By The International Justice Mission

The UK Government is among the world leaders in combatting various forms of OSEC both at home and abroad. Some of those significant contributions include: • Launching the WePROTECT Global Alliance; • Providing, through the National Crime Agency (NCA), equipment, training, case referrals, and other partnership to Philippine law enforcement as a founding member of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC); • Investing £40 million in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children; • Safeguarding 8,329 children and arresting 7,212 perpetrators in relation to online child sexual abuse (during a 12-month period ending March 2020); and • Sponsoring the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and publishing the Online Harms White Paper.6 Through this report, IJM aims to provide OSEC and CSEM offender case studies, analyses, and recommendations relevant to the UK’s already robust efforts to end online child sexual abuse and exploitation, including through the NCA and local police units. IJM seeks to provide the perspective of an NGO with experience dating to 2011 working “in the trenches” with Philippine Government, international law enforcement, and NGO partners, to support investigations, prosecutions, and social service delivery to survivors of livestreamed child sexual abuse and exploitation in the Philippines. IJM’s Composite Case Review found a trend of low sentences for UK offenders who paid for, directed, and consumed live sexual abuse and exploitation of Filipino children. These are not image offenders—they are remote abusers and exploiters fuelling modern slavery. An offence’s gravity is often reflected in the maximum penalty a government prescribes through legislation. UK laws against OSEC offending are serious, holding maximum penalties of 10 to 14 years imprisonment. Yet, while most of the offenders in this Review were convicted of multiple counts of serious offences, they each received a sentence less than half the maximum sentence for one count.

International Justice Mission, 2020. 72p.

By Freddie Radakin, Angie Scholes, Kien Soloman, Constance Thomas-Lacroix, Alex Davies.

This report provides an estimate of the financial and non-financial (monetised) costs relating to all children who began to experience contact sexual abuse, or who continued to experience contact sexual abuse, in England and Wales in the year ending 31st March 2019. This is estimated to be at least £10.1 billion (in 2018/19 prices). This estimate includes the costs of this cohort being victimised in previous and future years, in addition to lifetime consequences as a result of experiencing child sexual abuse (CSA). It should be noted that due to the way some costs are incurred over a victim’s lifetime this cannot be used as an annual or an in-year cost.

There are a few important things to note about this cost:

• it is mostly a ‘non-financial’ cost – that is, not all costs are directly paid by one organisation to another; some costs use notional (non-market) values which represent estimated harm in monetary terms[footnote 1]

• the estimate represents the historic and future costs associated with victims of abuse who were identified during the year ending 31st March 2019

• this estimate cannot be used as an annual cost (for example, completing an equivalent exercise for the year ending 31st March 2020 and adding these costs together would lead to double counting)

• this estimate does not include the costs associated with online and non-contact sexual abuse

London: Home Office, 2021.

By Debra Allnock, Helen Beckett, Claire Soares, Lindsay Starbuck, Camille Warrington and Joanne Walker

Whilst a significant body of literature exists on the impacts of child sexual abuse, the literature review undertaken at the outset of this study found that there is little that specifically considers the impacts of experiencing such abuse during adolescence, or the experiences and needs of those who do so. ‘Learning from the Experts’ sought to address this gap, recognising that those affected by sexual abuse in this distinct phase of development may have different needs and responses from younger children or adults experiencing similar abuse and, as such, require adapted responses. The research foregrounded the perspectives of young people, viewing them as experts on their own experiences and demonstrating young people’s skills and interest in contributing to improved responses to sexual abuse. Through a trauma-informed, participatory and collaborative approach, the research sought to provide safe and meaningful opportunities to learn from young people. This was achieved through a combination of participatory group workshops and individual interviews, followed by opportunities to feedback on emerging findings and co-create research outputs. A total of 32 young people took part in these different elements of the study, with their participation supported by ten specialist voluntary sector services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The research also involved interviews and focus groups with parents and professionals, the latter of whom also took part in stakeholder workshops on emerging findings. The design and conduct of the study was undertaken by staff from the Safer Young Lives Research Centre (SYLRC) at the University of Bedfordshire and the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH), in conjunction with four young expert youth advisors from the SYLRC’s Young Researchers’ Advisory panel. The study was funded and commissioned by the NSPCC and ESRC.

Luton: University of Bedfordshire, 2022. 89p.

By Nicholas Pope

This thesis examines the emergence and sustainment of milícias (militias) in the 1990s in the West Zone ‘margins’ of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It considers the rise of milícias as they coincide with urbanisation, economic liberalisation, democratisation, decentralisation and the rise of violent drug trafficking organisations. This thesis sets out to answer the following overarching research question: ‘How and why did milícias emerge in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone since the 1990s and how and why were they sustained? What is their relationship to the management of (dis)order?’ The analytical approach developed to answer this question draws on an historically situated political settlements framework to understand milícias as power relations within coalition formations and as facilitators of rent extraction and distribution. The framework introduces urban and political geography literatures on frontiers to advance a thesis that milícias in Rio de Janeiro are coercive brokers that mediate urban frontier zones. This study draws on ethnographic fieldnotes from direct and participant observation, in-depth interviews and oral histories, and extensive archival research of parliamentary documents. It argues that milícias emerged to provide temporary ‘solutions’ to address the violent inequalities, structural insecurities, and the threats and insecurities posed by drug trafficking organisations in the urban frontiers. They emerged through ‘bottom-up’ processes but were also seen as convenient to political and economic elites in the central state who were unable (or unwilling) to provide formal security in the West Zone. However, this thesis makes the case that there was a trade-off for the central state as paramilitaries, as accrued power in the urban frontier, they also attempted to reshape state institutions. Because of their roots in local communities, this thesis also recognises the dependency of milícias on legitimacy, ideas, beliefs and norms, and the power imbued in community relations. This study contributes to the literatures on milícias by accounting for their role as co-producers of (dis)order in the urban margins, the literature on political settlements by intertwining questions of violence and conflict with spatiality, and finally the Latin American literatures on local political order and governance by advancing a conceptualisation of armed groups straddling state and society and challenging conventional state/-non-state binaries.

London: Department of Development Studies SOAS, University of London , 2019. 307p.

By Zahid ul Arefin Choudhoury, Fahima Durrat, Maria Hussain, et al.

The study takes up the pertinent challenges in human rights work of consistent lacks, deficiencies and uncertainties in human rights work and human rights reporting. These challenges pose questions to the human rights community on how to provide reliable information on violence, torture and ill-treatment, which includes the detection and identification of both victims and perpetrators necessary to ensure individual justice and institutional accountability. The report demonstrates that it is possible to address sensitive political issues of governance and violence, even in a nervous political setting, and produce relevant and solid data on violent encounters, that describes the unfolding of these events and the effects on life and livelihood, including health and economy, of the individuals and families involved. The richness and depths of the data confirms the usefulness of the methodological approach, at least in Korail Basti in the centre of Dhaka. It indicates a potential for broader and hopefully general applicability in other similar areas of the city, the country or the region and perhaps even at a global level. Confirming this general applicability would entail the need to replicate, adapt and carry through the study in additional sites and places with other contextual social, political and economic conditions and configurations. The solidity of the survey’s findings is a promising result of the study and could be a possible departure point for further testing of the proposed methodology

Bangladesh, UK and Denmark: University of Dhaka Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, DIGNITY and University of Edinburgh Anthropology Department, 2016. 110p.

By The Blue Ribbon Panel on MTA Fare and Toll Evasion, Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Fare and toll evasion is a sensitive issue that raises difficult questions about social cohesion, inequality, and appropriate use of enforcement. But the situation in New York has reached a crisis level, and avoiding the topic is no longer a viable option. Losses to the MTA’s operating budget are staggering, with nearly $700 million in revenue not collected in 2022 alone. This includes $315 million lost in bus fares, $285 million in subway fares, $46 million in bridge and tunnel tolls, and $44 million in railroad fares. Fares and tolls account for a significant proportion of the MTA’s annual budget revenue — almost $7 billion a year. But every dollar lost to evasion impairs the MTA’s financial stability, threatens reliable transit for all New Yorkers, and increases the need for alternative revenue sources, including through larger fare and toll hikes. The MTA convened a Blue-Ribbon Panel of high-profile New Yorkers with expertise in relevant fields to better understand fare and toll evasion, and develop fresh solutions to the issue. Panelists spent the better part of a year meeting with stakeholders inside and outside the MTA, speaking with transit users, and observing fare and toll collection operations throughout the system. The panel’s final report proposes a cohesive and comprehensive set of strategies around education, environment, equity, and enforcement.

New York: MTA, 2023. 125p.

By Isabella Voce and Anthony Morgan

This is the first report in the Cybercrime in Australia series, which aims to provide a clearer picture of the extent of cybercrime victimisation, help-seeking and harms among Australian computer users. It is based on a survey of 13,887 computer users conducted in early 2023. In the 12 months prior to the survey, 27 percent of respondents had been a victim of online abuse and harassment, 22 percent had been a victim of malware, 20 percent had been a victim of identity crime and misuse, and eight percent had been a victim of fraud and scams. Overall, 47 percent of respondents experienced at least one cybercrime in the 12 months prior to the survey—and nearly half of all victims reported experiencing more than one type of cybercrime. Thirty-four percent of respondents had experienced a data breach. Cybercrime victimisation was not evenly distributed, with certain sections of the community more likely to have been a victim, and certain online activities associated with a higher likelihood of victimisation.

Most cybercrime victimisation went unreported to police or to ReportCyber, meaning official statistics significantly underestimate the size of the problem. Satisfaction with the outcomes of these reports was mixed, and relatively few reports resulted in an offender being apprehended. Rates of help-seeking varied and were influenced by the perceived seriousness of cybercrime and knowledge of how and where to report it.

The financial losses experienced by victims were wide ranging. Some victims reported losing large sums of money, but most victims reported relatively small financial losses. This report measures, for the first time, the harms experienced by individual victims and small businesses that extend beyond these financial costs. Twenty-five percent of respondents were negatively impacted by cybercrime in the 12 months prior to the survey, while 22 percent of respondents who owned or operated a small to medium business said their business was negatively impacted by cybercrime.

Statistical Bulletin, 43. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2023. 113p.

By HM Government (UK)

The publication of the Rape Review in 2021 demonstrated a commitment to improving the Criminal Justice System process for victims, and to more than double the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the end of Parliament. Now, two years after its publication, we are making strong progress towards the Rape Review’s ambition to return volumes of cases being referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); charged by the CPS; and going to court, to at least 2016 levels. The data shows us that 2016 marked a key point in time where the system faltered: well-documented issues regarding the disclosure of evidence combined with strained relationships between criminal justice agencies, inconsistent support for victims, and ultimately a decline in the number of charges and prosecutions for rape cases. We have made clear our intention to continue reversing these trends. Having delivered on the vast majority of milestones set out by our Action Plan’s eight levers, we are pleased to report that we have already met two of our ambitions and remain well on-track to meet the one that remains, with a strong upward trajectory. Whilst we know that there is much more to do, this shows that our Action Plan is working.

London: HM Government, 2023. 40p.

By Kylie Murdock and Jim Kessler

Takeaways: The murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Donald Trump has exceeded the murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Joe Biden in every year from 2000 to 2020. Over this 21-year span, this Red State murder gap has steadily widened from a low of 9% more per capita red state murders in 2003 and 2004 to 44% more per capita red state murders in 2019, before settling back to 43% in 2020. Altogether, the per capita Red State murder rate was 23% higher than the Blue State murder rate when all 21 years were combined. If Blue State murder rates were as high as Red State murder rates, Biden-voting states would have sued over 45,000 more murders between 2000 and 2020. Even when murders in the largest cities in red states are removed, overall murder rates in Trump-voting states were 12% higher than Biden-voting states across this 21-year period and were higher in 18 of the 21 years observed.

Washington, DC: Third Way, 2023. 10p

Edited by Sundari Anitha and Ruth Lewis  

Until recently, higher education in the UK has largely failed to recognise gender-based violence (GBV) on campus, but following the UK government task force set up in 2015, universities are becoming more aware of the issue. And recent cases in the media about the sexualised abuse of power in institutions such as universities, Parliament and Hollywood highlight the prevalence and damaging impact of GBV. In this book, academics and practitioners provide the first in-depth overview of research and practice in GBV in universities. They set out the international context of ideologies, politics and institutional structures that underlie responses to GBV in elsewhere in Europe, in the US, and in Australia, and consider the implications of implementing related policy and practice. Presenting examples of innovative British approaches to engagement with the issue, the book also considers UK, EU and UN legislation to give an international perspective, making it of direct use to discussions of ‘what works’ in preventing GBV.

Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press, 2018. 262p.

Edited by Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Élisabeth Anstett

This book outlines for the first time in a single volume the theoretical and methodological tools for a study of human remains resulting from episodes of mass violence and genocide. Despite the highly innovative and contemporary research into both mass violence and the body, the most significant consequence of conflict - the corpse - remains absent from the scope of existing research. Why have human remains hitherto remained absent from our investigation, and how do historians, anthropologists and legal scholars, including specialists in criminology and political science, confront these difficult issues? By drawing on international case studies including genocides in Rwanda, the Khmer Rouge, Argentina, Russia and the context of post-World War II Europe, this ground-breaking edited collection opens new avenues of research. Multidisciplinary in scope, this volume will appeal to readers interested in an understanding of mass violence's aftermath.

Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2014. 218p.

By Haylely Boxall, Anthony Morgan, Isabella Voce and Maggie Coughlan

Despite growing recognition of the prevalence of and harms associated with adolescent family violence, our knowledge of how best to respond remains underdeveloped. This paper describes the findings from the outcome evaluation of the Adolescent Family Violence Program. The results show that the program had a positive impact on young people and their families, leading to improved parenting capacity and parent–adolescent attachment. However, there was mixed evidence of its impact on the prevalence, frequency and severity of violent behaviours. The evaluation reaffirms the importance of dedicated responses for young people who use family violence, and the potential benefits, and limits, of community-based programs.

Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 601. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2020. 18p.

By Hayley Boxall and Christopher Dowling and Anthony Morgan

Differences between male and female perpetrated domestic violence are widely acknowledged. However, there is a lack of Australian data on the circumstances of female perpetrated violence. This study analysed 153 police narratives of domestic violence incidents involving a female person of interest (POI). Results were consistent with international studies. Half of the episodes involved either self-defensive or retaliatory violence—otherwise known as violent resistance—meaning the POI had been a victim of prior violence by their partner or the episode involved a male victim who was abusive in the lead-up to the incident. Violent resistance was more common in incidents involving Indigenous women. The findings highlight the different motivations for female perpetrated domestic violence, and the importance of understanding the complex dynamics of violent episodes.

Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 584. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2020.17p.

by Hannah Jeffery, Lucy Slade, and Stephen Whitehead

Victim-survivors of domestic abuse face complex barriers at every stage of the criminal justice system. Subsequently, many withdraw from the process due to experiencing re-traumatisation, personal safety concerns and not being engaged in the process. Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts (SDACs) seek to address these complex barriers through offering a dedicated approach to processing domestic abuse cases. 

This report presents an evaluation of the Westminster Specialist Domestic Abuse Court, identifies the key elements of the SDAC model through conducting qualitative interviews with stakeholders and victim-survivors. It is hoped that these findings can be applied to the replication of the model elsewhere and develop practice in existing SDACs. 

London: Centre for Justice Innovation, 2022. 36p

By Allison B. Dymnicki, Beverly Kingston, Sabrina Arredondo Mattson, Elizabeth Spier, Susanne Argamaso Maher, Jody Witt

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) partnered with educators in 46 middle schools to implement Safe Communities Safe Schools (SCSS). SCSS seeks to prevent and reduce behavioral incidents, address mental and behavioral health concerns, and increase prosocial behavior in the school setting through three core program components: developing a functioning multidisciplinary school team, building capacity around data use, and selecting and implementing evidence-based programs. The study explored research questions in three areas: readiness (whether schools met baseline criteria and experienced changes in readiness over time), implementation (whether the SCSS model was implemented as intended; whether it is feasible, acceptable, and effective when implemented schoolwide), and associated outcomes (effects on school climate, safety, related behavioral and mental health indicators, and academic outcomes). To explore questions in these three areas, CSPV and external evaluators from American Institutes for Research conducted a mixed-methods randomized control trial with a staggered implementation design using qualitative data (open-ended questions on implementation surveys, focus groups) and quantitative data (staff and student school climate data, attendance/truancy rates, suspension rates, and academic achievement data). The study found that (1) the participating schools met the pre-developed readiness criteria and reported some improvements in readiness constructs over time; (2) some components of the model were implemented as intended and were acceptable and effective (from the educators’ perspective), but increased knowledge, understanding, and skills were limited to school team members; and (3) there were mixed impacts on school climate, safety, behavioral and mental health indicators, and academic outcomes, with outcomes varying (to some extent) by implementation characteristics. This report discusses the study’s findings and their implications for criminal justice policy and practice.

Washington DC: American Institutes for Research. 26p

United States. White House Office

From the document: "In this first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (the National Plan or Plan), the Federal Government advances an unprecedented and comprehensive approach to preventing and addressing sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and other forms of gender-based violence (referred to collectively as GBV). This initiative builds on the lessons learned and progress made as the result of tireless and courageous leadership by GBV survivors, advocates, researchers, and policymakers, as well as other dedicated professionals and community members who lead prevention and response efforts. Gender-based violence is a public safety and public health crisis, affecting urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities in the United States. It is experienced by individuals of all backgrounds and can occur across the life course. GBV happens in all spaces and spheres of human interaction, public and private--in homes, schools, and public venues; through social media and other online spaces; and in workplaces. In today's globalized world, it can transcend national boundaries, including through online exploitation and abuse, human trafficking, and individuals fleeing GBV. The risks of GBV are heightened in conditions of disaster, conflict, or crisis, including public health crises such as a pandemic. [...] The priorities in this National Plan to End GBV, as well as those reflected in the 2022 update to the U.S. Global GBV Strategy, reflect our nation's ongoing commitment to continue advancing and integrating efforts to prevent and address gender-based violence both at home and abroad. Ending gender-based violence is, quite simply, a matter of human rights and justice."

United States. White House Office .2023. 149p.

By Carmen Germaine Warner.

From the Preface: Violence and the impact on its victims is nothing new to the helping professional. Specific assessment and intervention has been ad­dressed in Emergency Departments for years, but it has only been within the past decade that first responders have been challenged with the shared responsibility for the early stabilization and man­agement of victims of violence. Accompanying this responsibility is the need for first responders to be prepared both educationally and emotionally to intervene in situations of violence. The first per­son who cares for victims of violence plays a critical role in not only establishing good lines of communication but possesses the poten­tial for developing a trusting relationship. This element of trust helps the victim to remain open and creative throughout stages of short and long-term intervention. It is only with a comprehensive foundation of theory, specific causes, victim and family impact, along with conflict intervention that first responders will effec­tively be able to understand and properly manage victims of vio­lence.

This text is designed to provide the reader with a firm knowl­edge base. The first section outlines some of the theories and philosophies concerning violence, why and how it occurs, specific learned behavior, and factors which influence evolvement, along with common threads in violent behavior. The second section emphasizes definitions, general knowl­edge, statistical data, signs and symptoms, and the victim's specific transition sequences. Section Three identifies specific intervention techniques which, based on the accumulated knowledge base gained in sec­tions One and Two, will afford the reader a comprehensive, holistic approach to quality assessment and management.

Maryland. Robert J. Brady & Co. 1981. 279p.

Edited by Elena Martellozzo and Emma A Jane

The last twenty years have seen an explosion in the development of information technology, to the point that people spend a major portion of waking life in online spaces. While there are enormous benefits associated with this technology, there are also risks that can affect the most vulnerable in our society but also the most confident. Cybercrime and its victims explores the social construction of violence and victimisation in online spaces and brings together scholars from many areas of inquiry, including criminology, sociology, and cultural, media, and gender studies.

The book is organised thematically into five parts. Part one addresses some broad conceptual and theoretical issues. Part two is concerned with issues relating to sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation, as well as to sexual expression online. Part three addresses issues related to race and culture. Part four addresses concerns around cyberbullying and online suicide, grouped together as ‘social violence’. The final part argues that victims of cybercrime are, in general, neglected and not receiving the recognition and support they need and deserve. It concludes that in the volatile and complex world of cyberspace continued awareness-raising is essential for bringing attention to the plight of victims. It also argues that there needs to be more support of all kinds for victims, as well as an increase in the exposure and punishment of perpetrators.

Drawing on a range of pressing contemporary issues such as online grooming, sexting, cyber-hate, cyberbullying and online radicalization, this book examines how cyberspace makes us more vulnerable to crime and violence, how it gives rise to new forms of surveillance and social control and how cybercrime can be prevented.

London: Routledge, 2017. 251p.

By Adam Cotter

Criminal victimization in Canada, 2019: Highlights

 According to the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization, more than three-quarters (78%) of Canadians were very or somewhat satisfied with their personal safety from crime in 2019.

 One in five (19%) Canadians or their households were impacted by one of the eight crimes measured by the GSS in 2019. There were 8.3 million incidents of sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, break and enter, theft of motor vehicles (or parts), theft of household or personal property, or vandalism.

 Almost seven in ten (69%) self-reported incidents were non-violent in nature. Theft of personal property, the most common crime type, accounted for more than one-third (37%) of all criminal incidents.

 Women (106 incidents per 1,000 women) were violently victimized at a rate nearly double that of men (59 incidents per 1,000 men) in 2019. This gender difference is a result of the fact that women were five times more likely than men to be a victim of sexual assault (50 versus 9 per 1,000).

……

Criminal Victimization in Canada, 2019.

By Suzanne Ost

Child pornography and sexual grooming provide case study exemplars of problems that society and law have sought to tackle to avoid both actual and potential harm to children. Yet despite the considerable legal, political and societal concern that these critical phenomena attract, they have not, thus far, been subjected to detailed socio-legal and theoretical scrutiny. How do society and law construct the harms of child pornography and grooming? What impact do constructions of the child have upon legal and societal responses to these phenomena? What has been the impetus behind the expanding criminalisation of behaviour in these areas? Suzanne Ost addresses these and other important questions, exploring the critical tensions within legal and social discourses which must be tackled to discourage moral panic reactions towards child pornography and grooming, and advocating a new, more rational approach towards combating these forms of exploitation.

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 289p.