By: Tracey Michelle Pyscher

As a society, we do not openly discuss domestic violence and yet its reality is front and center for children and youth whose lives are deeply shaped by it. At best, the school landscape is bleak for many, if not all, HDV youth (i.e. youth with histories of domestic violence and youth currently living with domestic violence). We know little to nothing about how HDV youth navigate school from their perspectives—how they engage with and resist educational discourses and practices and thus take up subject positions. What we do know from popular, psychological literature is that HDV youth are often objectified as troubled and deficient and this shapes their identities and experiences in school.

In this study, I discuss the challenges HDV youth face when they navigate normative and hegemonic interactions in school. I also analyze the resistive identities and performances HDV youth take up in response to interactions perceived as violating. The study is situated in a public, urban middle school and outlines how HDV youth make sense of their daily interactions with school peers and staff. The study is told through the subjective voices of three female middle school HDV youth—Jen, Mac, and Shanna. Their stories along with the voices of their caregivers offer a counter-narrative to the dominant discourses often shaping the representations of HDV youth.

Data analysis is grounded in the theoretical conceptions of critical sociocultural theory (Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007), resistive ambivalence (Pyscher, 2015; Pyscher & Lozenski, 2014), and Scott’s (1990) conceptualization of hidden and public transcripts. I seek to better understand and theorize the intersections of actions, identities, practices, and discourses that HDV youth use in educational interactions. The methodological foundation of this study is fourfold: critical discourse studies (Gee, 2014), critical ethnography (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995), geosemiotics (Scollon & Scollon, 2003), and mediated discourse analysis (Jones & Norris, 2005). Implications include the possibility of creating more liberating educational practices for youth with histories of domestic violence and marginalized youth in general. I conclude by suggesting that we consider creating more transgressive and humane school cultures that embody carnivallike practices.

University of Minnesota, March 2016

By: Gilberta Pavão Nunes Rocha, Piedade Lalanda, Suzana Nunes Caldeira, Áurea Sousa. Ana Cristina Palos, Daniela Soares, Nuno Martins, Sofia Rodrigues, Derrick Mendes

The basic objective of this research study is to understand the phenomenon of conjugal violence, using as a starting point complaints recorded by the Police Forces (PF), which in the Azores consist solely of the Public Security Police (PSP). The study aims to understand one part of the phenomenon of domestic violence, that which occurs between couples and which is reported since, as is well known, it is something often suffered in silence or confined to the privacy of the home.

In this study, we have preferred the term “conjugal violence” instead of “domestic violence”, as initially requested by the Directorate-General of the Ministry of the Interior (DGAI). This decision was motivated, firstly, by the significance of conjugal violence within domestic violence as a whole in the Azores, accounting for around 70% (DGAI). Secondly because, despite the importance of conducting a study of domestic violence, attempting to cover all its aspects (violence between couples, against children, the elderly or the disabled) was not consistent with the time available for the study.

While not dismissing the relevance of an evaluation of complaints of violence against children or the elderly, given that these situations represent a growing phenomenon in Portuguese society, such cases involve theoretical explanations and, mainly, representations and practices that are relatively distinct from those of conjugal violence, particularly in the case of Portugal. This situation is the third reason for restricting this study to violence reported in conjugal relationships.

Occasional Papers of the Ministry of the Interior, November 2010

By: JALESI NAKARAWA

This thesis investigates the influence of legal fiction over the philosophy behind family law in New Zealand and our subsequent responses to domestic violence. As a feature of common law reasoning, legal fiction, asserting something to be true when it is not true, persists as an important mechanism in judicial fact-finding. In family law, the convenient and crucially unrecognised fiction of the “ideal family” which may never have existed continues to drive the family justice system. The failure to be aware of the fiction may undo the justifications for its existence and undermine its utility.

Treating this fiction as true rather than treating it as “if true” drives a wedge between the normative intent of the law and the behavioural issues that underlie human interpersonal relationships. The resulting gap between the realities of the family experience we live with and the “ideal family” we live by underwrites the vague and imprecise objectives of our responses to domestic violence. Apart from the uncertainty of what we are trying to achieve, the fiction assumes that deception and aggression are pathologies in human behaviour. The law’s reliance on these legal fictions to pursue just ends requires careful consideration to avoid causing real-world pathologies.

Despite New Zealand’s reputation for innovative responses to domestic violence, the Family Justice System as a whole has failed to produce the anticipated result. The expansion of the continuum of conduct classified as domestic violence has criminalised instances of ordinary human negotiating behaviour. This expansion under the Domestic Violence Act was intended to provide victims greater protection from domestic violence, but it has not had the desired effect. While success in police management terms may be evaluated in higher rates of reported incidents, arrests and convictions, success for victims ought to be assessed regarding the reduction in incidences of violence over time. This has not happened. For this reason, the application of statistical data to support a specific agenda can distort our assessment of domestic violence.

The thesis proposes a holistic approach based on domestic violence as fundamentally a behavioural issue. It is important first to ascertain the nature of violence in the world and our lives and to unpack human behaviour for a better understanding of why we do the things we do. Secondly, statistical data should be properly analysed to provide an accurate picture of human behaviour and domestic violence as it is on the ground, the reality of family life as we live it daily. This and only this can provide a sound bases for developing explicit goals to guide our legal responses or interventions, bridging the divide between the aspirational objectives of the law and the human reality we live with.

The University of Waikato, 2016

By Jane Shim, and Alison Leal Parker

  Drug laws are being reformed across the United States to move away from the harsh punitive approaches of the war on drugs, but federal immigration law continues to treat drug offenses, including decades-old offenses, as grounds for deportation of immigrants. Those harmed, authorized and unauthorized immigrants alike, often have deep connections to the country, where they have formed families, attained education, and built their lives. “Disrupt and Vilify” analyzes new federal government data from 2002 to 2020, finding the US has deported 500,000 people whose most serious offense was drug-related. Of these, 240,000 were deported between 2013 and 2020, amounting to about one of every five deportations of immigrants with a criminal conviction for that period. A conviction for even minor drug offenses—for example, drug possession (including marijuana)—can carry devastating immigration consequences that far outstrip the criminal sentence imposed. Some would not be criminal offenses if committed today or involve conduct that is now legal under state law. There are significant racial disparities in the imposition of immigration penalties. One out of five noncitizens facing deportation on criminal grounds is Black. Human Rights Watch and the Drug Policy Alliance call on the US Congress to reform federal law to ensure that immigrants with criminal convictions, including drug offenses, are not subject to “one-size-fits-all” deportations. Instead, immigration judges should have the discretion to make individualized decisions. Congress should impose a statute of limitations on deportations for past offenses. Drug policy reforms should prioritize evidence-based policies rooted in public health and human rights to address the root causes of the overdose crisis and problematic drug use, and not continue the vilification of immigrants.  

 New York: Human Rights Watch, 2024. 97p.

By Mohamed Osman, and Laetitia Bader  

  Since conflict broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum in April 2023, between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), both sides, particularly the RSF, have committed widespread sexual violence against women and girls, which are war crimes. Both warring parties, in violation of international humanitarian law, have attacked local responders, and obstructed aid, doubly victimizing survivors. Based on 42 interviews conducted between September 2023 and February 2024 with service providers to survivors of sexual violence, including healthcare workers, within and outside of the local responders, as well as aid workers, “Khartoum is not Safe for Women!” documents conflict-related sexual violence in Khartoum and its sister cities of Bahri and Omdurman, since April 2023. Service providers described how the warring parties have subjected women and girls, aged 9 through 60 to rape, gang rape, as well as forced and child marriages. Men and boys have also been victims of sexual violence. Despite the serious harm to the health of survivors described in the report, it finds that the actions of both warring parties have prevented survivors from accessing critical and comprehensive emergency health care. SAF has restricted humanitarian supplies imposing a de facto blockade on drugs entering RSF-controlled areas of Khartoum since October 2023, in violation of international humanitarian law. The RSF has pillaged medical supplies and occupied medical facilities. Both warring parties have intimidated and arbitrarily arrested doctors, nurses, and volunteers because of their work. The United Nations and African Union should deploy a civilian protection mission to Sudan tasked with monitoring human rights abuses, including conflict-related sexual violence and willful aid obstruction, and ensure that those responsible for rape and attacks on healthcare and local responders are held to account.   

New York: Human Rights Watch, 2024. 100p.

By Patricia Gossman  

The 26-page report, “Double Betrayal: Abuses against Afghan Policewomen Past and Present,” documents threats from Taliban authorities since August 2021 that have forced many former policewomen to go into hiding out of fear of being identified. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Taliban authorities have threatened Afghan women who had served in the police under the previous government. As Taliban forces carried out hundreds of revenge killings of those who had served in the former government’s security forces, many former policewomen went into hiding out of fear of being identified. Several have been killed, either by relatives who opposed their work as “shameful” or under unclear circumstances. The Taliban have not conducted credible investigations into these murders. While employed by the former government, many policewomen experienced sexual harassment and assault by their male supervisors. They described abuses including rape as well as demands from superiors for sex in exchange for promotion or avoiding dismissal. The widespread nature of these abuses was well-known since at least 2013, including among countries supporting the ngovernment, but police officers responsible for abuse were not held accountable. Women reported mental health effects from this abuse and their fear of the Taliban, but have been unable to find or afford psychosocial support. Human Rights Watch calls on the Taliban to cease all threats and abuse of policewomen and others who worked for the former government. The US and other countries that supported programs to train and hire women in the police should ensure that those seeking protection are deemed eligible on the same level as other vulnerable categories. The US, UK, Canada, and the European Union and its member states should increase Afghan refugee resettlement places, prioritizing women at risk.   

New York: Human Rights Watch, 2024. 34p.

By Dorothy Kronick 

Some theories predict that profits facilitate peace in illegal markets, while others predict that profits fuel violence. I provide empirical evidence from drug trafficking in Venezuela. Using original data, I compare lethal violence trends in municipalities near a major trafficking route to trends elsewhere, both before and after the counternarcotics policy in neighboring Colombia increased the use of Venezuelan transport routes. For thirty years before this policy change, lethal violence trends were similar; afterward, outcomes diverged: violence increased more along the trafficking route than elsewhere. Together with qualitative accounts, these findings illuminate the conditions under which profits fuel violence in illegal markets. 

Journal of Conflict Resolution 2020, Vol. 64(7-8) 1499-1523 ª The Author(s) 2020 

By Juan Camilo Castillo and Dorothy Kronick

Drug traffickers sometimes share profits peacefully. Other times they fight. We propose a model to investigate this variation, focusing on the role of the state. Seizing illegal goods can paradoxically increase traffickers’ profits and higher profits fuel violence. Killing kingpins makes crime bosses short-sighted, also fueling conflict. Only by targeting the most violent traffickers can the state reduce violence without increasing supply. These results help explain empirical patterns of violence in the drug war, which is less studied than interstate or civil war but often as deadly 

American Political Science Review (2020) 114, 3, 874–887 

By Max Smeets

This report is based on chapter one of Max Smeets’ book titled “Ransom War: How Cyber Crime Became a Threat to National Security,” forthcoming with Oxford University Press and Hurst Publishers. Historically, discussions on cyber conflict have primarily centered on the involvement of state-sponsored or affiliated groups. Yet, the growing prominence of criminal actors – specifically, ransomware groups – now demands a shift in attention. Ransomware, a type of malicious activity where hackers lock access to files or systems until a ransom is paid, increasingly threatens both citizen safety and global stability. In 2022, the majority of the U.K’s government's crisis management “Cobra” meetings were convened in response to ransomware incidents rather than other national security emergencies. According to Sami Khoury, the head of the Canadian Center for Cyber Security, the threat from nation-states remains significant but cybercrime, of which ransomware is the most disruptive form, is “the number one cyber threat activity affecting Canadians.” The Swiss National Cybersecurity Centre warns that ransomware could pose an “existential threat” to businesses and government agencies. This report discusses significant milestones in the development of ransomware, and what turned them into a significant threat to human and national security. It starts with the adoption of better encryption techniques by criminals, enabling them to effectively hold data for ransom. The use of botnets subsequently expanded their operational reach, while there was also a shift away from prepaid card systems in favor of crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, which provided anonymity and ease of transaction. Following these developments, the emergence of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) allowed for a better division of tasks within the cybercriminal community, making it easier for newcomers to participate. Tactics evolved further to include double extortion, where attackers threaten to publish stolen data unless a ransom is paid. The final shift saw the professionalization of ransomware groups. It also increased their intent and capability to target major organizations, maximizing their ransom potential. I refer to the ransomware groups at the forefront of this troubling trend in the criminal ecosystem as ransom war groups. 

Zürich: Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich 2024. 18p.

By Charles Fain Lehman

Crime remains a pressing concern for Americans, even as rates of violence have receded from 2022 peaks. What explains these persistent concerns? This report investigates this question in the context of a small but rapidly growing American city: Chattanooga, Tennessee. A Manhattan Institute poll from earlier this year found that Chattanooga residents are worried about safety in their communities; this report investigates why. A review of Chattanooga data, it finds that the city experienced the same increases in certain kinds of crime that other American cities did over the past four years, but that, through the application of evidence-based practices, the city’s police and municipal government have brought the problem under control. But even as violent crime has largely receded, multiple indicators are suggesting that another problem persists: disorder. Data indicate that homelessness, trash, and certain kinds of petty crime remain elevated above pre-2020 levels. A reduction in city resources—especially police resources—appears to have caused a concentration on serious crime, at the expense of more minor but still significant issues. Disorder, this report argues, matters, especially for a growing city like Chattanooga. Consequently, this report concludes by outlining several principles for addressing this problem, while capitalizing on the gains that the city has already made in getting major crime under control.

New York: The Manhattan Institute, 2024. 26p.

By Steven Dudley, María Fernanda Ramírez, Anastasia Austin and Gavin Voss

This report aims to better understand the criminal dynamics in Durán. Located in the southwest coastal province of Guayas, Durán is a municipality, or cantón, as they are known in Ecuador, of over 300,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of whom live in the city bearing the same name.1 It has long been known as a commercial hub and small industrial center. But it is also home to a chaotic mix of shrimp farms, poorly-planned residential developments and favela-like land invasions, and unzoned areas of factories and warehouses that produce and store goods, many of which leave Guayaquil’s various maritime ports en route to all corners of the world. More recently, Durán has become a violent epicenter of criminal activity. Criminal groups use the municipality as a staging area for cocaine exiting on cargo ships through Guayaquil’s ports, while also peddling drugs on a local level. Systemic corruption, underdevelopment, and extreme poverty have facilitated this rise in criminality. More than half of Durán’s residents do not have running water or plumbing. The municipality is bereft of schools and a public university. And recent efforts to revive Durán have waned amid local and national neglect and a series of economic crises. To many residents, Durán is but a ciudad dormitorio (sleeping quarters): They work, shop, and relax in neighboring Samborondón and Guayaquil, returning to Durán to spend the night. Part of what keeps them away these days is insecurity: Durán’s homicide rate reached 147 per 100,000 in 2023 — its highest recorded rate — as crime has metastasized. Once a bustling railroad depot and industrial hub, Durán is now the poster child for the country’s rapid decline into the criminal abyss. Major Findings • Many social, economic, and political factors have converged to make Durán a violent criminal hub. Rapid, uncontained population growth, coupled with widespread corruption and malfeasance, has left a good portion of the municipality bereft of basic services such as potable water and a working sewage system. Unplanned, informal, and criminal urban development has scarred the area and jaded its residents, who have few civil society and religious organizations upon which they can channel their grievances and even fewer political options. And, like so many other parts of the country, the municipality lacks security, judicial, and regulatory forces that can effectively prosecute high-impact criminal activities. • Durán has two primary criminal organizations: the Chone Killers and the Latin Kings. These two engage in an increasingly violent battle for the municipality’s territory and its criminal economies, which include local and international drug trafficking activities. Their ties to transnational criminal networks, however, appear to be sporadic and opportunistic, rather than systemic and long-lasting. Perhaps more alarming is their penetration of the municipal government, where at least one of these groups secured public works contracts, as well as control of key government institutions that preside over everything from land tenure issues to traffic tickets. • Land trafficking is at the core of Durán’s criminal ecosystem. The illegal seizure and development of urban and rural land, often with the direct participation of corrupt officials, offers a deep well of potential profit, ranging from the sale of property to the administration of various public services. Illegal settlements also serve as staging areas for various criminal activities, including transnational drug trafficking, retail drug sales, as well as kidnapping, robbery, and extortion. Legalizing illegal settlements brings with it lucrative government contracts and the opportunity for corrupt officials to profit from kickbacks and criminal actors to launder their dirty money. It also leads to violence, including against public officials. • Ecuador’s growing role in transnational drug trafficking has significantly impacted Durán’s criminal, political, and economic landscape. By serving larger national drug trafficking networks, local gangs have gained access to substantial financial resources. Drawing from this new revenue stream, gang leaders have acquired legitimate businesses such as laundromats, hair salons, and construction companies. This interplay of criminal, economic, and political capital has also changed the political landscape, offering local gangs an entry point into the municipal government via campaign contributions, as evidenced by their systematic penetration into key government posts and public works contracts. • Durán’s gangs have a complex and varied relationship with the local communities where they operate. While some gangs exploit residents, the most sophisticated gang leaders offer them protection and other social and economic services, filling the void left by absent, corrupt, or inept state institutions, and providing a semblance of security and opportunity. This calculated approach engenders support that allows them to operate in relative safety, as well as use the community infrastructure and draw employees from a vast pool of recruits. • Homicide trends in Durán largely follow patterns seen in Ecuador over the last several years, including the type of victim, weapons employed, and the place where the murders occur. And, in some ways, Durán is a reflection of the extreme swings in violence in cities along the country’s coast. But Durán’s record 2023 homicide spike was more extreme, in part due to local events, like the murders of key criminal power brokers and the rise of a wayward, volatile new leader. These factors point to gang violence as the primary driver of homicides in the municipality   

Washington, DC: Insight Crime, 2024. 74p.

By Marie Lynam, David Keatley, Garth Maker, John Coumbaros

Little is known about the prevalence of incapacitating substances present in drug-facilitated sexual assaults (DFSA). Presented here is a literature review conducted to provide background information, such as symptoms, exacerbations, and drug interactions, on drugs typically implicated in DFSA, namely gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD), ketamine, diazepam, oxycodone, methamphetamine, and alcohol. Literature found through Scopus and Pubmed was reviewed to determine the current prevalence of these substances in DFSA with a focus on Australian data. The global literature revealed that there is a wide variety of substances used in DFSA and the prevalence varies by country. For example, it was found that in Northern Ireland, opioids were most prevalent whereas in France, benzodiazepines were most prevalent. In Australia, the review revealed a lack of contemporary data with the most recent report in Victoria using data collected during 2011–2013. The literature also revealed there can be an important difference between self-reported substance use and substances discovered via toxicological analysis. This can be due to the challenges of biological detection, reliability of self-reporting, and the possibility of a substance being introduced to a person’s food or drink without their knowledge. This review highlights the need for the collection and analysis of current data about DFSA reports and the drugs detected, and due to the constantly evolving picture of both licit and illicit drug use, an assessment of the role of prescription medications in DFSA due to drug-drug interactions as well as potential to incapacitate is warranted.  

Forensic Science International: Synergy 9 (2024) 100545  

By Storm Ervin, Erica Henderson

The Urban Institute received funding from the George Kaiser Family Foundation to conduct an 11-month mixed-methods assessment of adult domestic violence (DV) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. * The purpose of Urban’s study was to understand major programs, policies, services, and funding sources geared toward preventing and responding to adult DV survivors and recommend ways Tulsa could improve its response to domestic violence. The first part of the mixed-method assessment focused primarily on the largest service provider in Tulsa, Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS). The second part of the assessment focused on qualitative data collection with criminal legal and human services agencies and stakeholders to provide insight into the larger domestic violence landscape in Tulsa. Based on the assessment findings, we identified seven overarching recommendations for how Tulsa could improve its response to domestic violence. Overarching Findings Tulsa’s largest DV service provider, DVIS, and Tulsa’s family justice center, the Family Safety Center (FSC), offer a multitude of evidence-based practices for adult and child survivors. In addition, DVIS is successful in reaching and serving people with low educational attainment and unemployment, which are major risk factors for experiencing DV. Law enforcement has implemented evidenced-based screening tools—such as the Lethality Assessment Program and the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement—to screen for lethality and strangulation among victims at the scene of DV incidents. Further, organizations engage in several interagency efforts to respond to DV through Tulsa’s Rapid Intervention Team, the FSC, Tulsa’s response to strangulation, and the Integrated DV Court. Finally, not without some challenges, federal and philanthropic funding sources have demonstrated commitment to supporting Tulsa’s response to DV. Our assessment also yielded notable areas for improvement. For example, Black and Indigenous survivors are vastly underserved by DVIS, though they are most likely to experience intimate partner homicide (Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board 2021). In addition, Tulsa has few programs aimed at intervening on behalf of children who experience or are at risk of DV. For both adults and children, stakeholders reported few programs for preventing DV. Moreover, stakeholders reported policy and practice constraints as negatively impacting survivors and intervention in DV. For example, failure-to-protect legislation was described as a method for criminalizing survivors. Stakeholders also reported that Battering Intervention Programs (BIPs) involve burdensome amounts of money and time for those who are mandated to participate. Moreover, policy constraints limit stakeholders’ ability to provide wraparound services to people who cause harm. Another notable challenge is the McGirt Decision, which established that state courts no longer have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Oklahomans who are also tribal members, and in turn, complicated Tulsa’s ability to respond to people who cause harm and also belong to Indigenous communities. Other challenges include those related to specific agencies, such as law enforcement’s faithful administration of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) screens, the role that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services plays in separating children listed in protective orders, and service providers’ limited ability to provide more evidence-based services. Other notable challenges are agencies’ limited capacity and staff and a lack of sustainable funding sources.    

Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2023. 110p.

By: Dr. Hilal Özcebe, Dr. Sutay Yavuz, Hacer Taşcene, and Dr. Sinan Türkyılmaz

Around the world, women and girls are victims of countless acts of violence. The range of gender-based violence is devastatingly endless, occurring quite literally from womb to tomb. Violence against women and girls occurs in every segment of society – regardless of class, ethnicity, culture, or country.

While you are reading this text, many millions of women around the world will experience the trauma of violence and abuse. It is estimated that 1 in 3 women throughout the world suffer this violence during her lifetime. The same figure for EU countries is 1 in 5. Women in Turkey face violence like women in many other countries; the latest survey shows that 2 in 5 women have been exposed to physical violence. In the same research, 42 percent of women have been exposed to physical and sexual violence, and 44 percent of women have been exposed to emotional violence or abuse. All of these were caused by their husbands or partners.

Over the past 30 years, increasingly gender-based violence has been recognized both in Turkey and worldwide. One of the newest and most comprehensive international instruments to combat violence against women is “Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention)” which was built on the 4P principle of ‘Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Policy’. For many years all the interventions to combat VAW have been mostly built around the protection and prosecution. However policy development and prevention are the weakest links of the combating interventions. Among the prevention interventions the most excluded groups have been the youth and children. As it is indicated in some research, children and the youth are the two groups who have been the silent victims of violence within the family even they are not the subject of direct violence. However it is also known that violence is an act that is learnt and to prevent violence against women, the interventions should be started in the early childhood.

Increased rates of violence worldwide have heightened the need to understand what children think about their experiences as victims or witnesses of violence. Much has been written about children and violence, but less has been written from the viewpoint of the children themselves. Without knowing their experience and perception it is impossible to develop any intervention to prevent violence against women regarding to early ages of youth.

This research which is the first in its area had been conducted to understand the perception of school age youth (ages between 11-17) on violence against women and gender inequality which is the root cause of the act. Upon the results of this research UNFPA with the relevant partners will develop prevention interventions for the school age children.

As UNFPA we would like to thank to the researchers, Prof. Dr. Hilal Özcebe, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Türkyılmaz, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sutay Yavuz and Hacer Taşçene and the interview team for conducting this special qualitative research. We would also convey our gratitude to all the government officials, school principals and teachers who supported us in Ankara, Aydın and Erzurum.

Population Association (Turkey) and United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA November 2013

By Kristy E. Williams, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Domestic and child abuse can result in devastating consequences for military service members and their families. It also can reduce mission readiness. In fiscal year 2023, DOD recorded 26,978 reports of domestic and child abuse incidents, of which 14,110 met the DOD definition of abuse. House Report 117-397 includes a provision for GAO to review the policies and regulations governing IDCs and the use of decision notification letters. This report (1) describes how military commanders, abuse victims, and alleged abusers may use IDC decisions; and (2) assesses the extent to which the military services have established processes to notify commanders, abuse victims, and alleged abusers of IDC decisions. GAO conducted site visits at four military installations; analyzed random samples of IDC notifications and incident case logs; reviewed DOD and military service guidance; and interviewed DOD, military service, and civilian officials. What GAO Recommends GAO recommends DOD clarify its guidance and expectations on incident determination notification methods and content based on its identification and analysis of associated risks. DOD concurred with GAO’s recommendation.    

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2024. 49p.

By: Jeffrey L. Edleson, Taryn Lindhorst, Gita Mehrotra, William Vesneski, Luz Lopez, and Sudha Shetty

Mothers who flee with their children because of domestic violence may have few other options to ensure their safety and that of their children in the face of their partner’s violence. Yet when their flight takes them across international boundaries, they become vulnerable to being legally treated as an “abducting” parent by the courts. This report focuses on the situations of women who experienced abuse in another country and came to the United States in an effort to protect themselves and their children, but who then faced civil actions in U.S. state or federal courts for child abduction under international legal agreements. We interviewed battered mothers around the world, their attorneys, their husbands’ attorneys and examined published judicial decisions in cases involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction where there were also allegations of domestic violence by one parent against the other. The research team interviewed 22 mothers who responded to Hague petitions in U.S. courts, 23 attorneys representing both mothers and fathers in these cases and five specialists, such as expert witnesses. The research team also analyzed 47 published U.S. Hague Convention court decisions involving allegations of domestic violence.

Battered mothers who fled across borders to the U.S. to receive help from their families were often victims of life-threatening violence, and their children were frequently directly or indirectly exposed to the father’s violence. The women sought but received little help from foreign authorities or social service agencies and received little help from U.S. authorities once they came to the U.S. In fact, these mothers – most of whom were U.S. citizens – often faced U.S. courts that were unsympathetic to their safety concerns and subsequently sent their children back to the custody of the abusive fathers in the other country, creating potential serious risks for the children and mothers.

US Department of Justice, November 2010

By Jorge Santos-Hermoso, José Luis González-Álvarez, Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles, Enrique José Carbonell-Vayá 

This investigation studied the interaction between seven risk factors included in the police risk assessment of the VioGén System and found that these factors formed groups based on the dimensions of violence and psychopathology. The 171 femicides analyzed were categorized into four groups: normalized (23.4%), violent (25.7%), pathological (18.7%), and pathological/violent (32.2%). These groups exhibited significant differences concerning their psychosocial profile and relationship dynamics. One of the main findings is the identification of the pathological type that had not been detected in previous typologies, thus highlighting the importance of the psychological factor when classifying the perpetrators of femicide. These results have important practical implications, as the classification of the aggressor could be a preliminary step taken before the risk assessment, which would make it possible to individualize predictions and improve the protection of the victims as well as the therapies and intervention programs. 

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (2024) 30:521–543 

By The Mixed Migration Centre

Drawing on more than 1,000 surveys with refugees and migrants, this infographic examines their perceptions of dangerous locations, direct experiences of abuse and harsh conditions and their interactions with and perceptions of smugglers. Additionally, it explores the sources of information that refugees and migrants relied on before and during their journey, as well as their access to assistance.

London/Denmark: Mixed Migration Centre, 2024. 6p.

By Clarissa

The Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) programme uses Action Research (AR) to understand the dynamics which drive the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), and to generate participatory innovations which help to shift these underlying dynamics and mitigate their worst effects. Through 13 Action Research Groups (ARGs) in Bangladesh and 12 groups in Nepal, the programme is generating a rich understanding – particularly through children’s lived experiences – of the complex underlying drivers of harmful work and working children and their employers are themselves defining, piloting and evaluating their innovative actions that aim to increase children’s options to avoid WFCL.  

Bangladesh Action Research Group 13 Brighton: Institute of Development Studies

By Holly E. Porter

This thesis explores responses to rape in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda, based on three years of participant observation plus in-depth interviews with a random sample of 187 women from two villages. The issues examined lie at the intersection of two ongoing discussions in scholarship and practice and contributes to each of them: wrongdoing and justice, and sexual violence and rape.

Northern Uganda is at the heart of international justice debates. Fierce controversy followed the 2005 announcement of the International Criminal Court’s intervention in ongoing conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda. Two opposing representations of Acholi society emerged: that Acholi were innately forgiving—able to deal with mass crime through traditional justice; or that they needed and often supported formal legal justice. But this missed crucial aspects of Acholi realities, which this study illustrates, most basically the profound value of social harmony, and a deep distrust of distanced authorities to dispense justice in their interest.

Many scholars and practitioners assume that in the aftermath of crime, justice must be done. Amongst Acholi, I have found, the primary moral imperative in the wake of wrongdoing is not punishment of the perpetrator or individual victim’s rights but the restoration of social harmony.

Experience of rape and harm it causes are predicated on understandings of wrongdoing related to challenges posed to social harmony. Similarly, an appropriate remedy depends not only on the act of forced sex itself, but also on the social role of the perpetrator and social context.

This thesis adds empirical, locally-grounded, and culturally-specific evidence in support of a more complicated and nuanced explanation of rape and its aftermath than is familiar in the analytical/normative frameworks familiar in post-atrocity justice debates or anti-rape feminist activist discourse. It suggests reimagining the meanings of these phenomena along lived continuums: before, during, and after war; and acknowledging the role of sex, power, and politics in all sexual experiences on a spectrum of coercion and enthusiastic consent.

London School of Economics and Political Science, April 2013