence in India, specifically against women. Improved monitoring and measurement of trends in violence against women are essential to improve policy-making and interventions for victims. Comprehensive police reform-including more police, including more women staff, who are dedicated to serving victims and are free of corruption-is essential for responding to violence against women. In addition to institutional reforms, social change is a key part of the solution to problems of violence against women in India, from changing attitudes towards women in general to assumptions about domestic relations. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: India Armed Violence Assessment Issue Brief, no. 5: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/IAVA-IB5-unheard-and-uncounted.pdf Year: 2015 Country: India URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/IAVA-IB5-unheard-and-uncounted.pdf Shelf Number: 137056 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceHomicidesRapeViolence Against Women |
Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office Title: Sexual Assault: Actions Needed to Improve DODs Prevention Strategy and to Help Ensure It Is Effectively Implemented Summary: Sexual assault is a crime that devastates victims and has a far-reaching negative impact for DOD because it undermines DODs core values, degrades mission readiness, and raises financial costs. DOD data show that reported sexual assaults involving service-members more than doubled from about 2,800 reports in fiscal year 2007 to about 6,100 reports in fiscal year 2014. Based on results of a 2014 survey, RAND estimated that 20,300 active-duty service-members were sexually assaulted in the prior year. Senate Report 113-176 includes a provision for GAO to review DODs efforts to prevent sexual assault. This report addresses the extent to which DOD (1) developed an effective prevention strategy, (2) implemented activities department-wide and at military installations related to the departments effort to prevent sexual assault, and (3) developed performance measures to determine the effectiveness of its efforts to prevent sexual assault in the military. GAO evaluated DODs strategy against CDCs framework for effective sexual-violence prevention strategies, reviewed DOD policies, and interviewed cognizant officials. What GAO Recommends GAO recommends that DOD link prevention activities with desired outcomes; identify risk and protective factors for all domains; communicate and disseminate its strategy to all program personnel; align service policies with the strategy; and fully develop performance measures. DOD concurred with all recommendations and noted actions it was taking. Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2015. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-16-61: Accessed November 6, 2015 at: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/673515.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/673515.pdf Shelf Number: 137209 Keywords: MilitaryRapeSexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Legal Aid Network (LAN) Title: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied. Seeking Truth about Sexual Violence and War Crime Case in Burma. ((With a Special Focus on the Kawng Kha Case, in Kachin Land) Summary: Despite the so-called democratic transition taking place since 2010, Burma1 remains constitutionally under the control of the Armed Forces. However, our national democratic icon, democratic forces, some ethnic armed organizations, many NGOs -- especially GONGOs - and most of the international community are siding with or exercising a policy of appeasement with the power holders, without scrutinizing whether the source of their power emanates from the genuine will of the various ethnic nationalities and/or indigenous peoples. As a result, terms such as human dignity, human value, and particularly human rights have become empty rhetoric. Accountability is merely a political slogan, used by the incumbent President Thein Sein, the chairperson of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), since coming to office in 2011, but never implemented by any government institution in practice. The vicious circle of impunity continues, and, for the time being, seeking justice is an unpopular concept, voiced only by victims' communities. Against this background, a heinous crime against two young ethnic Kachin female volunteer teachers was committed on January 19, 2015, allegedly by the Myanmar soldiers of the ruling regime. Despite the fact that it has been almost ten months now, the perpetrators are still at large and no suspect has been identified by the police. Investigations carried out by the authorities have not focused on the victims, but have been one-sided, benefitting the perpetrators. The lack of reparative and restorative justice has led to delay and finally a denial of justice. The ominous silence around this case will become a catalyst for recurrence of gross human rights violations in the future. This preliminary report attempts to uncover the truth about this case, relating it to similar past incidents of war crimes, particularly sexual violence. It is also examined as to whether the state is held accountable for failure to provide protection for such heinous crimes and reparations to the victims, due to official state passivity. The government is also reminded of its obligations under domestic and international law. The victims of rape have commonly been non-Burman ethnic females, such as Shan, Karen, Kachin, Karenni, Palaung, etc. As such, the crimes can be categorized as having an ethnic nature. In many previous cases, even though victims were raped, they were not murdered. And even if they were murdered, they were not tortured. However, the Kawng Kha war crime case highlighted in this preliminary report is quite distinct. The victims were not only raped but also murdered. Worse, it was not an ordinary rape but a gang-rape. In addition, the victims were inhumanely and brutally tortured before they were murdered. As of now, nobody knows whether the victims were tortured by the perpetrators before or after being raped. As such, among the gross human rights violations inflicted on the various ethnic nationalities over the past decades, the Kawng Kha case constitutes one of the most heinous crime ever committed. Unfortunately, the ruling regime, albeit having the responsibility as the government, has not yet submitted any report specifically on this case to the Committee against Torture and to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Burma has already acceded to. There are no independent institutions or professionals working with victims of sexual violence nor does there exist any effective law for protection of witnesses in Burma. In accordance with the 2008 Constitution of Burma, the Myanmar Armed Forces, led by the Commander-in-Chief - not the State President - primarily exercise executive power. In addition to the Police and other security institutions, the Judiciary is also subservient to the executive. This legal and institutional framework has exacerbated the situation of the victims, their families and their communities, whenever the culprits or suspects are army personnel or government authorities. In regard to sexual violence, a serious problem is that ethnic women victims, given social, geographical, financial and legal constraints, are unable even to file complaints; and, even if a complaint is filed, it is commonly rejected by the Judiciary or the local authorities. This paper explores the status of State Institutions, focusing on the Police Institution, from the aspect of institutional integrity as well as procedural justice, as underpinned by not only national laws, international human rights laws and humanitarian law, but also the Rule of Law. This paper also establishes the nexus between civil war and human rights violations and attempts to find a reasonable solution. Last, but not least, the role and responsibility of the international community is scrutinized from the perspective of promotion and protection of human rights in connection with the previous and current background scenario of Burma. Details: Chiang Mai, Thailand: Kachin Women's Association in Thailand, 2016. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 27, 2016 at: http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs21/KWAT-2016-01-Justice_Delayed_Justice_Denied-en-red.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Burma URL: http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs21/KWAT-2016-01-Justice_Delayed_Justice_Denied-en-red.pdf Shelf Number: 137666 Keywords: Human Rights AbusesRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against WomenWar Crimes |
Author: Beck, Allen J. Title: Sexual Victimization Reported by Juvenile Correctional Authorities, 2007-12 Summary: Presents national estimates of nonconsensual sexual acts, abusive sexual contacts, staff sexual misconduct, and staff sexual harassment reported by correctional authorities in state juvenile correctional systems and local and private juvenile correctional facilities from 2007 to 2012. The report also examines substantiated incidents, including characteristics of victims and perpetrators, location, time of day, nature of injuries, impact on the victims, and sanctions imposed on the perpetrators. Companion tables in the Survey of Sexual Violence in Juvenile Correctional Facilities, 2007-12 - Statistical Tables include counts of allegations and substantiated incidents of sexual victimization for each state juvenile correctional system, juvenile correctional facility in Indian country, and sampled locally and privately operated juvenile correctional facility. Data are from BJS's Survey of Sexual Violence (SSV), which has been conducted annually since 2004. Highlights: In 2012, juvenile correctional administrators reported 865 allegations of sexual victimization in state juvenile systems and 613 in local or private facilities and Indian country facilities. The number of allegations per year has fluctuated in state juvenile systems and the rate more than doubled, from 19 per 1,000 youth in 2005 to 47 per 1,000 in 2012. In locally and privately operated facilities, the number of allegations dropped from 2009 to 2011 and then began to rise in 2012. Based on 2-year rolling averages, the rate in 2012 was 13.5 per 1,000 youth, up from 7.2 per 1,000 in 2010. From 2007 to 2012, nearly 9,500 allegations of sexual victimization of youth were reported in state or local and private facilities. Fifty-five percent involved youth-on-youth sexual victimization and 45% involved staff-on-youth sexual victimization. Upon investigation, 25% of the allegations of youth-on-youth sexual victimization and 10% of the allegations of staff-on-youth sexual victimization were substantiated during the 6-year period. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2016. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 1, 2016 at: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svrjca0712.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svrjca0712.pdf Shelf Number: 137717 Keywords: Juvenile CorrectionsJuvenile InmatesRapeSexual VictimizationSexual Violence |
Author: Gutierrez, Luz Mendez Title: Clamor for Justice. Sexual Violence, Armed Conflict and Violent Land Dispossession Summary: Clamor for Justice: Sexual Violence, Armed Conflict and Violent Land Dispossession is grounded in the lives of Maya Q'eqchi women from the communities of Sepur Zarco and Lote Ocho, in the Polochic Valley of Guatemala. It is one of the book's many virtues that we encounter them not through the abstraction "women victims of sexual violence," but through the particularity of their own voices, their experiences, their ideas. Their ideas, the alliances they forge, their creative strategizing to wrest justice from legal systems that have never treated them or the crimes committed against them seriously: these are at the heart of Clamor for Justice. At a time when the international policy community calls for an "end to impunity," but lacks both adequate conceptions of how to achieve it and sufficient political will to transform rhetoric into institutional practice, this book opens our eyes and offers inspiration. The innovative legal strategies pioneered by the women of Sepur Zarco, Lote Ocho and their allies open new pathways to justice, not only for these Q'eqchi women, but potentially for women in many other parts of the world. We need these models, and Clamor for Justice importantly works to spread the word. Details: Guatemala: Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Accion Psicosocial, 2015. 176p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 3, 2016 at: http://genderandsecurity.org/sites/default/files/Clamor_for_Justice_Guatemala.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Guatemala URL: http://genderandsecurity.org/sites/default/files/Clamor_for_Justice_Guatemala.pdf Shelf Number: 137757 Keywords: Conflict Related ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: California State Auditor, Bureau of State Audits Title: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence. California Universities Must Better Protect Students by Doing More to Prevent, Respond to, and Resolve Incidents Summary: Sexual harassment and sexual violence against university students is an issue of critical importance. In May 2014 the U.S. Department of Education published a list of 55 universities, including the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), that it is investigating for their handling of sexual violence complaints. Further, according to a report prepared in 2007 for the National Institute of Justice, one-in-five women is sexually assaulted while in college. The federal government recognizes that sexual harassment of students, which includes sexual violence, interferes with students' rights to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime. Sexual harassment and sexual violence are forms of discrimination prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). The issue of sexual violence was highlighted in January 2014 when the president of the United States announced the creation of a White House task force to develop a coordinated federal response to campus rape and sexual assault. The task force issued its initial report in April 2014. Th e universities we reviewed - UC Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); California State University, Chico (Chico State); and San Diego State University (San Diego State) - do not ensure that all faculty and staff are sufficiently trained on responding to and reporting student incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence to appropriate officials. In addition, although the Title IX coordinators and staff involved in key roles of the incident-reporting process receive adequate training, certain other university employees who are likely to be the first point of contact, such as resident advisors and athletic coaches, are not sufficiently trained on responding to and reporting these incidents. By not ensuring that all university employees are adequately and routinely trained on responding to and reporting incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence, and by not providing practical information on how to identify incidents, universities risk having their employees mishandle student reports of the incidents. Further, when they are not sufficiently trained, employees may not know how to interact appropriately with students in these situations and may do something that would discourage students from engaging in the reporting process. In addition, the universities must do more to appropriately educate students on sexual harassment and sexual violence. State law requires universities within the California State University (CSU)system and requests those within the University of California (UC) system to provide educational and preventive information about sexual violence to all incoming students as part of established campus orientations, although it does not specify exactly when new student orientations must occur. We believe that the universities should provide this education to incoming students near the time that they arrive on campus, as they may be the most vulnerable to experiencing an incident of sexual harassment or sexual violence in their first weeks on campus. Additionally, universities should ensure that all continuing students receive periodic refresher training, at least annually, on this subject. We also noted that the content of the education did not always cover the topics outlined in statute. Further, the universities must review and modify as needed their incoming student and employee educational programs because of recent changes to federal law and federal guidance. The four universities did not always comply with requirements in state law for distribution of relevant policies. The distribution of these policies is important to inform students and university employees of how to appropriately handle and respond to incidents. In addition, the universities did not post their policies in certain places on campus where they might be seen by large numbers of students. To ensure that students are informed and reminded of the policies, it is important for the universities to prominently post them in locations frequented by students. Further, it is important that the Legislature amend state law to require universities to provide such information in certain prominent locations that are not currently specified in law, such as residence halls and other university housing and athletic facilities. Our review determined that all four universities maintain adequate information at each department involved in the reporting process in the form of brochures and flyers describing the resources available to students who have experienced an incident of sexual harassment or sexual violence, in addition to resources listed online. However, 46 of the 208 students who participated in a survey we conducted, or 22 percent, stated that they were not aware of resources available on campus should they or someone they know experience sexual harassment or sexual violence, indicating that the brochures and flyers, by themselves, may not always be effective in informing students of available resources. The survey also revealed that from 2009 through early March 2014, 73 of the 208 students, or 35 percent, reported experiencing 85 incidents of sexual harassment or sexual violence by another member of the campus community. The students reported that they did not file a Title IX complaint for 74, or 87 percent, of the 85 incidents. Each university we reviewed has an adequate overall process for responding to incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence. However, our review of 80 case files at the four universities revealed that the universities need to improve these processes in some key areas. Specifically, the universities should do more to demonstrate that a student who may have experienced sexual harassment or sexual violence is informed of his or her reporting options and what to expect regarding the university's subsequent actions. The universities then need to better inform students who file a complaint of the status of the investigation and to notify them of the eventual outcome. Additionally, the universities need to evaluate summary data related to incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence. Evaluation of these data would allow them to identify trends, such as the timing and location of incidents, that could then inform their outreach and protection efforts. The four universities have created or are in the process of creating multidisciplinary committees, which is recognized as a best practice, to address sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention. These multidisciplinary committees can evaluate data on the number and types of incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence and aid in the discussion of potential solutions. Details: Sacramento: California State Auditor, 2014. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2016 at: http://auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-124.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-124.pdf Shelf Number: 137788 Keywords: Campus CrimesColleges and UniversitiesRapeSexual HarassmentSexual Violence |
Author: Karen Women's Organisation (KWO) Title: Salt in the Wound: Outcomes and SGBV Cases in the Karen refugee camps, 2011-13 Summary: The report documents the results of research into the justice outcomes of 289 cases of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the seven Karen-majority refugee camps located along the Thai-Burma border. The results of our research are staggering, and provide ample evidence for the need for change. In the vast majority (80%) of all the SGBV cases in six of the seven camps, women received inadequate justice responses. Even in cases of sexual violence, including rape, we found that there were very weak responses by the judicial systems. The inadequate justice outcomes include perpetrators just signing an agreement to say that they won't do it again (usually with no follow up to ensure that they don't), or paying a small fine to the authorities (usually with zero compensation for the victim) or almost no action at all by authorities. This is not good enough for crimes of violence. Details: Burma: KWO, 2015. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 9, 2016 at: https://karenwomen.org/2015/11/24/kwo-new-report-salt-in-the-wound/ Year: 2015 Country: Burma URL: https://karenwomen.org/2015/11/24/kwo-new-report-salt-in-the-wound/ Shelf Number: 137819 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: International Alert Title: 'Bad Blood': Perceptions of children born of conflict-related sexual violence and women and girls associated with Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria Summary: This research found that girls and women kidnapped by Nigeria's insurgent group, Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-da'wa wal-Jihad (JAS), commonly known as Boko Haram, face mistrust and persecution upon their return to society. International Alert and UNICEF carried out the research in Borno in northeast Nigeria to understand the impact of communities' and authorities' perceptions of these women, girls and their children on safety, rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities. The report provides policy and programming recommendations to ensure that reintegration and relocation plans are conflict sensitive and support child protection and peace-building outcomes. Details: London: International Alert; Abuja, Nigeria, UNICEF Nigeria, 2016. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 29, 2016 at: http://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/Nigeria_BadBlood_EN_2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Nigeria URL: Shelf Number: 137996 Keywords: Boko HaramConflict-Related Sexual ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: United Nations Refugee Agency Title: Initial Assessment Report: Protection Risks for Women and Girls in the European Refugee and Migrant Crisis Summary: For the first time since World War II, Europe is experiencing a massive movement of refugees and migrants, women, girls, men and boys of all ages, fleeing armed conflicts, mass killings, persecution and pervasive sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Many seek refuge in Europe from the ongoing armed conflicts that have torn apart their societies, and are entitled to protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, its subsequent Protocol, and other international instruments. From January to November 2015, Europe witnessed 950,469 refugee and migrant arrivals through the Mediterranean, with Greece receiving the vast majority of arrivals (797,372). Those arriving by sea are fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic (49%), Afghanistan (20%), Iraq (8%), Eritrea (4%), Nigeria (2%), Pakistan (2%), Somalia (2%), Sudan (1%), Gambia (1%) and Mali (1%). The majority travel to Turkey, from where they undertake a treacherous journey by sea to Greece and then make their way through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria in an attempt to reach their destination countries, including Germany and Sweden. Each day brings new arrivals, and accurate data remains a challenge. Refugees and migrants are travelling en masse, striving urgently to reach their destination from fear of border closures, potentially increased restrictions in asylum policies and the onset of winter. It is a dangerous journey, with refugees and migrants often facing high levels of violence, extortion and exploitation along the way, including multiple forms of SGBV. Single women travelling alone or with children, pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, unaccompanied children, early-married children - sometimes themselves with newborn babies - persons with disabilities, and elderly men and women are among those who are particularly at risk and require a coordinated and effective protection response. Concerned by the protection risks faced by women and girls, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Women's Refugee Commission (WRC) undertook a joint seven-day assessment mission to Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in November 2015. This report describes the assessment's findings and key recommendations for the European Union (EU), transit and destination country governments, humanitarian actors and civil society organizations (CSOs). The assessment found that women and girl refugees and migrants face grave protection risks and that the current response by governments, humanitarian actors, EU institutions and agencies and CSOs are inadequate. The findings emphasize the urgent need to scale up response efforts, implement innovative solutions and strengthen protection mechanisms and services across borders to adequately address the protection threats facing women and girls. In this particular crisis, Europe's response needs to match its international obligations, responsibilities and stated values. There is a need for the European Union, as well as relevant governments in Europe, with the support of protection and humanitarian actors, to strengthen resources dedicated to ensuring effective protection, especially for persons with specific needs and those who are at heightened risk in this crisis. Details: (S.L.): UNHCR, 2016. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 4, 2016 at: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/EuropeMission_Protection_Risks_19_Jan_Final_0.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Europe URL: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/EuropeMission_Protection_Risks_19_Jan_Final_0.pdf Shelf Number: 138042 Keywords: Gender-Related ViolenceMigrantsRapeRefugeesSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Jagori Title: Safe City Free of Violence Against Women and Girls Initiative: A Study of Delhi Police Help Lines Summary: This study is part of the Safe City free From Violence against Women and Girls Initiative, Delhi of Jagori in partnership with UN Women, UN HABITAT and the Department of Women and Child Development, Delhi Government. Women and girls are vulnerable to violence both within and outside the home and we recognize that the continuum of violence continues from personal/private to public space. We have been working on this issue since 2005 and have completed several surveys and safety audits in order to understand the problem in detail and in all its diversity. A baseline survey was conducted in Delhi in 2010 to focus on violence against women including sexual harassment, staring, touching, sexual assault, attempted rape, stalking and lewd comments, in a wide range of public spaces. The sample was 5010 men and women above the age of 16 covering all nine districts of Delhi. Conducted to research into factors that create greater safety and inclusion for women in public spaces around the city, the survey gathered and analyzed information about the following: (a) nature and forms of gender‐based violence and/or harassment faced by women, (b) spots where these incidents happen and that are perceived to be unsafe and inaccessible to women, (c) strategies adopted by women to defend themselves, (d) role of governing agencies and the police in safeguarding women's rights, and (e) societal perceptions and attitudes towards rights of women and girls. After conducting interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, both government and non government, a draft strategic framework document was drawn up in 2010. This document identified several key areas of intervention in order to have a sustainable impact on reducing vulnerability and increasing safety. These include: - Urban planning and design of public spaces - Provision and management of urban infrastructure and services - Public transport - Policing - Legislation, justice and support to victims - Education - Civic awareness and participation This study has been carried out by Multiple Action Research Group (MARG) and provides data on the gaps in the functioning of Delhi Police helplines which are a first point contact for most people. Further the study also provides recommendations on addressing these gaps. Details: New Delhi: Safe Delhi, 2012. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2016 at: http://safedelhi.in/sites/default/files/reports/Delhi%20Police%20Helpline%20Study_Jagori_Marg_final.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India URL: http://safedelhi.in/sites/default/files/reports/Delhi%20Police%20Helpline%20Study_Jagori_Marg_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138262 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolencePolice HelplinesPublic SpacesRapeSexual AssaultSexual HarassmentStalkingViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Baughman, Benjamin Title: A Study of Rape Investigation Files Involving Female Survivors: A Comparison of Allegations Deemed False and Genuine. Summary: Determining the veracity of a rape allegation in the absence of incontrovertible evidence is highly problematic and complicated by vagaries of surrounding issues. The purpose of the present study was to utilise a unique, multi-faceted approach with a representative US complete dataset (n=351) to identify the most prominent, distinguishing characteristics between genuine and false allegations. There are reasons to suggest that false allegations will be distinguishable from genuine rapes. The reasons include psychological dynamics such as a false allegers' (not a survivor of rape) reliance on rape myths for their fictitious account. In contrast, genuine reports of rape tend to encompass more specific behavioural details. 17% of the present population were objectively determined to be fabricated. Published results have indicated genuine rapes having a higher quantity and quality of reported actions. Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) was used to identify and categorise co-occurring behaviours, finding thematic consistency in genuine rapes. In contrast, false allegations revealed an erratic structure indicative of the fabricated stories' reliance on rape myths. Thematic structures are consistent with published findings which lends support to the grouping procedure utilised for this thesis. Additionally, a mean number of 6.6 behaviours in false allegations compared to the 9.3 behaviours controlled by the offender in genuine cases were observed. Partial Order Scalogram Analysis with base coordinates (POSAC) allows for using a combination of the most reliably distinguishing characteristics across cases. A developed model provided a unique method of exploring the qualitative and quantitative variations across cases. The eight most distinguishing behaviours were used to calculate a Behavioural Profile Score (BPS) for each incident and supported published results. As another potential means of assessing plausibility, analysis showed that genuine reports of rape contained greater detail as measured by the number of specific behaviours described. Although this thesis has various limitations, the results of three very distinctly different procedures all indicate distinguishable characteristics between genuine and false allegations. Additionally, it demonstrates the significance of myths in shaping actions and provides indications to why so many cases are indeterminate. Details: Huddersfield, UK: University of Huddersfield, 2016. 272p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 17, 2016: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/27856/ Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/27856/ Shelf Number: 138311 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationsRapeRape VictimsSexual ViolenceVictims of Crime |
Author: Women's League of Burma Title: "If they had hope, they would speak": The ongoing use of state sponsored sexual violence in Burma's ethnic communities Summary: Burma Army soldiers continue to engage in acts of sexual violence on a widespread scale, and women and human rights defenders in ethnic communities face harassment and persecution, the Women's League of Burma (WLB) said in a new report published today to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. To achieve sustainable peace and help safeguard the rights of ethnic women, the government of Burma must immediately stop its military offensives in the ethnic areas, pull back its troops and begin political dialogue with the ethnic armed groups towards genuine federalism. The WLB's new report, 'If they had hope, they would speak': The ongoing use of state-sponsored sexual violence in Burma's ethnic communities', highlights 118 incidences of gang-rape, rape, and attempted sexual assault that have been documented in Burma since 2010, in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas. This number is believed to be a fraction of the actual number of cases that have taken place. These abuses-which are widespread and systematic-must be investigated, and may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international criminal law Details: Chiang Mai, Thailand: Women's League of Burma, 2014. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2016 at: http://womenofburma.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VAW_Iftheyhadhope_TheywouldSpeak_English.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Burma URL: http://womenofburma.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/VAW_Iftheyhadhope_TheywouldSpeak_English.pdf Shelf Number: 138603 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Watson, Joy Title: The role of the state in addressing sexual violence: Assessing policing service delivery challenges faced by victims of sexual offences Summary: The focus of this policy paper will be to look at the role of the state in addressing sexual violence in public and private spaces. Specifically, the focus will be on the policy provisions in terms of service delivery to sexual offences victims in terms of policing and health services and how these services are currently being provided. The paper begins by discussing the prevalence of violence against women globally and in South Africa. It then examines the South African state's response to gender-based violence and the gendered nature of the state's response to addressing violence against women. The paper further examines the response of the criminal justice system, and assesses the service delivery challenges faced by victims of sexual offences at the hands of the police and broader criminal justice system, and the intersection of this with healthcare provision. The paper concludes by making recommendations on how to address these challenges. Details: Cape Town, South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: APCOF Policy Paper no. 13: Accessed April 13, 2016 at: http://www.apcof.org/files/9762_APCOF_Brief13.pdf Year: 2015 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.apcof.org/files/9762_APCOF_Brief13.pdf Shelf Number: 138648 Keywords: Gender-Based ViolenceRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Tonnessen, Liv Title: Women and Girls Caught between Rape and Adultery in Sudan: Criminal Law Reform, 2005-2015 Summary: This report investigates criminal law reform in Sudan, focusing on two important and controversial legal reforms related to (a) a definition of rape that is clearly de-linked from the Islamic crime of zina (i.e., sexual intercourse between individuals who are not married to each other) and (b) a definition of "child" as an individual younger than 18 in statutory rape cases. Many legal reforms have been proposed in Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 officially ended the extended civil war (Africa's longest) between the north and south of the country. The peace accord opened up some space for women's groups after a long period of harsh authoritarian control. All Sudanese laws were to be reviewed and reformed in alignment with the Interim National Constitution of 2005, including the Criminal Act of 1991. Although the peace agreement was largely gender-blind, the interim constitution included clauses on gender equality and affirmative action (Itto 2006). Pro-women activists as well as women within the government have been particularly active in advocating for legal reforms since 2005 with reference to the bill of rights. Two major legal reforms - in 2010 and 2015 - have dealt with rape. The most recent legal reform redefines rape in Sudan's Criminal Act of 1991. Until February 2015, "rape" was defined as zina (adultery or fornication) without consent. The act of zina was, and still is, punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried offenders and by death by stoning for married offenders. The blending of the ideas of rape and zina in the 1991 act meant that the strict rules of evidence used for zina were also applied to rape, something that constituted a serious legal obstacle for rape victims. Pro-women activists contested this legal position by forming the "Alliance of 149," named after the rape article in the Criminal Act. Interviews conducted during the last five years show that the reform process on rape/zina has been politicized, especially after the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Sudan's president for sexual warfare in Darfur in 2009. Around the same time as the National Assembly was amending Sudan's rape law, it forcibly shut down the founding member and initiator of the "Alliance of 149". In addition, the definition of apostasy was widened in such a manner that it can easily be used to clamp down on activists who are criticizing the Islamist regime. Darfur brought the previously taboo topic of rape into the public debate by focusing attention on sexual violence in Sudanese society. This furthered debate in both government and civil society about reform of Sudan's rape laws (including the controversial topic of marital rape), although only limited dialogue on the topic has arisen between government reformists and pro-women activists. Reformist Islamist women in government managed to effectively advocate for an amendment to the Criminal Act de-linking rape from zina, which Sudan's National Assembly passed in February this year. However, the reform is only partial, since the Evidence Act of 1994, in which rape and zina are still conflated, has yet to be reformed. In addition, marital rape is not explicitly criminalized. The other significant legal reform deals with statutory rape. Under the definition of "rape" in the pre-2015 version of the Criminal Act, the requirement of evidence for lack of consent does not apply to children, which means children have had better protection under the law. However, determining who was a "child" was a thorny issue. The Criminal Act of 1991 defines a child to be someone who has not yet reached puberty, as understood in Islam. Sudanese judges have taken varying approaches to defining "puberty," however. Many have viewed age 15 as the dividing line between childhood and adulthood, while others have looked for physical signs of puberty (or "sexual maturity"). In practice, this has meant that girls over the age of 15 (and sometimes even below) who have raised rape cases in Sudanese courts have been treated as adults. And as adults, they have had to show evidence that they did not consent to the sexual act. In 2010, Sudan enacted a new National Child Act that defines a child as an individual younger than 18 in accordance with the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Sudan ratified in 1991. The Child Act specifically criminalizes statutory rape. As it stands now, the new law is in conflict with the Criminal Act, however. Although the Child Act should take precedence, our findings suggest that the implementation of the act in courts in Khartoum is uncertain in statutory rape cases: while some judges implement the Child Act in statutory rape cases for all girls under the age of 18, some still follow the Criminal Act and look for signs of puberty. The definition of a child as younger than 18 years in the Child Act of 2010 did not receive much attention at the time of enactment, but it is has become the focus of heated debate as conservative actors have realized that this new definition also has repercussions for the age of marriage, which is set at puberty in Sudan's Muslim Family Law of 1991. Two conflicting positions within the current Islamist government (including in the judiciary itself) both employ Islamic arguments. In February 2015, an amendment to the Criminal Act was proposed to the National Assembly setting the age of criminal responsibility at 18 in accordance with the Child Act and international conventions ratified by Sudan. However, this proposal was blocked, partly by the judiciary itself, which advocated for the age of 15. Meanwhile a legal counter-mobilization against the Child Act continues and has resulted in a case currently pending in Sudan's Constitutional Court. Details: Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2015. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: R 2015:10: Accessed May 5, 2016 at: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5661-women-and-girls-caught-between-rape-and-adultery.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5661-women-and-girls-caught-between-rape-and-adultery.pdf Shelf Number: 138953 Keywords: AdulteryCriminal Law ReformGender-Related ViolenceRapeSex OffensesViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Great Britain. Home Office. Title: Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship: Statutory Guidance Framework Summary: The purpose of this guidance is to address controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship which causes someone to fear that violence will be used against them on at least two occasions; or causes them serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on their usual day-to-day activities. When considering this offence, prosecutors must follow the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the CPS Domestic Abuse Legal Guidance. Note that this Legal Guidance builds on Statutory Guidance on the investigation of the offences of controlling or coercive behaviour Details: London: Home Office, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482528/Controlling_or_coercive_behaviour_-_statutory_guidance.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482528/Controlling_or_coercive_behaviour_-_statutory_guidance.pdf Shelf Number: 139097 Keywords: Family Violence Intimate Partner Violence RapeStalking |
Author: Stathopoulos, Mary Title: Establishing the Connection: Interventions linking service responses for sexual assault with drug or alcohol use/abuse: Final report Summary: Establishing the Connection was a Victorian-based study that aimed to examine the intersections between alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and sexual victimisation and trauma, how both support sectors currently work together, and how they can respond more effectively to the needs of those affected. The study found that: - Participants from both the AOD and the sexual assault sectors demonstrated a practical understanding of the interrelationship between drug and alcohol use and sexual victimisation. The overlap between sexual victimisation and alcohol and other drug use was very relevant for AOD and sexual assault counsellors and managers who were aware of the very large numbers of potentially "shared" clients. - Current practice in the assessment and intake processes in the AOD and sexual assault sectors varies considerably and reflects both the organisational frameworks that guide practice, as well as the initiative and confidence of individuals in the sectors in referring clients to other services. - Factors that hinder collaboration included insufficient resources; uncertainty about how the other sector works; lack of communication; and role creep, which describes the expansion of demands and activities of a job or role over time that are not balanced by additional resources to support them. - Practitioners and managers expressed great interest in expanding their understanding of the other sector through a variety of avenues, some of which included: shared focus on client-centred care; openness to discussion and sharing information; previous interagency collaboration; and policy and governance support. Findings from the report informed the development of practice guidelines to assist service providers with the identification, assessment, response and referral of individuals and families affected by co-occurring sexual abuse victimisation and substance use issues. Details: Alexandria, NSW: National Research Organisation for Women's Safety Limited (ANROWS), 2016. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: ANROWS Horizons, Issue 02/2016: Accessed May 31, 2016 at: http://media.aomx.com/anrows.org.au/Establishing%20the%20Connection%20Horizons.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Australia URL: http://media.aomx.com/anrows.org.au/Establishing%20the%20Connection%20Horizons.pdf Shelf Number: 139249 Keywords: Alcohol and CrimeDrug Abuse and CrimeRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictims of Crime |
Author: Wells, William Title: Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits in Houston, TX: Case Characteristics, Forensic Testing Results, and the Investigation of CODIS Hits, Final Report Summary: In 2011, the National Institute of Justice funded the Houston Police Department to form a multidisciplinary team to study the problem of sexual assault kits (SAK) that were collected but never submitted to a crime lab for screening and testing. The Houston Action-Research Project sought to understand the factors that produced the volume of unsubmitted SAKs, the way forensic evidence is used during criminal investigations and prosecutions of sexual assaults, and what stakeholders should expect when large numbers of previously unsubmitted SAKs get tested. The project adopted a holistic approach and considered the broader issue of responses, beyond testing the kits, to sexual assaults in the community. Houston's Action-Research Project Working Group includes representatives from the following organizations: - Houston Forensic Science Center - Harris County District Attorney's Office - Harris Health System - Houston Area Women's Center - Houston Police Department Sex Crimes Investigative Units - Memorial Hermann Health System - Sam Houston State University - Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology - University of Texas at Austin - Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault The group has been working collaboratively and collecting data that has allowed for an understanding of multiple aspects of the local response system. The organizations that have been working on this project have also been implementing and evaluating reforms that are meant to improve the response to sexual assaults. Action research entails an iterative process in which research evidence informs responses and for this reason the project has generated multiple research reports. This is one of a number of reports and presentations that will be released to help other jurisdictions learn from our experiences as they seek to better understand and improve their own practices. Details: Final report submitted to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2016. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 13, 2016 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/249812.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/249812.pdf Shelf Number: 139402 Keywords: Criminal EvidenceCriminal InvestigationDNA SamplingPolice Policies and ProceduresRapeSexual Assault |
Author: Luedke, Alicia, Compiler Title: The Other War: Gang Rape in Somaliland Summary: The Horn of Africa has for decades struggled with chronic occurrences of civil conflict, fragile state structures and tribal and ethnic affiliations opposed to states' modern obligations. The situation for women and girls in the Horn of Africa continues to be characterized by systematic victimization, subordination and their subjection to violence. In contrast to the intentions of limiting women and girls' opportunities and appearances, they are aiming at capitalizing the small space and opportunities they are gaining, leading to their engagement and presence in public life. This report outlines Somaliland's historical development and the clan structures existing in Somaliland. It furthermore sheds light on Somaliland's plural legal system and reflects upon it from a women's rights perspective. It touches upon the existing engendered gerontocracy and the accompanying assumptions of gender roles and realities influencing the lives of women and girls in Somaliland, as well as looking at notions of gender relations and male youth ideologies, particularly highlighting youth frustration with the limitations of the traditional system and the weak of modern statuary legal scheme. The report aims at revealing the layers of sociocultural controversy between the global concepts and praxis of women's rights and their presence in the public sphere and the inherited images of women's subordination. Those aspects are part and parcel of the phenomeon of sexual violence, and in particular multiple perpetrator sexual abuse, in Somaliland. The specific socio-historic and cultural background of Somaliland's clan based system, as well as its plural legal systems are necessary to understand and display the full scope of factors influencing on such cruel instances of sexual violence. The report highlights how the static gender roles imposed by culture and religion are central in putting women and girls further at risk and gives insight into environments and drivers motivating perpetrators of sexual gender based violence to commit such crimes. This report has the objective of raising awareness and strengthening civil society and government efforts to address gang rape in Somaliland. The aim is especially to take a look at the absence of justice, impunity for perpetrators and challenges encountered by Somaliland male and female youth. Details: Kampala- Uganda: Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), 2015. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 29, 2016 at: http://www.sihanet.org/sites/default/files/resource-download/The%20Other%20War%20-%20Gangrape%20in%20Somalialand%20SIHA%20Network.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Somalia URL: http://www.sihanet.org/sites/default/files/resource-download/The%20Other%20War%20-%20Gangrape%20in%20Somalialand%20SIHA%20Network.pdf Shelf Number: 140065 Keywords: Conflict-Related ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Bileski, Matthew Title: The Reporting of Sexual Assault in Arizona, CY 2003-2012 Summary: Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) - 41-2406, which became law in July 2005, requires the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) to compile information obtained from all Arizona disposition reporting forms on sexual assault (A.R.S. - 13-1406) and the false reporting of sexual assault involving a spouse (A.R.S. - 13-2907.03). The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) provides the ACJC with the necessary records to meet the requirement. Utilizing DPS arrest and disposition data, ACJC is mandated to provide an annual sexual assault report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records. The data used to complete this report are extracted by DPS from the Arizona Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) records system and provided to ACJC in January on an annual basis. By statute, local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and the courts are required to submit to the ACCH repository information on all arrests and subsequent case disposition information for felonies, sexual offenses, driving under the influence offenses, and domestic violence-related offenses. This report focuses on data from calendar years (CY) 2003 to 2012 and updates data reported in the CY2002 to 2011 report. The ACJC is required to report on law enforcement reporting, charge filings, and subsequent case disposition findings (specifically convictions) and sentencing of A.R.S. - 13-1406 sexual assault charges, A.R.S. - 13-1406.01 sexual assault involving a spouse charges, and - 13-2907.03 false reporting of sexual assault of a spouse charges. In addition to the mandatory sexual assault statutes, data in the report include A.R.S. - 13-1423 violent sexual assault arrest and disposition information reported to ACCH. The following summarizes some of the latest findings in year-over-year change from CY 2011 to CY 2012 for all sexual assault-related2 arrest and disposition information available in the ACCH: - The total number of arrests involving sexual assault increased from 277 in CY 2011 to 306 in CY 2012, and arrest charges also increased from 562 to 584 over the same period. A total of two arrests were made involving violent sexual assault in CY 2012, accounting for 14 violent sexual assault charges. - Over 99 percent of sexual assault-related arrestees in CY 2012 were male, an increase from 98.1 percent reported in CY 2011. The majority of arrestees continued to be white/Caucasian and under the age of 25. - Sexual assault-related arrests flagged for domestic violence increased from 33 arrests in CY 2011 to 42 arrests in CY 2012. - Convictions for sexual assault-related charges decreased from 219 in CY 2011 to 126 in CY 2012. Also in CY 2012, court dismissals outnumbered convictions at 132. - Convictions for sexual assault charges involving domestic violence remained unchanged at eight in CY 2011 and CY 2012; however, court dismissals rose from 10 to 28 during the same period. No convictions were reported for violent sexual assault and sexual assault involving a spouse charges in CY 2011 and CY 2012. - The percentage of sexual assault convictions that resulted in a sentence of probation fell from 85.4 percent in CY 2011 to 73.8 percent in CY 2012. The percentage of convictions that resulted in a sentence to prison fell from 51.1 percent in CY 2011 to 50.8 percent in CY 2012, and sentences to jail fell from 3.7 percent to 2.4 percent over the same period. Further, sentences were all, or in part, suspended for 45.2 percent of convictions in both CY 2011 and CY 2012. Details: Phoenix: Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, 2014. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2014%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report%20Final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2014%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report%20Final.pdf Shelf Number: 140089 Keywords: Crime StatisticsRapeSex CrimesSex OffendersSexual AssaultsSexual Violence |
Author: Ritter, Nancy Title: Down the Road: Testing Evidence in Sexual Assaults Summary: A few years ago, NIJ published The Road Ahead: Unanalyzed Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases, a special report that explored the issue of untested sexual assault kits that were stored in law enforcement evidence facilities around the nation. Since then, we have learned a lot about the role of testing biological evidence in solving sexual assaults. This report, Down the Road: Testing Evidence in Sexual Assaults, discusses the results of recent studies supported by NIJ. Through scientific research, we have gained greater understanding that: Although a sexual assault kit (SAK) may contain biological evidence - more than two-thirds of the cases in two recent studies did - there can be other important physical evidence that is not stored with the SAK, such as bedding, toxicology reports, or weapons. - One kit does not equal one biological sample: In an ongoing SAK-testing partnership between NIJ and the FBI, for example, 597 kits (tested as of October 2015) contained 8,694 discreet biological samples; therefore, when speaking about the "number" of SAKs, it is important to keep in mind that each kit likely contains many separate pieces of evidence that could be tested to determine the identity of a suspect. - Although testing SAK evidence may lead to the identification of a suspect, evidence of serial rapes, or the exoneration of a wrongly convicted person, it is only one part of the investigative process. Testing may not result in a new lead if, for example, the identity of the suspect is already known or there is not enough biological evidence in the kit to yield a DNA profile. Some of the most recent scientific findings about the role of evidence testing in sexual assaults come from two major NIJ-supported projects. After a competitive solicitation process, NIJ awarded research grants in 2011 to the Houston Police Department (HPD) and the Wayne County (Detroit), Michigan, Prosecutor's Office to form multidisciplinary teams to examine the issue of unsubmitted SAKs in their jurisdictions. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2016. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2016 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249805.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249805.pdf Shelf Number: 140505 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationForensic EvidenceRapeSexual Assaults |
Author: Fields, Shawn E. Title: Debunking the Stranger in the Bushes Myth: The Case for Sexual Assault Protection Orders Summary: Rape mythologies about the "stranger lurking in the bushes" continue to inform attitudes and decisions by law enforcement personnel, judges, and juries. These archaic stereotypes prejudice sexual assault victims by conditioning factfinders to distrust rape allegations lacking corroborative evidence of a physical struggle with a stranger. In reality, over three-quarters of all sexual assaults in the United States are committed by someone known to the victim; more often than not the victim and perpetrator live, work, or attend school together. Given the perpetuation of rape myths, the incarceration rate for these "acquaintance rape" offenders currently stands at less than 1%. The failure of the criminal justice system to protect sexual assault victims from perpetrators with ongoing access to their victims puts victims at genuine risk of future harm. Moreover, existing civil restraining order statutes remain largely unavailable to sexual assault victims, because these statutes either require the presence of a romantic relationship or impose an unattainably high burden of proof for victims with little extrinsic evidence of physical assault. This Article advocates for a new Sexual Assault Protection Order that imposes no relationship requirement, operates under a lower burden of proof, and provides carefully-tailored prospective relief specifically designed for sexual assault victims. This Article also considers the constitutional concerns of critics who argue that restraining order hearings impermissibly adjudicate criminal guilt under more permissive civil procedures. The Article concludes by balancing these competing concerns, and recommending a model Sexual Assault Protection Order that can both provide tangible, attainable protection remedies to victims and adequately protect the rights of the accused. Details: Unpublished paper, 2016. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 19, 2016 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2849871 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2849871 Shelf Number: 140792 Keywords: Acquaintance RapeProtection OrdersRapeRestraining OrdersSexual Assault |
Author: National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children Title: Child Sexual Abuse on Trial. Part 1: The Cases Summary: Sexual abuse of children is present in multiple differing forms, so it is impossible to sketch a profile of the typical child molester. Clearly, however, the popular image of a child molester is not supported by the facts. Contrary to the stereotype of the offender as a stranger, the perpetrators of hands-on sexual abuse of children are usually known to the victim: a family member, friend or acquaintance. Furthermore, it is not only adults that commit the abuse: one in six offenders is a minor. The assumption impression that perpetrators often abuse many victims also needs to be rectified: most offenders are convicted of abusing a single child. National Rapporteur Corinne Dettmeijer: 'It is one of the greatest fears of parents that their child will one day be the victim of sexual abuse. Many parents warn their children about child molesters and are on their guard with respect to contact between their child and the man at the day-care centre or the swimming pool, for example. To focus so much on strangers and men who work with children is to overlook a great many victims and offenders.' The study shows that only a small proportion of victims (7%) are abused by a total stranger. In the vast majority of cases, the perpetrator is a member of the victim's own family or circle of friends and acquaintances. Abuse by a person who works with children, such as a teacher, a sports coach or a babysitter certainly occurs, but only in a minority of cases (10%). The abuse is most often committed by a person who is very close to the victim. In no fewer than 36% of cases, for example, the perpetrator is a member of the child's family. The nature of the abuse This first part of the study focuses on the nature of the abuse and the characteristics of the perpetrators and victims in the cases that were analysed. Almost nine out of ten of the convictions involved serious sexual abuse, including touching of the genitals and penetration. In most cases, the abuse did not occur just once: in more than three-quarters of the cases the abuse had continued for more than one day, over periods ranging from a few days to twelve years. More than one in ten victims suffered the abuse for a period of four years or longer. Most perpetrators abuse a single victim The National Rapporteur refutes the stereotypical impression that perpetrators have more than one victim: 78% of the perpetrators were convicted of sexual abuse of a single victim. The offenders varied greatly in age, from minors to the very elderly. One in six offenders was a minor at the time he or she committed the offence. There were practically no female perpetrators in the study. In 97% of the cases studied, the convicted offenders were men. Victims are usually girls The study also provides insight into the victims of child sexual abuse. In most cases (85%), the victim was a girl. The average age of the victims when the abuse began was 10.4 years. Scarcely any of the victims in the judgments that were studied were below the age of four. Research and follow-up The study was based on a sample taken from almost 600 judgments in 2012 and 2013 in which an offender was convicted of hands-on abuse of a child. The sample comprised 182 perpetrators. The charges in the cases were brought under the following articles of the Dutch Criminal Code: Article 244 DCC (sexual penetration of a child under the age of twelve); Article 245 DCC (sexual penetration of a child between the ages of twelve and sixteen); Article 247 (indecent acts with a child under the age of 16) Article 249(1) (indecent acts with a minor entrusted to the offender's care). Details: The Hague: National Rapporteur, 2016. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2016 at: https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/bnrm-child-sexual-abuse-on-trial-def_tcm64-623336_tcm24-56551.PDF Year: 2016 Country: Netherlands URL: https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/bnrm-child-sexual-abuse-on-trial-def_tcm64-623336_tcm24-56551.PDF Shelf Number: 145002 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild Sexual AbuseRapeSex Offenders |
Author: Hamel, Christelle Title: Rape and sexual assault in France: initial findings of the VIRAGE survey Summary: How common are rape and other forms of sexual assault in France today? In what contexts, and at what ages do they occur? In 2015, the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) conducted a large-scale survey of violence and gender relations (Violence et rapports de genre, VIRAGE), on a large sample of respondents representative of the French population aged 20- 69. Their answers to the survey questions provide a detailed picture of the sexual violence experienced by women and men in France. Details: Paris: French Institute for Demographic Studies, 2016. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Population & Societies no. 537: Accessed December 7, 2016 at: https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/25953/538.population.societies.2016.november.rape.agression.sexual.en.pdf Year: 2016 Country: France URL: https://www.ined.fr/fichier/s_rubrique/25953/538.population.societies.2016.november.rape.agression.sexual.en.pdf Shelf Number: 147925 Keywords: RapeSexual AssaultSexual HarassmentSexual Violence |
Author: Boesten, Jelke Title: On Ending Sexual Violence, or Civilising War Summary: This paper uses the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, held in London in June 2014, as a window into the current wave of calls for action against wartime rape. The recent political attention to address sexual violence in conflict builds on decades of scholarly research, feminist activism, and more recently, the adoption of feminist goals in UN gender and security work. This paper asks if the feminist work done to unpack and unsettle gender binaries that foment sexual violence in war and in peace is not undone by the singular focus on rape-in-war. With the knowledge that rape in war tends to reproduce and naturalise the inequalities that fed into conflict in the first place, how should we understand a focus on eradicating sexual violence in war spearheaded by countries that regularly engage in postcolonial wars? What does this say about the framing of contemporary war, and attitudes towards sexual violence? More specifically, to what extent can one usefully make war 'more civilised' (US Secretary of State John Kerry's words) by addressing one specific aspect? The paper builds on case study research in Peru which looks at how the state deals with rape in war and peace, as well as the broader literature in the field of gender, peace and security. Details: London: King's International Development Institute, King's College London, 2015. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: International Development Institute Working Paper 2015-02: Accessed February 13, 2017 at: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/idi/Research/Boesten-IDI-Working-Paper-2015-02.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/idi/Research/Boesten-IDI-Working-Paper-2015-02.pdf Shelf Number: 145999 Keywords: Conflict Related ViolenceRapeSexual Violence |
Author: Amnesty International Title: "Do Not Remain Silent": Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan Call for Justice and Reparations Summary: Since the outbreak of South Sudan's internal armed conflict in Juba in December 2013, thousands of South Sudanese have been subjected to sexual violence including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, torture, castration, or forced nudity. These acts of sexual violence are shocking in their scale and level of brutality, and will leave physical, psychological, and social impacts for decades to come. In this report, survivors of sexual violence recount their experiences, often with disturbing detail. They call for the perpetrators to be held accountable, reparations, and measures to address the social fractures that cause and result from sexual violence. Details: London: AI, 2017. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 27, 2017 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr65/6469/2017/en/ Year: 2017 Country: Sudan URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr65/6469/2017/en/ Shelf Number: 146522 Keywords: RapeSex Offences Sexual Violence Violence Against Women |
Author: Nesbitt-Ahmed, Zahrah Title: Engaging Men and Boys to End Sexual to End Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Sierra Leone: A Stakeholder Mapping Report, June 2014 Summary: Increasingly, engaging with men and boys has emerged as a vital strategy adopted by non-governmental organisations, national governments, women's organisations, and international agencies for ending sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and achieving gender equality, including in refugee and post-conflict settings (Barker and Ricardo 2005; Dworkin, Colvin, Hatcher and Peacock 2012). While SGBV is a global problem, recent research in West Africa suggests that this problem becomes particularly acute in post-conflict countries. In Sierra Leone, the focus of this report, it is widely estimated that during its civil war from 1991-2002, up to 250,000 women and girls were subjected to some form of SGBV (Amnesty International 2007: 4). Rape, largely but not solely by men against women, was used systematically by all factions and, although peace was declared in 2002, the trauma of war and its violent tactics has left scars that run through the fabric of households, families and communities. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the role of men and boys in addressing SGBV, in June 2014 IDS and MAGE-SL held two stakeholder workshops and a series of interviews in Sierra Leone. This report begins with a brief overview of the workshops, which form part of a larger research study on collective action and the role of men and boys in addressing SGBV in Sierra Leone. Section 4 details five of the key themes drawn from the workshops. These are: (1) the civil war as catalyst for critical awareness; (2) the economic basis of inequality in households; (3) law and policy reform; (4) inadequate support for those engaged in work to address SGBV; and (5) knowledge sharing. Section 5 maps the various stakeholders in Sierra Leone whose interests either overlap with, intersect with, or impede the work of those engaging with men and boys against SGBV; it also highlights the opportunities and challenges. Drawing from the workshop findings, Section 6 suggests why it is important to engage with men and boys to address SGBV, and Section 7 provides a concluding summary. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report No. 110: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5780/ER110_EngagingMenandBoystoEndSexualandGenderBasedViolenceinSierraLeoneAStakeholderMappingReportJune2014.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: Sierra Leone URL: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5780/ER110_EngagingMenandBoystoEndSexualandGenderBasedViolenceinSierraLeoneAStakeholderMappingReportJune2014.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 147200 Keywords: Abusive MenGender-Related ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Strom, Kevin J. Title: Efficiency in Processing Sexual Assault Kits in Crime Laboratories and Law Enforcement Agencies Summary: Unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) that accrue in U.S. law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have been the subject of increasing attention for the past decade, as have untested SAKs pending analysis in crime laboratories. The field needs a research-informed approach to identify the most efficient practices for addressing the submission of SAKs in LEAs and the testing of SAKs in laboratories. This approach would also determine whether specific policies or characteristics of a jurisdiction result in more efficient processing outcomes. This mixedmethods study examines intra- and interagency dynamics associated with SAK processing efficiency in a linked sample of crime laboratories (N = 145) and LEAs (N = 321). Relying on responses to a national survey of laboratories and a matched sample of LEAs, researchers at RTI International used regression analysis and stochastic frontier modeling to assess how labor and capital inputs, evidence policies, evidence management systems, and models of cross-agency coordination affect SAK processing efficiency. Semistructured interviews with personnel from forensic laboratories, LEAs, and prosecutor's offices in six jurisdictions were used to elaborate on critical themes relating to SAK processing efficiency. Research Questions Research questions are organized into four sections: Submission and Testing Rates addresses whether laboratory or LEA characteristics are associated with efficiency at laboratory, LEA, and jurisdiction levels and includes one research question: - What laboratory or LEA characteristics (e.g., size of agency, use of technology) are associated with SAK testing or submission rates? Production Functions estimates the productivity of laboratory and LEA processing inputs and provides each unit with a technical efficiency score. Research questions include these: - How productive are laboratory DNA processing inputs and LEA labor inputs? - Do resource utilization inefficiencies contribute to the accumulation of SAKs in LEAs or laboratories? If so, what would be the impact if all inefficiencies were eliminated? Case Closure Rates investigates relationships between LEA submission rates and case closures and between laboratory testing rates and case closures. This section has the following research question: - Do testing or submission rates affect the number of cases that can be closed? Perceptions of Efficient Practices examines qualities or practices of agencies that are perceived to enhance efficiency. This section includes the following research question: - From the perspective of LEAs, laboratories, and prosecuting attorneys, what qualities or practices are most important for efficiency in SAK processing? Study Design and Methods To address the aforementioned research questions, RTI project staff conducted a 2-year mixed-methods study in three phases: - In Phase I, a national survey was administered to state, county, and municipal laboratories that conduct biological forensic analysis, and an additional survey was given to a sample of LEAs that submit SAK evidence to these laboratories. Questions were designed to assess SAK outputs (e.g., submission/testing rates) and inputs (e.g., labor, capital, policies, interagency communication). - In Phase II, production functions were estimated to examine effects of labor and capital inputs, in addition to policies, management systems, and cross-agency coordination on efficiency. - In Phase III, six jurisdictions were recruited for site visits, and qualitative methods were used to understand how LEAs, laboratories, and prosecutors implement practices that affect efficiency. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2017. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2017 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250682.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250682.pdf Shelf Number: 147387 Keywords: Crime LaboratoriesCriminal InvestigationEvidenceRapeSexual Assault |
Author: Cross, Theodore Title: Injury Evidence, Biological Evidence, and Prosecution of Sexual Assault Summary: Injury evidence and biological evidence gained from forensic medical examinations of victims can provide evidence about the crime as well as the means of linking a suspect to the crime. Evidence from a forensic medical examination can include genital and non-genital injuries, biological evidence (including sperm or semen, blood, and amylase, an enzyme of saliva), and a DNA profile that can often be derived from the biological evidence. This DNA can be matched to a potential suspect, matched to another investigation in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), or matched to a convicted offender in CODIS. Injury evidence can be used to establish a victim's lack of consent and could lead to physical assault charges. This project explored the use and impact of injury evidence and biological evidence through a study of the role of these forms of evidence in prosecuting sexual assault in an urban district attorney's office in a metropolitan area in the eastern United States. The research questions addressed in this summary overview are as follows: - How frequent were different forms of injury evidence and biological evidence in the sample? - Is the presence of injury evidence and biological evidence correlated with the presence of other forms of evidence? - Which types of cases and case circumstances are more likely to yield injury evidence and biological evidence? - Do the presence of injury evidence and biological evidence predict criminal justice outcomes, taking into account the effects of other predictors? - In what ways do prosecutors use injury evidence and biological evidence and what is their appraisal of their impact on case outcomes? Details: Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2017 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251036.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251036.pdf Shelf Number: 147400 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationEvidenceForensic EvidenceRapeSex OffendersSexual Assault |
Author: Nobert, Megan Title: Addressing Sexual Violence in Humanitarian Organisations: Good Practices for Improved Prevention Measures, Policies, and Procedures Summary: Report the Abuse (RTA), the first global NGO to solely address sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers, has created the first good practices tool to assist humanitarian organisations in their efforts to improve how they address this problem. As the issue has gained more exposure, humanitarian organisations across the globe have increasingly asked for guidance. This good practices tool, as well as other guidelines and information created by RTA, forms the foundational basis for improved prevention measures, policies, and procedures to address sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers. Any discussion on this issue must start with why it happens, and to that end RTA's good practices tool begins by examining the most significant risk factor for sexual violence in humanitarian workplaces: organisational culture. Cultures that encourage constructive feedback, address misconduct issues, and provide the information and resources necessary for sexual violence issues to be addressed in a professional and survivorcentred manner are less likely to experience such incidents. Organisational culture not only underpins why sexual violence incidents occur, but why survivors so rarely report incidents. It is the core change that humanitarian organisations must be working towards - emphasising zero tolerance for sexual violence incidents of any nature. Zero tolerance must start with implementing strong and repetitious prevention measures: including simple and clear messaging about how sexual violence will not be tolerated, combined with appropriate, sensitive, and frequent trainings on the topic. Backed by strong leadership, these measures have the potential to significantly reduce the number of sexual violence incidents that might occur in humanitarian workplaces. Of course any prevention measure, in addition to being understood by all members of staff, must also be supported by policies and procedures that underline both prevention and response. Comprehensive, holistic, accessible, and survivor-centred policies on sexual violence in humanitarian workplaces serve an essential function: clarifying what is sexual violence, how to report incidents when they occur, and the consequences for perpetrators. The development of such policies must take into account feedback from staff members, in particular national staff, and evaluate the trust they have in the organisation's structure and mechanisms; this allows for the creation of an M&E system to start evaluating how humanitarian organisations are doing to address the issue. There is a myriad of ways to guarantee staff members fully understand what is acceptable behaviour: starting from recruitment through to the regular signing of a Code of Conduct. Ensuring that the language used in policies on sexual violence is accessible and understood by everyone in the organisation - from the cleaner to the Executive Director - can be a daunting task; however it is necessary for all members of staff to understand their rights to a safe and healthy workplace, as well as how they must contribute to the creation of one. It is important to remember that the first people a survivor encounters post-sexual violence can have a strong impact on their entire recovery process, good or bad. Therein lies the significance of developed and operational procedures, the final piece to creating safe and healthy workplaces for all humanitarian aid workers, and the real demonstration that all prevention measures and policies put in place by the organisation function professionally, impartially, and in a survivor-centred manner. Procedures start with functional and accessible reporting processes that result in transparent, professional, and impartial investigations; they end with accountability for both survivors and perpetrators. Where possible this should involve local justice mechanisms, bearing in mind that in many of the locations where humanitarian operations are undertaken this may not be a reality. In all circumstances though, the priorities must be the support and care of survivors, and the creation of an environment where impunity is not allowed to thrive. Given the importance of an organisation's culture in preventing incidents of sexual violence, it should be clear that different roles within humanitarian organisations could be vital to addressing this issue. To further assist humanitarian aid workers at all different levels, we have provided some analysis of how different roles can and must contribute to the creation of safe and healthy humanitarian workplaces, and we actively encourage the empowerment of individuals within such roles to address this problem. Finally, as part of our continuing efforts to provide support and guidance, for all of the sections noted within this short summary, a series of recommendations has been provided. These recommendations should help to guide implementation of the good practices tool, and in particular assist in the development of M&E measures to determine progress on the issue. However, humanitarian organisations are also encouraged to expand on the ideas outlined within this tool and use it as a starting or foundational block. The publication of the good practices tool, and other guidance and information created by RTA, should not be seen as the end of work on the issue. This is the starting point, from which we hope others will take up our call to action. Addressing sexual violence against humanitarian aid workers is necessary, and it must happen now, not tomorrow. It is a real and grave issue that needs to be tackled by all humanitarian organisations, for the benefit of all humanitarian aid workers. Details: Swit: Report the Abuse, 2017. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2017 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/RTA%20Addressing%20Sexual%20Violence%20in%20Humanitarian%20Organisations%20-%20Good%20Practices%20for%20Improved%20Prevention%20Measures%2C%20Policies%2C%20and%20Procedures.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/RTA%20Addressing%20Sexual%20Violence%20in%20Humanitarian%20Organisations%20-%20Good%20Practices%20for%20Improved%20Prevention%20Measures%2C%20Policies%2C%20and%20Proce Shelf Number: 147443 Keywords: Humanitarian Aid WorkersRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceWorkplace Violence |
Author: Morgan, Rachel E. Title: Race And Hispanic Origin Of Victims And Offenders, 2012-15 Summary: Presents estimates of violent victimization (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) by the race and Hispanic origin of victims and offenders during the 4-year period from 2012 through 2015. This report examines victim, offender, and incident characteristics, such as crime type, victim-offender relationship, and reporting to police. Findings are based on data from BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey, which collects information on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older. Highlights: During 2012-15, half (51%) of violent victimizations were intraracial, that is both victims and offenders were the same race or both were of Hispanic origin. In the majority of violent victimizations, white victims' offenders were white (57%) and black victims' offenders were black (63%). The rates of total violent crime, serious violent crime, and simple assault were higher for intraracial victimizations than for interracial victimizations. From 1994 to 2015, white-on-white violence (down 79%) and black-on-black violence (down 78%) declined at a similar rate. During 2012-15, there were no differences among white, black, and Hispanic intraracial victimizations reported to police. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2017. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2017 at: https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rhovo1215.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rhovo1215.pdf Shelf Number: 147744 Keywords: Crime StatisticsNational Crime Victimization SurveyRace and CrimeRapeRobberySexual AssaultVictimizationVictimsViolent Crime |
Author: Amnesty International Title: "My World Is Finished": Rohingya Targeted in Crimes Against Humanity in Myanmar Summary: On 25 August 2017, members of a Rohingya armed group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), attacked approximately 30 security force outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine State. In its response, the Myanmar military launched an attack on the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State as a whole. Often working with Border Guard Police and local vigilantes, the military has carried out a campaign of violence that has been systematic, organized, and ruthless. Based on more than 150 interviews as well as an analysis of satellite imagery and data, this briefing shows that the Myanmar military has killed at least hundreds of Rohingya women, men, and children; raped and perpetrated other forms of sexual violence on Rohingya women and girls; and carried out organized, targeted burning of entire Rohingya villages. In seven weeks, the relentless human rights violations, which amount to crimes against humanity under international law, have forced more than 520,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. Details: London: AI, 2017. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 7, 2017 at: file:///C:/Users/pschultze/Downloads/ASA1672882017ENGLISH.PDF Year: 2017 Country: Burma URL: file:///C:/Users/pschultze/Downloads/ASA1672882017ENGLISH.PDF Shelf Number: 148057 Keywords: Human Rights Abuses RapeSexual Violence Vigilantism |
Author: Rotenberg, Cristine Title: Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada, 2009 to 2014: A statistical profile Summary: - Over a six-year period between 2009 and 2014, police reported 117,238 sexual assaults in Canada where sexual assault was the most serious violation in the incident. - Almost all (98%) police-reported sexual assaults were classified as level 1 offences (assault without a weapon or evidence of bodily harm). - The median age of victims of police-reported sexual assault was 18 years. The majority (87%) of victims were female, particularly young women and girls. One in four (26%) victims were children aged 13 and younger. This is more than four times greater than the proportion of child victims of physical assault (6%). - An accused was identified in 60% of police-reported sexual assaults, of which 69% were charged. Overall, less than half (41%) of police-reported sexual assaults resulted in a charge being laid, compared with half (50%) of physical assaults. - The vast majority (98%) of accused charged with sexual assault were male, with a median age of 33 years. - The median delay in reporting to police-the time between when the offence took place and when it was reported to police - was 25 days for sexual assaults, compared with only two days for physical assaults. The longest delay in reporting to police was observed among incidents involving children sexually assaulted by their parent, with a median delay of one year. - Of sexual assaults where a charge was laid by police, the majority (87%) of victims knew their assailant; most commonly as a casual acquaintance, a family member, or an intimate partner. Only a small proportion (13%) of sexual assaults were perpetrated by someone who was a stranger to the victim. - Most (83%) victims of sexual assault were sexually assaulted by someone older than them. Of these charged cases, the median age gap between the victim and their assailant was 13 years. These findings are in contrast to those for physical assault, where victims were most commonly assaulted by someone in their peer age group (within five years). - One in five (19%) sexual assaults with a charge laid were perpetrated by an accused that may meet the age-based criteria for pedophilia. This includes incidents where the accused was 16 years of age and older, the victim was 13 years of age and younger, and there was at least a five year age gap between them (as stipulated by clinical criteria). Over half (55%) of these cases involved a child sexually assaulted by an older family member. Details: Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2017. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Juristat: Accessed November 9, 2017 at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/54866-eng.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/54866-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 148090 Keywords: Child Sexual AbuseCrime StatisticsRapeSex CrimeSex OffendersSexual Assault |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "All of My Body Was Pain": Sexual Violence against Rohingya Women and Girls in Burma Summary: Burmese soldiers committed widespread rape against women and girls during the military's campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in Burma's Rakhine State. Since August 25, 2017, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled killings, sexual violence, and mass arson, seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh. "All of My Body Was Pain" is based on 52 interviews with women and girls, including 29 survivors of rape. In many of the cases women and girls reported being raped by six or more soldiers. Women also described with great distress seeing security forces murder their young children or other relatives or neighbors. The journey to Bangladesh was particularly painful and difficult for survivors of gang rape walking with serious injuries and for pregnant women. Bangladesh and international donors have provided funds and critical services to assist the refugees. But numerous crimes against humanity have been committed without accountability for senior military officials or others responsible for the worst abuses. The United Nations Security Council should urgently implement a full arms embargo on Burma, impose targeted sanctions against leaders responsible for grave violations of human rights, and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. Attention to sexual violence and other abuses suffered by Rohingya women and girls should be integrated into every aspect of the response to this human rights and humanitarian crisis. This includes rigorous investigations of the scope of sexual violence against the Rohingya, provision of medical and psychosocial services to survivors, and measures to prevent and respond to genderbased violence in refugee camps. Details: New York: HRW, 2017. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2017 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/burma1117_web_1.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Burma URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/burma1117_web_1.pdf Shelf Number: 148282 Keywords: RapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Mann, Rosemary Title: Norma's Project: A Research Study into the Sexual Assault of Older Women in Australia Summary: Norma's Project was conceived in response to the experience of Norma, the mother of one of the four researchers involved in the project. Norma was a confused and vulnerable 83 year old woman who was sexually assaulted by a male staff member during a respite stay in a residential aged care facility in 2011. Norma was able to tell her story coherently and consistently, and she was able to identify her attacker. She was fortunate that her daughter and others, including police and sexual assault workers, listened and believed her account, tried to bring the perpetrator to justice, and worked hard to make her feel safe again. Nonetheless, given the lack of forensic evidence, the case against the perpetrator was not strong enough for a successful court action to be prosecuted. The idea of older women as victims of sexual assault is relatively recent and little understood. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that, despite the silence that surrounds the topic, such assaults occur in many settings and circumstances. The lack of community awareness can be partly attributed to commonly held assumptions that older women are asexual. How, then, can they be the target of sexual assault? What is unimaginable and unacceptable becomes unsayable or invisible. The significant gaps in knowledge about the sexual assault of older women present a major obstacle to the development of frameworks and strategies for prevention and intervention. Consequently the Norma's Project research team sought funding from the Australian Department of Social Services to address the gaps and increase our understandings of the settings, social contexts and vulnerabilities associated with the sexual assault of older women. The project aims to increase awareness of this important issue both within the community and amongst service providers, and to strengthen the community's ability to prevent, respond to and speak out about the sexual assault of older women. Details: Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), LaTrobe University, 2014. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2017 at: http://elder-mediation.com.au/resources/Sexual_Assault_Older_Women_Australia.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://elder-mediation.com.au/resources/Sexual_Assault_Older_Women_Australia.pdf Shelf Number: 148283 Keywords: Elder Abuse and NeglectElderly VictimsRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: End Rape on Campus Australia Title: Connecting the dots: Understanding sexual assault in university communities Summary: The following report is the result of End Rape on Campus Australia's extensive experience working with and advocating for student survivors of sexual assault. We believe that everyone has a right to an education free from sexual violence and that educational institutions have the responsibility of addressing sexual assault within their communities, both at the level of primary prevention, as well as through providing quality, trauma-informed services and pathways for reporting incidents of sexual assault. In this submission, we provide an overview of the problem of sexual assault at tertiary educational institutions in Australia, including the nature and extent of the issue, the obstacles a survivor may face when reporting and accessing support, and the historical context of universities' failure to respond to this issue. We have made a number of recommendations for change both at individual universities, and at the level of State and Federal Governments, to address the ongoing problem of sexual assault in university communities. The nature and extent of sexual assault within university communities At present, there is little reliable data on sexual assault prevalence rates at Australian universities, however national statistics show that young women in general are at a significantly greater risk of experiencing sexual assault than any other group of people. Recent media cases and data obtained through FOI investigations indicate that sexual assault and harassment is occurring at concerning rates at Australian universities and colleges. Attitudes which minimise sexual assault, shift blame onto victims or normalise non-consensual activity create a climate in which sexual assault is both more likely to occur, and less likely to be recognised and reported. We note that the perpetrators of sexual assault are overwhelmingly male, reflecting the gendered nature of sexual assault as a crime of power and control. In many instances, rape occurs off campus, in domestic settings such as share-houses, apartments, house parties, and so on. Although many universities restrict their attention to incidents which have occurred on campus, EROC Australia believes that this distinction is artificial. All instances of sexual assault experienced by a student have the potential to affect their ability to study and to participate in the university community regardless of where the assault took place. In this section, we also outline the role of witnesses and responders to acts of sexual assault, including friends of the victim, tutors, Residential Advisors and student representatives. There is an overarching lack of training and support for these supporters, creating a real risk of vicarious trauma. We provide several de-identified case studies from our work, illustrating common responses to sexual assault in university communities. The aftermath of rape: survivor needs in the wake of sexual assault Survivors often have a range of complex needs after experiencing sexual assault. In many cases, these needs are not met by the systems in place at universities for responding to requests for support. Part of the problem is the lack of a holistic approach to supporting survivors. Sexual assault can cause not only psychological and medical issues, but also financial stress, difficulty with academic tasks, the need for legal support, and housing issues, amongst others. In many cases, universities fail to make the connection between these needs and a student's experience of sexual assault. Even whereuniversities do endeavour to provide for some of these needs - for example, by referring students to oncampus counselling services - these services are often inaccessible and not specialised for responding to trauma. In particular, survivors have faced difficulties accessing the support they need with academic tasks, such as extensions or special considerations for assignments, time off from lectures or class, and changes to timetabling arrangements. Strict requirements for particular documentation, or automated systems that frequently reject applications, can cause significant anxiety for survivors. On-campus counselling services pose another problem. These services are often understaffed or underfunded, and many lack counselling staff with trauma specialist training, leading to some survivors receiving improper, and at times dangerous, treatment. Understanding the history and context of responses to sexual assault at Australian universities Sexual assault is not a new issue at Australian universities - student activists have been urging universities to address sexual violence for many decades. However, little progress has been made in improving policies, services and structures for reporting sexual violence. The overarching problem with universities' collective failure to address sexual violence is the conceptualisation of the problem as primarily a private concern or a woman's responsibility. Incidents of sexual assault are treated as rare, disconnected and random, rather than the inevitable product of a social context with deep-rooted and persistent gender inequality. This attitude leads to university campaigns that perpetuate various rape myths - for example, the misleading 'stranger danger' narrative leads to suggestions that better lighting on campus would reduce sexual assault. In many cases, universities seem to believe an adequate response to the prevalence of sexual assault is to publish 'safety tips' that urge women to modify their behaviour to avoid being sexually assaulted and perpetuate the idea that women hold responsibility for their own safety. Notably, such strategies fail to make perpetrators accountable for sexual assault. Universities also tend to conceptualise sexual assault as always, and only, a police matter. Many university websites urge survivors to report their experiences to police. Commonly, survivors are told that the university cannot take action unless the incident has been reported to police, or until a criminal conviction is secured. However, universities do in fact have disciplinary and misconduct procedures, which give university officials the power to investigate student misconduct, make findings, and deliver penalties. These procedures can provide important pathways of restitution for survivors, and can ideally deliver practical outcomes to support a survivor's welfare, such as removing the perpetrator from a class or from campus. Contrary to much university rhetoric, most university decision-making procedures are also supported by longstanding principles of administrative law, which acknowledge and regulate decision-making by nonjudicial bodies and provide protections for both survivors and alleged perpetrators. Barriers and challenges to reporting sexual assault within university communities There are many reasons that survivors may not choose to disclose their assault, whether informally, to friends and family, or formally, to professional support services, to the police or to their university. Barriers to informal reporting include emotional barriers, such as the fear of not being believed, as well as social, cultural, linguistic and structural barriers. There are also many obstacles to formally reporting instances of sexual assault - for example, inaccessible or poorly publicised reporting systems or a lack of trust in institutional procedures. Details: s.l.: End Rape on Campus Australia, 2017. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 5, 2018 at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5762fc04f5e231826f09afae/t/58b3d08ddb29d6e7a2b8271d/1488179368580/Connecting+the+dots.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Australia URL: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5762fc04f5e231826f09afae/t/58b3d08ddb29d6e7a2b8271d/1488179368580/Connecting+the+dots.pdf Shelf Number: 149314 Keywords: Campus CrimeCampus RapeColleges and UniversitiesRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceVictim ServicesVictims of Crime |
Author: End Rape on Campus Australia Title: The Red Zone: An investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university residential colleges Summary: The Red Zone Report details an extensive history of hazing, sexual assault and harassment at residential colleges around the country. In the foreword, Professor Catherine Lumby calls the report "sickening reading". In a series of powerful photos, presidents and Women's Officers from student organisations have written messages for their universities, such as '68 college students are raped per week in Aus. USyd WoCo has had enough', 'We stand with the silenced', 'Universities are covering up rape - but we will not be silent', and '12% of all campus rape happens in a single week: O Week'. Details: s.l.: End Rape on Campus Australia, 2018. 211p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 5, 2018 at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5762fc04f5e231826f09afae/t/5a95cf99e4966ba2c2a64ca5/1519767581881/The+Red+Zone+Report+2018 Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5762fc04f5e231826f09afae/t/5a95cf99e4966ba2c2a64ca5/1519767581881/The+Red+Zone+Report+2018 Shelf Number: 149316 Keywords: Campus CrimeCollege and UniversitiesCollege HazingCollege RapeRapeSexual Violence |
Author: Carrillo, Roxanna Title: Not A Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women Summary: Violence against women and girls kills and maims vast numbers; it fills their lives with pain and terror, from which some never recover. It exists in every country of the world in some form, and the statistics paint a horrifying picture: 40 per cent of all female homicide victims in the United Kingdom are killed by their intimate partners; every year thousands of women suffer dowry-related deaths or are disfigured by acid thrown in their faces by rejected suitors in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. In 2002, the Council of Europe declared violence against women a major cause of death and disability for women 16 to 44 years of age and called it a public health emergency. And in the United States, the health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide by intimate partners are more than $5.8 billion every single year. Globally, the World Bank estimates that violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined. One in three women throughout the world will suffer this violence in her lifetime; she will be beaten, raped, assaulted, trafficked, harassed or forced to submit to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM). In the majority of cases, the abuser will be a member of the woman's own family or someone known to her. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that violence in general has not abated. Whether it breaks out as full-scale war, ethnic or religious conflict, terrorism or the violence that regular unabated? The answer is deceptively simple, but the solution is deeply complex: gender inequality fuels violence against women and the power imbalances it creates are not easily rectified. As long as women in diverse countries do not have access to property and employment and equal wages, to the seats of power, to education, it is possible for governments to ignore them and their needs. Our work to end violence against women must be a conscious part of our work towards the empowerment of women in general. We cannot change the basic structures of society overnight. But each step in the ongoing effort to eradicate violence puts more pressure on those who condone the violence and allow it to exist. Each step makes it harder to ignore the international agreements to protect and promote women's human rights. This is the moment for a renewed commitment to build on the achievements of the last decades and find the resources for meaningful action. Without this commitment, much of what has been achieved may be lost. That would be a tragedy for all of us, since, as we have learned, women's security is tied to global security. In the words of the UN Commission on Human Security (Human Security Now, 2003): "The security of one person, one community, one nation rests on the decisions of many others, sometimes fortuitously, sometimes precariously." In our interconnected world, we are all affected by the decisions of individuals and nations whether close to home or on the other side of the world. Gender-based violence is part of an intricate web of violence. The trafficking of women is linked to the trafficking of drugs and arms, and an increase in criminality. Rape and sexual abuse are tied to the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS and the destruction of families. Impunity for violence against women suggests impunity for criminal behaviour and the disintegration of the rule of law. Violence against women is tied also to the brutality of war, an issue that was taken up extensively in Women War and Peace, an independent expert assessment commissioned by UNIFEM and published in 2002. Our goal in this report is to highlight achievements and indicate what must be done to build on these achievements. The report provides examples of good practices as well as of efforts that did not meet the goals set out for them - and explores why not. It looks at the challenges ahead, and asks what the most fruitful next steps might be. The work of the last decades indicates several directions for the future, but one of the most critical areas is the need for collaboration and partnerships. No one government or international agency or civil society organization can hope to have an impact alone. Pooling resources, sharing strengths and knowledge and listening to local leaders will allow end-violence efforts to move to the next level. We hope that that the lessons gathered here will serve as a tool, a prod and an inspiration to those entrusted with building the rule of law and honouring human rights as the basis for human security everywhere. Details: New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), 2003. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 10, 2018 at: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/312_book_complete_eng.pdf Year: 2003 Country: International URL: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/312_book_complete_eng.pdf Shelf Number: 117087 Keywords: Dowry DeathsGender-Based ViolenceGenital MutilationHomicideHuman traffickingRapeViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Cross, Theodore Title: Forensic Evidence and Criminal Justice Outcomes in a Statewide Sample of Sexual Assault Cases Summary: Sexual assault is a heinous crime that as much as a quarter of women nationally experience in their lifetime. Not only do victims suffer the terror and degradation of the assault, but they are further at risk of injury and a range of difficulties with mental health and functioning. Survivors are also at risk of re-victimization from informal and professional responses that question their credibility and in effect blame them for the assault. Only a small proportion of sexual assaults are prosecuted; only a subset of assaults are reported to police, only a portion of those cases reported to police result in arrest, and only small percentage of those arrested are ultimately prosecuted. When prosecution does ensue, enormous demands are placed on victims; they must testify in court about the traumatic events of the crime and face assaults on their credibility both in and outside the courtroom. In this difficult context, investigative methods that increase evidence against assailants while decreasing the burden on victims are especially important, and advances in the technology and expertise of collecting and analyzing injury and forensic evidence offer promise. Victims undergo difficult forensic medical examinations with the hope of contributing evidence that can help bring assailants to justice. The research community has a responsibility to develop a better understanding of how this information is used and actually relates to criminal justice actions. This study explores the role of injury evidence and forensic evidence in sexual assault cases using data from medical providers, crime laboratories and police. The study: - Examines the frequency of injury and biological evidence in sexual assault cases; - Identifies case factors associated with the presence of injury and biological evidence; - Analyzes how often biological evidence is processed prior to versus after arrest; - Explores how injury and biological evidence as well as other factors are related to arrest; and - Examines results for key comparisons thought to be salient for forensic evidence: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners vs. other medical examiners; strangers vs. known suspects; child victims vs. adults and adolescents. Details: Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 2014. 220p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 31, 2018 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248254.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248254.pdf Shelf Number: 150411 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationEvidenceForensic EvidenceRapeSex OffendersSexual Assault |
Author: New South Wales. Law Reform Commission Title: Consent in relation to sexual offences Summary: 1.9 When NSW introduced s 61HA in 2007, the aim was to bring about a cultural shift in the way the community and key participants in the criminal justice system respond to people who have experienced sexual assault. At the time, the Attorney General, relying on the findings of an Australian Institute of Criminology study of juror attitudes and biases in sexual assault cases, observed: [S]ome members of the community still hold the view that women often say "no" when they mean "yes", that women who are raped often ask for it, and that rape results from men not being able to control their need for sex and responsibility for rape is therefore removed. This [amendment] reflects the views of the greater majority of the community of New South Wales who strongly reject those outdated views. 1.10 However, recent developments have led some people to question whether the law is meeting its objectives. 1.11 In particular, community concern over the Lazarus case led the Attorney General to ask us to review the law of consent. In this case, the complainant said the accused sexually assaulted her in an alleyway behind a nightclub in Sydney's Kings Cross. The complainant detailed her experiences publicly in an interview with ABC's Four Corners program. 1.12 The case involved a trial, a retrial and two appeals8 over 5 years. It centred on the issues of consent and the accused's knowledge of whether the complainant consented. In two trials, the judges incorrectly applied the law on knowledge. The Court of Criminal Appeal ultimately decided not to order a third trial, believing it would be unfair and oppressive to the accused. There has been a lot of criticism about the Lazarus case and the authors of a number of preliminary submissions say that it shows the law must change. 1.13 Some have called for a new approach to consent. They believe the law should recognise a person's consent only when it is communicated clearly through their words or actions. Some think that Tasmania and Victoria provide models for reform that NSW should consider. 1.14 The issue goes beyond one case. Our review is occurring at a time when discussions about sexual assault and harassment are becoming increasingly prominent in public discussion, both in Australia and overseas. As one preliminary submission to our review states, the international #MeToo movement has "brought the issues of sexual violence and consent to the forefront". People all over the world have come forward, sharing their personal stories and supporting the movement. 1.15 The traction that the movement has gained shows that "the concern with what constitutes consent is real and far-reaching". One preliminary submission says the movement is "indicative of attitudes to consent to sex in 2018", and that s 61HA needs to change to reflect these "enlightened community views" on consent. 1.16 Our review also occurs against the backdrop of a commitment by the NSW Government to prevent, and better address, instances of sexual assault within the state. In July, for example, the Government released its first sexual assault strategy. The strategy aims to improve the existing services for people who experience sexual assault, raise community awareness of sexual violence, and improve prevention and education measures in families and the wider community. Scope of the review 1.17 Sexual assault is a complex problem that cannot be addressed solely by reforming the law.16 The authors of many preliminary submissions acknowledge that social and cultural understandings of consent and sexual assault need to change and that there are limits to what law reform can achieve. Many argue that any law reform must be accompanied by broad community education about the law of consent and the realities of sexual assault. In light of the low conviction and high attrition rates for sexual assault offences, submissions also point to many problems with the way the criminal justice system deals with sexual assault complaints. They make various recommendations for change. 1.19 Some argue, for example, that complainants need to be better supported in the justice system; that criminal justice processes need to be improved; and that police, prosecutors, lawyers and judges need to have a better understanding of sexual assault. Some suggest that restorative justice processes should be used or that NSW should set up specialist sexual assault courts with expert staff and judges. 1.20 These issues are important and interrelated, and holistic responses from government and the wider community are required to address them. However, our review has a specific focus: whether the approach to consent in the law should be reformulated. While we may discuss some of these broader issues during our review, we are conscious that we are limited by our terms of reference. Details: Sydney: The Commission, 2018. 136p. Source: Internet Resource: Consultation Paper 21: Accessed November 3, 2018 at: https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Consultation-Papers/CP21.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Consultation-Papers/CP21.pdf Shelf Number: 153247 Keywords: Criminal Law RapeSex Crime Sexual Assault Sexual Consent |
Author: Kettrey, Heather Hensman Title: Effects of bystander programs on the prevention of sexual assault among adolescents and college students: a systematic review Summary: Sexual assault among adolescents and college students Sexual assault is a significant problem among adolescents and college students in the United States and globally. Findings from the Campus Sexual Assault study estimated that 15.9% of college women had experienced attempted or completed sexual assault (i.e., unwanted sexual contact that could include sexual touching, oral sex, intercourse, anal sex, or penetration with a finger or object) prior to entering college and 19% had experienced attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college (Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009). Similar rates have been reported in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017), Chile (Lehrer, Lehrer, & Koss, 2013), China (Su, Hao, Huang, Xiao, & Tao, 2011), Finland (Bjorklund, Hakkanen-Nyholm, Huttunen, & Kunttu, 2010), Poland (Tomaszewska & Krahe, 2015), Rwanda (Van Decraen, Michielsen, Herbots, Rossem, & Temmerman, 2012), Spain (Vazquez, Torres, Otero, 2012) and in a global survey of countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas (Pengpid & Peltzer, 2016). The bystander approach -- One promising strategy for preventing sexual assault among adolescents and young adults is the implementation of bystander programs, which encourage young people to intervene when witnessing incidents or warning signs of sexual assault. Bystander programs seek to sensitize young people to warning signs of sexual assault, create attitudinal changes that foster bystander responsibility for intervening (e.g., creating empathy for victims), and build requisite skills and knowledge of tactics for taking action (Banyard, 2011; Banyard, Plante, & Moynihan, 2004; Burn, 2009; McMahon & Banyard, 2012). Many of these programs are implemented with large groups of adolescents or college students in the format of a single training/education session (e.g., as part of college orientation). However, some programs use broader implementation strategies, such as advertising campaigns that post signs across college campuses to encourage students to act when witnessing signs of violence. By treating young people as potential allies in preventing sexual assault, bystander programs have the capacity to be less threatening than traditional sexual assault prevention programs, which tend to address young people as either potential perpetrators or victims of sexual violence (Burn, 2009; Messner, 2015; [Jackson] Katz, 1995). Instead of placing emphasis on how young people may modify their individual behavior to either respect the sexual boundaries of others or reduce their personal risk for being sexually assaulted, bystander programs aim to foster prerequisite knowledge and skills for intervening on behalf of potential victims. Thus, by treating young people as part of the solution to sexual assault, rather than part of the problem, bystander programs may limit the risk of defensiveness or backlash among participants (e.g., decreased empathy for victims, increased rape myth acceptance) (Banyard et al., 2004; Katz, 1995). Objectives The overall objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine what effects bystander programs have on preventing sexual assault among adolescents and college students. More specifically, this review addressed three objectives. 1. The first objective was to assess the overall effects (including adverse effects), and the variability of the effects, of bystander programs on adolescents' and college students' attitudes and behaviors regarding sexual assault. 2. The second objective was to explore the comparative effectiveness of bystander programs for different profiles of participants (e.g., mean age of the sample, education level of the sample, proportion of males/females in the sample, proportion of fraternity/sorority members in the sample, proportion of athletic team members in the sample). 3. The third objective was to explore the comparative effectiveness of different bystander programs in terms of gendered content and approach (e.g., conceptualizing sexual assault as a gendered or gender-neutral problem, mixed- or single-sex group implementation). Details: Oslo: Campbell Collaboration, 2019. 159p. Source: Internet Resource: Campbell Systematic Reviews 2019:1: Accessed February 13, 2019 at: https://campbellcollaboration.org/library/bystander-programs-sexual-assault-adolescents-college-students.html Year: 2019 Country: International URL: https://campbellcollaboration.org/library/bystander-programs-sexual-assault-adolescents-college-students.html Shelf Number: 154551 Keywords: Bystander InterventionsCampus CrimesCampus RapeRapeSexual Assault |
Author: Quigg, Zara Title: STOP-SV: a training programme to prevent nightlife-related sexual violence (Evaluation Report) Summary: Globally, sexual violence is a key public health issue, placing large burdens on individuals' health and well-being, local communities and services. Accordingly, preventing sexual violence and associated risk factors are key targets in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) . Efforts to understand, prevent and respond to sexual violence have increased in recent decades. Importantly, studies have started to emerge highlighting nightlife environments as key settings for sexual violence, and critically the importance of developing and implementing prevention strategies in these settings. However, few prevention strategies exist that specifically aim to address nightlife related sexual violence. As part of the European Union Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, in 2016 the STOPSV (staff training on prevention of sexual violence) project was established with partners from the Czech Republic (Charles University), Portugal (IREFREA), Spain (IREFREA) and the United Kingdom (UK; Liverpool John Moores University). The primary aim of STOP-SV is to support the prevention of nightlife related sexual violence, through: 1. Mobilising local communities and developing community coalitions to work together to prevent nightlife related sexual violence; 2. Providing local stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to train nightlife staff (e.g. servers, security) so that they can recognise and effectively prevent and respond to sexual violence in nightlife; and, 3. Training nightlife workers so that they can recognise and effectively prevent and respond to sexual violence in nightlife. Based on existing literature on nightlife related sexual violence, and programmes that aim to prevent and respond to sexual violence through bystander intervention, the project developed a new pilot training programme for nightlife workers. In 2017/18, STOP-SV project partners from three pilot site countries (Czech Republic, Portugal and Spain) identified and tutored local stakeholders (i.e. training facilitators; Czech Republic n=5; Portugal n=11; Spain n=12, Appendix 1) to implement the STOP-SV training programme with nightlife workers in their respective countries. Subsequently, training facilitators implemented a training session with 114 nightlife workers (i.e. trainees; Czech Republic n=70; Portugal n=26; Spain n=18). A research study was conducted to evaluate the implementation and impact of the pilot STOP-SV training programme. The core objectives were to explore: The views of project partners, training facilitators and trainees of the STOP-SV training programme (following the piloting); and, The associated impact of the STOP-SV pilot training programme on nightlife workers': - Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of sexual violence; and, - Confidence in intervening in sexual violence in nightlife settings. In addition, the study sought to explore nightlife workers': Experience of identifying vulnerable patrons and/or sexual violence in nightlife settings; and, Personal experience of sexual violence in nightlife settings. Details: Liverpool: Faculty of Education, Health and Community, Liverpool John Moores University, 2018. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2019 at: https://phi.ljmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/STOP-SV-a-training-programme-to-prevent-nightlife-related-sexual-violence-evaluation-report.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Europe URL: https://phi.ljmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/STOP-SV-a-training-programme-to-prevent-nightlife-related-sexual-violence-evaluation-report.pdf Shelf Number: 154940 Keywords: Alcohol-Related Crime, ViolenceBystander InterventionNight-time EconomyPublic Health IssueRapeSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceViolence prevention |
Author: Great Britain. HM Government Title: Ending Violence against Women and Girls: 2016-2020. Strategy Refresh Summary: In March 2016 we published our new VAWG Strategy, which sets out an ambitious programme of reform, and was supported by increased funding of L80m. In March 2017, the Chancellor announced additional funding of 20m pounds to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse, bringing the total committed to L100m, over twice what was committed during the previous Parliament. Our long-term vision remains the same, and so this Strategy is set out according to our existing strategic pillars: prevention, provision of services, partnership working, and pursuing perpetrators. The crimes addressed through this strategy are the crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls, which are domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, and so-called 'honour-based' violence including forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). We will continue to measure our success by seeking reductions in overall prevalence of these crimes as measured by the Crime Survey of England and Wales, and seek increased prosecutions and convictions, where appropriate. It is important to bring together our work in the UK with efforts to tackle these issues internationally, and so the 2016 Strategy, and this refresh, represents a 'One Government' approach. This Strategy Refresh also sits alongside other, closely linked pieces of work from across government such as the Victims' Strategy. We are clear that all victims of crime should be supported, but that particular hidden crimes merit their own, focused, response. We will also continue to ensure that our response to vulnerable people, and programmes of work to tackle modern slavery and child sexual abuse and exploitation, remain joined up and mutually supportive of this agenda. This refresh does not provide full details of all that has been achieved since 2016, and nor does it set out our full strategic vision for VAWG, which remains with the 2016 Ending VAWG Strategy. This document does not overtake the 2016 Strategy, and both should be considered together. Instead, this refresh provides a brief update on delivery achieved so far, captures additional programmes of work that have contributed to this agenda, and sets out new, additional actions that government will take forward that goes beyond those set out in the 2016 Strategy While we know that these crimes disproportionately affect women and girls, we also recognise that men and boys are victims too. The vision set out in this Strategy applies to male as well as female victims, but we have published a Male Victims Position Statement alongside this document, which clarifies and strengthens our response to male victims of these crimes, while still recognising the disproportionate impact on women. Details: London: Author, 2019. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2019 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/783596/VAWG_Strategy_Refresh_Web_Accessible.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/783596/VAWG_Strategy_Refresh_Web_Accessible.pdf Shelf Number: 155606 Keywords: Domestic Violence Family Violence Female Genital MutilationForced Marriage Gender-Based Violence Honor Based ViolenceModern Slavery Rape Sexual Violence StalkingViolence against Women and Girls |