By William Adams, Colleen Owens, and Kevonne Small

Each year, as many as 300,000 children become victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. Such victimization can have devastating effects on a child’s physical and mental health and well-being. In an effort to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), Congress enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (TVPA) in 2000. As the seminal legislation in America’s efforts to end CSEC, the Act criminalizes human trafficking on a federal level. This bulletin describes the results of a study funded by OJJDP to examine TVPA’s impact on the prosecution of CSEC cases. The authors draw on CSEC cases processed in federal courts between 1998 and 2005 to take a look at how current laws addressing CSEC are enforced, indicate key features of successful CSEC prosecutions, and describe how legislation has affected sentences imposed on CSEC perpetrators, as well as legislation’s effects on the provision of services to victims. The bulletin concludes with a discussion of how the juvenile justice community and policymakers could improve the prosecution of CSEC crimes.

Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2010. 12p.

By Brian Neil Levine

Nothing in history has transformed the character and practice of child sexual exploitation more than the internet. Individuals who commit child sex crimes use internet services, social networks, and mobile apps to meet minors and each other in ways they cannot in person and to groom victims by normalizing abusive sexual acts. Many of those who commit child sex crimes deceive, coerce, and sexually extort child victims with threats that too often are realized. Individuals who commit child sex crimes use the internet to arrange in-person meetings for hands-on abuse, and they use it to remotely coerce young children to selfproduce sexual and sadistic acts. Whether the abuse is hands-on or remote, the images or videos in which an individual captures their rape of a child are referred to as child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). An ever-growing set of online services are misused daily for the upload and immediate distribution of CSAM, supporting worldwide sharing. The harms to victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation are lifelong.

By Markus González Beilfuss

According to the European Union (EU) Victims-Directive, victims of crime have the right to be informed, supported and protected, as well as to participate in criminal proceedings. EU Member States retain notable scope for action to transpose these rights into their national legislation, but with the entry into force of this Directive in October 2012, victims' protection entitlements improved significantly within thre remit of EU Law. However, foreign victims with irregular migration status are still in a vulnerable position. Indeed, they are included in the Directive in a particular way. On the one hand, Member States have to take the necessary measures to ensure that the rights set out in the Directive are not conditional on the victim's residence status. According to Art. 1.1, the rights delineated shall apply to all victims in a non-discriminatory manner, including with respect to their residence status. Nevertheless, on the other hand the Directive does not address the conditions of the residence of crime victims in the territory of the Member States. As mentioned in the preamble of the Directive (Recital 10), ‘reporting a crime and participating in criminal proceedings do not create any rights regarding the residence status of the victim’. Victims of crime with irregular migration status fall under the scope of the EU's Return-Directive. As with any third-country nationals staying irregularly in their territories, Member States shall issue them with a return decision. As stated in Art. 6.4 of the Return-Directive, ‘compassionate, humanitarian or other reasons’ allow Member States to grant at any moment a residence permit or the right to stay to any person with irregular migration status. However, EU law does not directly grant these victims of crime the right to stay if they report the case to the police or the criminal justice system. The outcome of the existing legal framework can be particularly harmful for these crime victims, who are exposed to retaliation and can fear deportation if they report the crime to the police. But it also impacts upon the whole criminal justice system, which may lose crucial actors for the prosecution of crime. In the last decade, EU and international law have started to bring in some exceptions to this inconsistent and harmful legal system. According to Directive 2004/81/EC, victims of human trafficking have access to a so-called ‘reflection period’ that allows them to recover and escape from the influence of traffickers. During this period, it is not possible to enforce deportation orders of third-country national victims, and once the reflection period is finished, victims may under certain circumstances access a residence permit.

Oxford, UK: COMPAS, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, 2019. 33p.

By Ruben Timmerman, Arjen Leerkes, and Richard Staring

Across Europe, irregular migrants experience considerable difficulty obtaining basic access to justice, protection, and services across a wide range of areas. The structural exclusion of irregular migrants from the integration strategies of European Union (EU) Member States serves in many situations to limit the full exercise of their basic rights, including in particular the right of an individual to safely report to the police if they have been a victim of or witness to crime.1 In recent years, however, efforts have been made to ensure that irregular migrants within Europe are guaranteed equal access to justice and basic rights should they fall victim to crime. Perhaps most notably, Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (hereinafter, Victims’ Directive), which entered into force in 2015, sets out to ensure that the rights of all victims of crime are protected, regardless of nationality or residence status.2 Among other things, the EU Victims’ Directive signifies—at least on paper—the inclusion of irregular migrants within the wider purview of victims’ rights. However, there remain significant challenges and barriers to access to justice and rights for irregular migrant victims of crime within Europe, and there is much work still to be done in effectively realising the vision set out by the EU Victims’ Directive. In particular, it has long been observed by human rights observers, scholars, and practitioners in the field of migration that irregular migrants are often hesitant or unwilling to contact or interact with law enforcement authorities to report crime, either as victims or as witnesses, out of fear of arrest or deportation.3 As a result, these irregular migrants are unable to exercise their basic rights to necessary services, protection, and justice, and are often more vulnerable to perpetrators who are able to exploit their reluctance to report crime. Moreover, the lack of opportunity for irregular migrants to safely report crime results in a lack of crucial intelligence about criminal activity for law enforcement, and significantly reduces authorities’ insight into crime and public safety issues in their communities. As a result of these challenges, both in the United States and across Europe innovative and diverse initiatives have been developed—particularly at the local level—to promote ‘safe reporting’ of crime among irregular migrants, and in turn to ensure greater access to justice for victims.4 In particular, many localities have developed what are commonly referred to as ‘firewall policies’.

Oxford, UK; COMPAS, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, 2019. 46p.

Edited by Carol Hagemann-White, Liz Kelly and Thomas Meysen

This book offers insights and perspectives from a study of “Cultural Encounters in Intervention Against Violence” (CEINAV) in four EU-countries. Seeking a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of intervention practices in Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, the team explored variations in institutional structures and traditions of law, policing, and social welfare. Theories of structural inequality and ethics are discussed and translated into practice.

Leverkusen-Opladen, Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2019. 320p.

By Tamsin Bradley

Growing awareness of femicide has not universally translated into effective policy and programming. Though legislation relating to gender-based violence and/or femicide exists in many countries, both persist. A combined social, cultural, political and economic approach situates femicide prevention and responses at various levels, including changes in individual behaviour. Using the term ‘femicide’ more frequently at international forums is crucial not only to focus attention on the gendered nature of violence but also to act as a call for action. Situational studies reveal that political will to end femicide differs from country to country. Femicide together with the patriarchal norms and misogyny that precipitate it are not just extra-EU problems. Rather, they are of global concern, demanding a global response; in non-EU countries this response is often dependent on donor funding. We now know more than ever what works to reverse patterns of violence. These patterns can be broken by developing the capacity of women’s organisations and strengthening global feminist movements that work with national and local activist networks. Additionally, engaging men and boys in this process of transformation is vital if we are to address violence against women and girls and ultimately end femicide.

Brussels: European Parliament, 2021. 22p.

By Ben Mathews

This book offers a timely and detailed exploration and analysis of key contemporary issues and challenges in child sexual abuse, which holds great relevance for scholarly, legal, policy, professional and clinical audiences worldwide. The book draws together the best current evidence about the nature, aetiology, contexts, and sequelae of child sexual abuse. It explores the optimal definition of child sexual abuse, considers sexual abuse in history, and explores new theoretical understandings of children’s rights and other key theories including public health and the Capabilities Approach, and their relevance to child sexual abuse prevention and responses. It examines a selection of the most pressing legal, theoretical, policy and practical challenges in child sexual abuse in the modern world, in developed and developing economies, including institutional child sexual abuse, female genital cutting, child marriage, the use of technology for sexual abuse, and the ethical responsibility and legal liability of major state and religious organisations, and individuals. It examines recent landmark legal and policy developments in all of these areas, drawing in particular on extensive developments from Australia in the wake of its Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It also considers the best evidence about promising strategies and future promising directions in enhancing effective prevention, intervention and responses to child sexual abuse.

Cham, SWIT: Springer, 2019. 322p.

By Sue Jago, with Lorena Arocha, Isabelle Brodie, Margaret Melrose, Jenny Pearce and Camille Warrington

This research project has explored the extent and nature of the response of LSCBs to the 2009 government guidance on safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation. Where the guidance is followed, there are examples of developing and innovative practice to protect and support young people and their families and to investigate and prosecute their abusers. However, the research has found that the delivery of that dual approach to child sexual exploitation is far from the norm. There are three areas that cause particular concern: • only a quarter of LSCBs in England are implementing the guidance • young people, their families and carers receive awareness raising in less than half of the country • the prosecution of abusers is rare and, where criminal proceedings take place, young people’s experience of court is intolerable These and related findings are set out below together with recommendations on how to ensure that action is taken, locally and nationally, to address this form of child abuse.

Bedfordshire, UK: University of Bedfordshire, 2011.140p.

By Diana Lopez-Avila

This paper aims at shedding light on the relationship between women's empowerment and domestic violence. For this, we explore different ways to measure women's empowerment and domestic violence, and analyze whether the relation depends on the definitions used. We take advantage of a rich data set collected in rural Colombia, including several measures of self-esteem, disagreement towards domestic violence, participation in household decisions and social capital; and analyze the relationship with both aggressive and controlling ways of domestic violence. The results indicate that the different measures of women's empowerment help explain much better the aggressive ways of domestic violence than the controlling ones. Our results show a positive correlation between women's empowerment and domestic violence. This goes in line with the theories that argue that men use violence as a way to leverage their power within the household. Among the different latent measures of women's empowerment we used, we found that social capital and self-esteem are significantly correlated with aggressive domestic violence. We do not find that more common proxies, such as women's participation in household decisions, are significantly correlated to domestic violence.

Paris: Paris School of Economics, 2015. 42p.

By Human Rights Watch

This report—based largely on research and interviews conducted with 22 North Koreans detained in detention and interrogation facilities after 2011 (when Kim Jong Un came to power) and eight former North Korean officials who fled the country—provides new information on North Korea’s opaque pretrial detention and investigation system. It describes the criminal investigation process; North Korea’s weak legal and institutional framework; the dependence of law enforcement and the judiciary on the ruling WPK; the apparent presumption of guilt; bribery and corruption; and inhumane conditions and mistreatment of those in detention and interrogation facilities (kuryujang) that often amounts to torture. Because North Korea is a “closed” country, not much is known about the legal processes in its pretrial detention system, but the experiences of those interviewed and the other evidence detailed below, show that torture, humiliation, coerced confessions, hunger, unhygienic conditions, and the necessity of connections and bribes to avoid the worst treatment appear to be fundamental characteristics.

New York: HRW, 2021. 100p.

By Human Rights Watch

In June 2021, Eşref Akoda shot dead his 38-year-old wife Yemen outside her home in the central Anatolian town of Aksaray. Prior to this lethal assault, courts had on four separate occasions issued preventive orders aimed at keeping Eşref away from Yemen after he harassed her when she filed for divorce. A lawyer for the family said that Eşref Akoda had approached and threatened his wife at least twice, violating the third and fourth preventive orders, but that on those occasions the court had not imposed any of the available disciplinary sanctions on him, such as a short period in detention, due to a “lack of evidence”. The prosecutor also declined to bring criminal charges against him, even though Yemen’s lawyer had filed complaints with the prosecutor’s office.

New York: HRW, 2022. 92p.

By Yuliya Mysyuk

This thesis explores perceptions and views of different groups involved in elder abuse. First chapter provides a general introduction to the topic and current study. In the second chapter of this thesis, definitions of elder abuse and their developments are reviewed. Chapter three explores different perspectives on the etiology of violence in later life. Chapter four discusses older persons’ definitions of and explanations for elder abuse. Chapter five explores older victims’ ideas about the causes and effects of abuse, the ways of coping with abuse and how they currently feel about it. In the sixth chapter, the framing of elder abuse as a social and a health problem is addressed, with attention to the factors that influence societal context and the health care system. Chapter seven raises the debate about the distinction of system abuse as a separate form of elder abuse. Finally, key findings of this thesis on perspectives on elder abuse are summarized in chapter eight of this thesis.

Leiden, Netherlands: Leiden University, 2015. 169p.

Edited by Carol Hagemann-White, Liz Kelly, Thomas Meysen

This book offers insights and perspectives from a study of “Cultural Encounters in Intervention Against Violence” (CEINAV) in four EU-countries. Seeking a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of intervention practices in Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, the team explored variations in institutional structures and traditions of law, policing, and social welfare. Theories of structural inequality and ethics are discussed and translated into practice

Leverkusen-Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2019. 282p.

By Inka Lilja, Elina Kervinen, Anni Lietonen, Natalia Ollus, Minna Viuhko, Anniina Jokinen.

The HEUNI report "Unseen Victims" presents the manifestations and consequences of gender-based violence and the challenges in assisting victims of violence in the migration context. With this report we aim to increase the understanding of policymakers on the structural challenges asylum-seeking and refugee women who have experienced gender-based violence face.

Helsinki: European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI), 2020. 100p.

By N Elbers; A Akkermans; H Soleto Muñoz; Fiodorova; A Grané; J Maria Tamarit; L Arantegui; P Patrizi; GL Lepri; E Lodi; D Chirico; I Lāce; L Vaivode; J Dilba; A Brekasi; N Zoidou Saripapa; N Spetsidis.

The second eBook of the FAIRCOM Project, available as download on this page, presents the results of an investigative study on State Compensation and Offender Compensation in the current five partner countries: Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain. It identifies good practices and offers recommendations.

The last 20 years, victims of crime have received increased attention in the criminal trial process. Various EU legislation, in specific the Victims’ Rights Directive 2012/29/EU,1 has established important victims’ rights, such as the right to receive information, respectful treatment, legal support, victim support and compensation. Most EU member states have implemented the legislation and the position of victims has clearly been strengthened. Now that victims of crime are in the spotlight, it is a good opportunity to also focus on specific vulnerable groups of victims in criminal law: victims of sexual crimes. Victims of sexual crimes require special attention for several reasons. Firstly, the scale in which sexual violence occurs is significant: according to a report of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), it is estimated that 3.7 million women in the EU are subjected to sexual violence every year. 2 In total 11% of women have experienced some form of sexual violence since they were 15 years old. 5% of women have been raped since the age of 15. 3 The FRA did not include sexual violence to men. What is known about men is that 10% of victims of violent sexual crimes are men, the majority (90%) of the victims are women. 4 Of the perpetrators, 99% are men, 1% are women. 5 Secondly, victims of sexual crimes need support in their search for justice. Only 14% of victims of sexual violence report their offense to the police.6 Sexual crimes are often associated with shame and stigma and often mentioned in relation to secondary victimisation. About 25% of victims of sexual crimes do not dare to report the crime because of shame and 12% does not report because they think they will not be believed. Victims of physical violence also do not report because of shame or not being believed but the percentages are much lower, respectively 8% and 2%.7 Of the victims of sexual crimes who report to the police, about 46% are not satisfied with the treatment received by the police.

Amsterdam: Free University of Amsterdam, 2020. 94p.

Edited by The Centre for Child Law.

Child victims and witnesses of crime are amongst the most vulnerable people in the justice system. The United Nations issued guidelines for their protection in 2005. This publication sets out the guidelines in the South African context. Does South African law reflect these guidelines? What are the challenges to be faced in order to bring South African law and practice in line with these international standards? Answers to these questions are provided in this up-to-date analysis of the current state of the law. This publication is a useful guide for students of law, as well as for practitioners who work with children in the courts. Launched during the internationally recognised “16 days of activism to end violence against women and children”, the publication is designed to be of assistance in the everyday working life of presiding officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, social workers, intermediaries and other professionals.

Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2008. 59p.

By S.K. Witting.

With access to and usage of it increasing dramatically over the past 20 years, the Internet has become an emerging realm for human interaction. With children constituting one-third of Internet users worldwide, this realm offers endless opportunities to learn, connect, and interact. At the same time, the Internet facilitates child sexual abuse on a large scale – through the production, dissemination, and accessing of child sexual abuse material.This study aims to critically analyse emerging aspects of the international and national regulation, investigation and prosecution of online child sexual abuse material from a child-rights and rule-of-law-based approach. It investigates emerging aspects of substantive and procedural law which have been little explored in the past, zooming in on complex constitutional aspects by applying a comparative legal analysis approach with a strong focus on the Global South as well as interdisciplinary legal research.In order to solve these complex legal issues, the answer lies in the identification and subsequent navigation of a variety of dichotomies that govern the discourse on online child sexual abuse material. The international and national regulation, investigation and prosecution of emerging aspects of online child sexual abuse material hence require constant identification, reflection and calibration of competing discourses, with a view to developing a cyber-specific yet victim-sensitive response that upholds the rule of law and takes a child-centred approach.

Leiden: Leiden University, 2020. 158p.

By J.J. Rokven.

Why do offenders often become victims of crime themselves? And are victims of crime also more likely to become criminal offenders? While criminological research often treats victims and offenders as distinct groups, Von Hentig already in 1948 noted that these groups may overlap. In his textbook, The Criminal and His Victim, Von Hentig criticized the traditional offender=oriented nature of criminology and drew attention to the fact that victims and offenders both play important roles in criminal events and people may alternate between the role of victim and offender. Subsequently, numerous studies have examined the relationship between victimization and offending and virtually all documented a strong connection between the two: those who engage in criminal offending are often also the ones who suffer from it (Fagan, Piper, & Cheng, 1987; Jennings, Piquero, & Reingle, 2011; Jensen & Brownfield, 1986; Lauritsen & Laub, 2007; Lauritsen, Sampson, & Laub, 1991; Ousey, Wilcox, & Fisher, 2011; Sampson & Lauritsen, 1990; Singer, 1981; Smith & Ecob, 2007). Despite the strong empirical evidence for the victimization-offending relationship, the etiology of this relationship is still not well understood. The aim of this study is therefore to provide more insight in the underlying processes that explain this victim-offender overlap.

Nijmegen, Netherlands:Radboud University, 2016. 186p.

By N. N. Koster.

Crime is a major problem in society as, for instance, indicated by the most recent report of the Security Monitor.1 According to this monitor, almost 2.5 million citizens in the Netherlands were victimized in 2016 by either a property crime (11.5%) or a violent crime (2.3%). Yet, the Security Monitor does not register how many of these victims were first-time victims or repeat victims. Dutch studies into the prevalence of repeat victimizations, although rather out-dated, suggest that repeat burglary victimization is a serious issue to tackle in the Netherlands (e.g. Arends, 1997; Eijken & Van Overbeeke, 1998; Hakkert & Oppenhuis, 1996; Kleemans, 2001; López, 2001; Tseloni, Wittebrood, Farrell & Pease, 2004; Wittebrood, 2006). For example, Hakkert and Oppenhuis (1996) reported that 21% of the burglary victims have to deal with another burglary within a year and that these repeat burglary crime victims account for 44% of all (attempted) burglaries (see also Kleemans, 2001; Tseloni et al., 2004). In addition, repeat violent crime victimization may also be an important issue. Hakkert and Oppenhuis (1996), for example, reported that about 43% of victims of violent crime face another violent crime victimization within a year – accounting for 77% of all violent crimes (see also Police Monitor Population, 1999). These figures should be seen as a low estimate, because many victims do not report their victimization.

Leiden: University of Leiden, 2018. 205p.

By Leslie Sebba.

Over the past two decades considerable interest has developed in the subject of the victims of crime. This interest reached a peak in 1982 with the establishment and report of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime (1982), which made numerous recommendations for legislative, executive, and other institutional action on both the federal and state levels, including an amendment to the United States Constitution. However, the momentum continued. Subsequent developments have included the establishment of an Office for Victims of Crime in the Office of Justice Programs, a flurry of legislative activity across the nation, and the declaration of National Crime Victims' Rights weeks with the participation of the U.S. president. The interests of victims have been taken up not only by special organizations established for the purpose, such as the National Organization of Victims' Assistance (NOVA), the Victims' Assistance Legal Organization in Virginia, and the National Victim Center (founded in honor of Sunny von Bulow), as well as more narrowly focused groups such as MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving), but also by such mainstream professional bodies as the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Conference of the Judiciary, the American Psychological Association, and the National Institute for Mental Health. Landmark legislation at the federal level includes the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, and the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act and other related provisions of the Crime Control Act of 1990. (See also the Attorney-General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance, issued in pursuance of the 1982 and the 1990 acts.) A review of victim-oriented legislation both at the federal and at the state levels, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1996. 446p.