By Nicola Helps, Charlotte Bell, Chloe Schulze, and, Rodney Vlais

This paper summarises the literature on men’s behaviour change programs (MBCPs) and contributes to building a shared understanding of their role in addressing domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia. While MBCPs were never meant to be a panacea for domestic, family and sexual violence, their role and effectiveness in addressing domestic, family and sexual violence is often questioned.

Key insights

• There is variation across MBCPs in terms of program logical and theoretical frameworks, structure (e.g. duration, frequency and intensity) and focus.

• Most people who use violence will never engage with an MBCP service.

• MBCPs are a piece of the broader infrastructure required to address men’s use of violence. MBCPs are a specialist response often connected to criminal justice systems.

• Positive outcomes at the end of an MBCP are most likely to be incremental in terms of reductions in some aspects of the program participant’s violent and controlling behaviours, however, outcomes vary substantially between program participants.

• Behaviour change work is not complete at the end of MBCP participation.

• There is a risk in the limited perpetrator intervention landscape in Australia of an unrealistic expectation for MBCPs in their standard form to be effective for all people using violence.

Key conclusions

• MBCPs are conceptualised as one piece of the puzzle however are yet to be operationalised as part of a fully integrated system.

• MBCPs need to be better funded to provide tailored, holistic and timely services that can support meaningful behaviour change.

• MBCPs need to be embedded collaboratively within the broader domestic, family and sexual violence ecosystem so they can work together with other services.

• MBCPs are only one piece of the response to domestic, family and sexual violence.

Sydney: Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS): 2025. 35p.

By Cat Strawa

This policy and practice paper outlines the research evidence on the effectiveness of parenting programs for preventing or reducing child maltreatment. 

Child maltreatment can include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect or exposure to domestic violence. Definitions of child maltreatment also often include actions taken by parents or caregivers in the home. For example, failure to provide for a child’s basic needs, exposure to acts of domestic violence or the use of physical force that causes harm.

The paper discusses research on the specific practices, content and techniques used within parenting programs, and those most commonly used in effective programs or that may increase program effectiveness.

Key messages

• Parenting programs can support the prevention and reduction of child maltreatment but not all parenting programs are effective at doing so.

• Research evidence is still emerging on which elements of parenting programs for child maltreatment contribute to their effectiveness.

• Some practices commonly used in effective programs include:

• providing content to support parenting practices and

• skills

• delivering programs using qualified practitioners.

Southbank, VIC: Australian Institute of Family Studies  2025. 22p.

By:Jessie Austin, Nicole MartinRogers, Anna Granias, Maria Robinson, and Leticia Risco

Indigenous relatives are disproportionately likely to experience violence, be murdered, or go missing compared to other demographic groups. In Utah, although they make up just 1.5% of the population, American Indian and Alaska Native relatives account for over 5% of all murder victims (Utah Department of Health and Human Services, 2023). In 2020, the Utah Legislature created the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Task Force (renamed the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives Task Force in 2023; MMIR; Utah H.B. 116, 2020; Utah H.B. 25, 2023). The Task Force’s responsibilities include conducting Tribal consultation on issues related to the MMIR injustice, developing model protocols and procedures, identifying best practices related to case investigation and prosecution, and conducting community education and outreach. This report addresses nine key topics of relevance to murdered and missing Indigenous relatives which emerged throughout the research process: 1. Reporting and initial investigation of missing person cases 2. Communication and alert systems 3. Review and investigation of unresolved (“cold”) cases 4. Death investigation 5. Jurisdiction issues and government-to-government collaboration 6. Data issues 7. Victim and family services 8. Prevention 9. Media reporting For each topic, the report presents major findings based on an analysis of the results from interviews with key informants, and listening sessions with family members of MMIR victims and community members in Utah; an inspection of existing federal and state legislation; and a review of relevant research literature. Based on these findings, the report:  Describes the policy context, identifying laws relevant to murdered and missing Indigenous relatives  Provides insight on best and emerging practices, including some protocols for effective investigations  Identifies issues which affect missing persons and homicide investigations related to Native Americans in Utah  Offers recommendations This summary synthesizes the findings across topics and identifies common themes in the report. The full report provides more detailed information, including extensive references. This summary presents the overarching themes that define and perpetuate MMIR injustice in Utah. These themes are based on a literature review, key informant interviews, and listening sessions with family members of Indigenous relatives who are missing or died by murder or other suspicious circumstances and other community members. Each section of the full report explores these issues in more depth.

Salt Lake City: Utah Legislature, 2023. 130p.

By The United States Government Accountability Office

According to researchers, AI/AN women in the U.S. experience higher rates of violence than most other women, and tribal and federal officials have stated that this incidence of violence constitutes a crisis. Various federal officials and tribal stakeholders have raised concerns about challenges with cross-jurisdictional cooperation and a lack of comprehensive national data on cases. GAO was asked to review the federal response to the missing or murdered AI/AN women crisis. This report examines the extent to which (1) the number of missing or murdered AI/AN women in the U.S. is known and (2) DOJ and DOI have taken steps to address the crisis. GAO reviewed available data on missing persons and violent deaths, relevant reports, and agency documentation, including agency policies and procedures. Using agency data—which were determined to be reliable for location selection— and qualitative factors, GAO selected seven locations to interview federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials; tribal officials; and nongovernmental victim service providers on the federal response to the crisis. What GAO Recommends GAO is making four recommendations, including that DOJ develop a plan for how it will accomplish ongoing analyses of missing or murdered AI/AN women data and that DOJ and DOI both develop plans to implement the requirements in Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act of 2019 that remain unfulfilled past their statutory deadlines. Both agencies concurred with our recommendations.

GAO-22-104045

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2021. 68p.

By Melanie Fillmore

This three-article dissertation addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous state and non-state policy actors collaborating on Idaho missing and murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP) policy shift the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance (IFCG) policy context to the ‘third space of sovereignty’ (Bruyneel, 2007). In a space of competing narratives of authority across time, and space, paper one addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous policy actors are shaped by the “drivers” of collaboration. The second paper addresses three key configurations of collaborative governance regimes. The third paper reassesses the scope of Idaho MMIP through a comparison of MMIP cases in 2021 and 2023 as a policy impact. Findings suggest Indigenous policy actors develop consequential incentives, collaborative governance regimes, and assess the scope of MMIP to redefine missing within the‘third space of sovereignty’.

Boise, ID: Boise State University 2024. 179p.

By Melanie L. Fillmore and Lane K. Gillespie, et al.

House Concurrent Resolution No. 33 (HCR33) was introduced in the Health and Welfare Committee, and passed by both houses of the Legislature in March 2020. HCR33 recognizes Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) as a crisis in Idaho, designates May 5th as a day of awareness for MMIP, and supports efforts to further investigate incidence rates, underlying causes, and possible solutions through collaborative efforts. Public testimony in support of the resolution came from a diverse group of stakeholders, including legislative sponsors, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho, tribal legal and justice practitioners, and Indigenous advocates. The following passages serve as a reminder of the central role of Idaho’s tribes, and the opportunities and challenges in addressing MMIP.

Missing Persons • Missing persons cases are dynamic and missing persons data may represent individuals or incidents of missing persons. There are more incidents than individuals, as some individuals go missing more than once. Understanding this distinction is important to understanding the impact of MMIP in terms of people and resources. • Idaho’s average missing persons rate is approximately 10.59 per 100,000 persons. The average rate for Indigenous persons in Idaho is 18.99 per 100,000 persons. • A disproportionate percentage of Idaho’s missing persons are identified as Indigenous, as much as 2.1 times their proportion of the population. • Approximately 63% of Idaho’s Indigenous missing persons have been missing for more than 1 year. • Most of Idaho’s Indigenous missing persons are female (75%), in contrast with Idaho’s non-indigenous missing persons of which 28.8% are female. • Fifty percent of Idaho’s Indigenous missing persons went missing as adults and 50% went missing as juveniles. Among non-indigenous missing persons, 61.5% went missing as adults and 33.5% as juveniles. • On average in Idaho, there are 81.6 Indigneous missing persons entries in NCIC each year; and entries for Indigneous missing persons average 3.39% of annual missing persons entries in the state. • In 2020, NCIC entries for Indigenous persons were 3.38% of total entries in Idaho, compared to 1.76% of total entries nationwide. Homicide • Indigenous persons are disproportionately represented in deaths attributable to assault (3.05 times their proportion of the population). • There is variation across homicide data sources in counting potential Indigenous murder victims. • Homicide cases involving Indigenous persons occur in tribal jurisdictions and non-tribal jurisdictions

Submitted to the Idaho Legislature, September 30, 2021.2021. 59p.

By European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Eurostat and European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) 

  This report presents, for the first time, selected key results of the EU gender-based violence survey based on data from all 27 Member States. Across the EU-27, 114 023 women were interviewed about their experiences. The report focuses on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women in the EU. The EU gender-based violence survey also collected specific data about women’s experiences of violence, including on the consequences of violence and contacts with different services that provide assistance to victims, as survivors of violence. Data on both the prevalence of violence and the consequences of violence will be analysed in detail in the survey report that Eurostat, FRA and EIGE will publish in 2025. In this report, the results are presented in four chapters, starting with the overall prevalence of physical violence or threats and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator. This is followed by two chapters that focus on violence perpetrated by women’s intimate partners and by other people (non-partners). The fourth chapter examines women’s experiences of sexual harassment at work. Finally, the report includes an annex that summarises the survey data collection methodology  

 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg  2024. 48p.

By Anita Franklin, Louise Bradley, Jo Greenaway, Sarah Goff, Sarah Atkins and Lucy Rylatt

Children and young people with SEND have specific vulnerabilities due to communication, learning or neurodivergent needs which are often unmet by current service structures. These needs are often not recognised or well understood by multi agency services who rarely receive specific training in communicating or working with this group of children. Many of these children and young people have not had their needs formally diagnosed, and many are on long waiting lists for diagnosis and assessments. This group of children and young people often experience; higher rates of poverty, social and school exclusion, isolation, bullying and discrimination. They are also over-represented in the care system and face particular challenges when housed in unregulated accommodation. This is coupled with often high levels of unmet needs and generally a lack of empowerment and agency. All indicators which correlate to increased risk of exploitation.

This qualitative exploratory study sought to provide evidence to identify and address gaps in safeguarding policy, guidance and legal frameworks in relation to specific risks of modern slavery for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England and Wales (aged up to 25 years). Furthermore, the study sought to explore whether policies and guidance provide the mechanisms for appropriate strategic planning and practical responses to modern slavery for this group of children and young people.

Key findings

1. Despite children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)/additional learning needs being at increased risk of exploitation and trafficking, there is inadequate attention to the specific needs of young people with SEND in national safeguarding or modern slavery policy.

2. A lack of robust training may mean that practitioners may not be aware of the impact and interrelation between SEND and modern slavery.

3. There is a lack of data collection and a lack of understanding of modern slavery and SEND, impacting on opportunities for prevention and early identification, or to understand the scale and nature of how SEND and modern slavery interact.

4. There are missed opportunities for early intervention and disrupting patterns of exploitation, for example when responding to reports from parents of missing episodes for young people with SEND.

5. Engagement with education services is one of the most significant factors in keeping children with SEND safe from exploitation. Practitioners and parents were very clear that the most significant factor in keeping children and young people safe from modern slavery was their engagement within an education system that met their SEND needs.

6. Responding well and responding early requires parents’ concerns being listened to, with training and multi-agency support being in place.

Recommendations

1. The Department for Education should update the Safeguarding Disabled Children and Young People Guidance

2. Implementation of Safeguarding Children with SEND champions.

3. The UK government should improve information sharing and data collection that helps agencies understand prevalence and nature of SEND on children and young adults’ safeguarding needs

4. The Home Office and DfE should jointly commission and roll out national multi-agency mandatory training across all services to address lack of understanding of modern slavery and SEND amongst frontline workers and managers across statutory and voluntary sectors.

5. The Department for Education should support the earlier identification of SEND and support to meet needs through multi-agency working.

6. The Department for Education should lead multi-agency work to prevent school breakdowns and establish accountable safeguarding processes for young people with SEND.

7. The Home Office and Department for Education should support local safeguarding partnerships to work with parents as a resource for protection and to fund and produce resources to support parents.

8. Local Safeguarding Partnerships should undertake an urgent review of how risk is assessed in children and young people with SEND.

9. The Department for Education and the Home Office should update guidance and develop training to support improved practice concerning missing children and young people with SEND.

10. Local Authorities should reduce distant out of authority placements and their breakdown as a response to exploitation and trafficking.

11. All agencies should improve professional understanding of communication and behaviours of children and young people with SEND.

London; Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre,  2024. 56p.

By Mar Negreiro  

Online child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and grooming practices (manipulation aimed at exploiting and abusing people), now increasingly targeting younger children, have been proliferating at an alarming rate. In 2023, the more than 36.2 million reports of suspected online child sexual abuse represented a historical peak.Reports of groomingrose by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023. Most activities detected were hosted in Europe. In response to this situation, on 11 May 2022 the European Commission adopted a proposal for long-term rules to prevent and combat child abuse. The Commission proposal would require interpersonal communication services, such as webmail messaging services and internet telephony, as well as others, to proactively detect online CSAM materials and activities involving child grooming. However, this poses many concerns regarding privacy, security and law enforcement investigations. The proposal also provides for the establishment of an EU centre to support the implementation and supervision of the new rules. In the European Parliament,the file has been assigned to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).Parliament adopted the LIBEreport at first reading on 22 November 2023, along with the committee recommendation to enter into interinstitutional negotiations. The Council is still working on its common position under the Hungarian Presidency, where a blocking minority of countries persists.  

Luxembourg: EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service, 2024. 12p.

By Stewart Boiteux & Adam Teperski

To examine the operation of the NSW Domestic Violence Electronic Monitoring (DVEM) program, and to estimate the association between DVEM program participation and recidivism. METHOD Entropy balancing was used to match 226 DVEM participants on parole with 768 parolees who met observed program eligibility conditions but did not participate in the program. Using multivariate probit regression, four recidivism outcomes were compared between offenders participating in DVEM and the matched offender sample, including the probability of any reoffending, domestic violence reoffending, Apprehended Domestic Violence Order breaches, and the probability that an offender on a community order was imprisoned for a new offence or breach of the conditions of their order. RESULTS Offenders participating in DVEM were around 7 percentage points (p.p.) less likely to return to custody within a year. DVEM participants were also significantly less likely to reoffend with any offence (7.1 p.p.), a domestic violence offence (10.5 p.p.), and an ADVO breach (8.7 p.p.). While the study assessed many factors related to both DVEM placement and reoffending, it is unable to exclude the possibility that unobserved variables and/or factors related to participation in DVEM may be influencing the results. CONCLUSION DVEM participation is associated with significant reductions in the probability that an offender reoffends and/or is imprisoned within a year of release.

(Crime and Justice Bulletin No. 255). Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. 2023. 30p.

By  Leanne Lester, Zoe Callis and Paul Flatau

 As more data is being collected by Zonta House, the importance of linking the data, ensuring measurement tools are valid and reliable, and that all program outcomes are measurable has become paramount. This process has enabled UWA to assess the impact and effectiveness of Zonta House programs. Linking of data sources The linking of Penelope and SHIP data enabled a complete evaluation of Zonta House programs. It is recommended that processes be developed to ensure the accuracy of data entry into both Penelope and SHIP systems. As the linking is done through birth dates and Statistical Linkage Keys, it is imperative that birth dates and client names are entered correctly into both systems. Mapping program logic to available data By mapping the program logic to available data we were able to ascertain that all outcomes were measurable using both internal (Penelope) and external (SHIP and Department of Communities) hosted data sources. Measuring program logic outcomes The results of the data analysis show Zonta House are performing well and achieving their outcomes in the crisis and transitional accommodation programs, Recovery Support, Outreach Support, Positive Pathways, Future Employment Connections, and Positive Pathways programs. Understanding a woman’s journey through Zonta House By mapping the flow of a woman’s journey through Zonta House we were able to determine common pathways of program engagement, and pathways of engagement which were more likely to lead to a woman’s exit from Zonta House. It is recommended that Zonta House encourage engagement with programs such as Safer Pathways, Recovery Support, Positive Pathways and Outreach Support programs as soon as possible within a woman’s journey through Zonta House. Reliability and validity of the Life Matrix In this study we explored the potential value for the Life Matrix to be used as a routine measure at Zonta House. Of particular interest was whether the Life Matrix was reliable and valid. Five domains of the Life Matrix (emotional wellbeing; social wellbeing; community and cultural involvement; mental health; and physical health) showed a reliable underlying theme of wellbeing and contribute to the Revised Total Life Matrix Score. Validity was tested against the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS 21), with significant correlations in the expected direction showing convergence between the two instruments. Clients in the moderate/severe/ extremely severe band had significantly lower Revised Total Life Matrix Scores than those in the normal and mild bands, also demonstrating convergence. The Life Matrix domains are significantly correlated with SHIP variables. The Life Matrix is a reliable and valid tool and is recommended for use. Optimisation of visualisation Many limitations were found when trying to extract and display data from the Penelope system. To enable effective visualisation of data, it is recommended that work is done directly with the developers of Penelope to access and customise visualisations  

Perth: Centre for Social Impact The University of Western Australia 2021. 57p.

By Leanne Lester, Ami Seivwright, Paul Flatau, Emma Crane, and Kiara Minto

This report presents an analysis of client outcomes with a view to understanding the impact of Zonta House and provides a statistical analysis of the validity and reliability of the Life Matrix tool developed and used by Zonta House to measure clients’ wellbeing at intake and exit.

As with many community agencies, Zonta House manages a number of programs and uses different platforms to store its data. As with other agencies funded to undertake Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) programs (which are jointly funded by the Commonwealth and State/Territory governments), Zonta House utilises the Specialist Homelessness Information Platform (SHIP) to capture data. At the same time, Zonta House captures client outcomes information on SHS clients using the popular Penelope client management platform, which also is the platform for storing client service and outcomes across a myriad of other programs designed to provide a holistic service response to the needs of women and children experiencing family and domestic violence. This data capture includes Zonta House’s innovative Life Matrix client outcomes approach.

After extracting and cleaning the data, CSI UWA undertook reliability and validity testing of the Life Matrix tool used by Zonta House as a case management and outcomes measurement tool.

Perth: Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia, 2021, 44p.

By Gemma Hamilton, Dirkje Gerryts, Brianna Chesser

The Alexis Family Violence Response Model (Alexis-FVRM) is a coordinated police and social services response to recidivist family violence in Victoria. Following the success of the pilot program, the Alexis-FVRM was expanded to include multiple regions in the South-Eastern metropolitan corridor of Melbourne and is currently active across multiple police divisions.

The evaluation aimed to explore the effectiveness of the Alexis-FVRM since the rollout to other police divisions across Victoria. It also sought to provide an overview of the type of support provided by the Alexis-FVRM, and an exploration of engagement rates and modes of engaging victim-survivors and respondents.

Overall, the Alexis-FVRM provided a range of support to a diverse pool of respondents and victim-survivors in several police divisions across Victoria. The evaluation results are largely positive regarding the efficacy of the Alexis-FVRM. The evaluation results indicate that the Alexis-FVRM helped to reduce the risk of family violence for many of the respondents and affected family members.

Key findings

78% of victim-survivor participants reported that the Alexis-FVRM helped to reduce family violence in their lives.

The risk levels for respondents significantly reduced following Alexis-FVRM intervention. 66% had lower risk levels at case closure compared to their initial risk ratings.

Alexis-FVRM practitioners reported successful contact with respondents in 83% of cases, with assertive outreach used in 85% of cases.

For over a third of respondents (36%), their case was closed because their needs had been met by the Alexis-FVRM.

Melbourne: RMIT University 2025. 26p.

By Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz,  Angela Bruns , Amanda J Aubel , Xiaoya Zhang , Shani A Buggs

Understanding the burden of gun violence among youth is a public health imperative. While most estimates are based on direct and witnessed victimization, living nearby gun violence incidents may be consequential too. Yet detailed information about these broader experiences of violence is lacking. We use data on a population-based cohort of youth merged with incident-level data on deadly gun violence to assess the prevalence and intensity of community exposure to gun homicides across cross-classified categories of exposure distance and recency, overall and by race/ethnicity, household poverty, and neighborhood disadvantage. In total, 2–18% of youth resided within 600 m of a gun homicide occurring in the past 14–365 days. These percentages were 3–25% for incidents within 800 m and 5–37% for those within a 1300-m radius. Black and Latinx youth were 3–7 times more likely, depending on the exposure radius, to experience a past-year gun homicide than white youth and on average experienced incidents more recently and closer to home. Household poverty contributed to exposure inequities, but disproportionate residence in disadvantaged neighborhoods was especially consequential: for all racial/ethnic groups, the difference in the probability of exposure between youth in low vs high poverty households was approximately 5–10 percentage points, while the difference between youth residing in low vs high disadvantage neighborhoods was approximately 50 percentage points. Given well-documented consequences of gun violence exposure on health, these more comprehensive estimates underscore the importance of supportive strategies not only for individual victims but entire communities in the aftermath of gun violence.

J Urban Health, 2022 Jun 7, 16p.

By CSE Aware

  The United Nations and other experts have highlighted that women with learning disabilities (LDs) are at higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) because of the lifelong isolation, dependency and oppression they often they experience. These inequalities also put them at risk of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). Despite global recognition of these impacts, in Scotland to date there is very limited evidence and information on how commercial sexual exploitation affects women with learning disabilities. In the recent report Unequal, Unheard, Unjust: But not Hidden Anymore,the Scottish Commission forPeoplewithLearningDisabilities (SCLD) highlighted SEason of the types of GBV women with learning disabilities experienced. What’s more, this groundbreaking report specifically recommended that the Scottish Government “commission national research examining the commercial sexual exploitation of women with learning disabilities in Scotland,” noting the lack of documented information. While some information does exist about learning disabled women’s experiences of selling or exchanging sex, it is mostly anecdotal and has not been documented nor analysed to truly understand the effects on this population and the effectiveness of, andgaps in, service responses.The present report was born from therecognition that there is a significant knowledge gap on the issue of CSE and its intersection with this particularly vulnerable group of women. Whilst the present report is not the much needed full-scale research which SCLD and ourselves are calling for (see recommendations), it does provide initial findings and recommendations from the exploratory researchweconductedoverthecourseofthreemonths. The Aims Of This research were to: Collect and document evidence of learningisabledwomen’sexperiencesof sellingorexchangingsex. Understandthedynamicsofwomen’s involvement and their specific needs. Explore service responses and challenges and opportunities when addressing women's experiences and needs. Produce Initial Recommendations thattheScottishGovernment and organisations canuseas abasis to design service and policy responses that meet theneeds women with LDs impacted byCSE.

Glasgow: CSE, 3035. 32p.

By Vanda Felbab-Brown 

Over the past several decades, the U.S. opioid epidemic has spanned four phases:  Oversupply of prescription opioids in the 1990s.. A significant increase in heroin supply and use in the 2000s.  A supply-driven explosion of fentanyl use after 2012.  Most recently, polydrug use, with fentanyl mixed into/with all kinds of drugs. Since fentanyl entered the U.S. illegal drug market, more than a million people in the United States have died of opioid overdose. The costs of fentanyl use go beyond the tragic deaths and drug-use-related morbidity, however. In addition to having significant implications for public health and the economy, the fentanyl crisis intersects in many ways with U.S. foreign policy. U.S. overdose deaths began declining in 2023. But there is little certainty as to which domestic or foreign-policy interventions have been crucial drivers. The wider availability of overdose-reversal medication is fundamental, as is expanded access to evidence-based treatment. It is also possible that the Biden administration’s actions toward international supply from Mexico and China are contributing to this reduction in overdose deaths: since the start of 2024, China has become more active in suppressing the flow of precursor chemicals, and Mexican cartels, perhaps purposefully, are now trafficking a less lethal version of fentanyl. A wide array of policy measures as well as structural factors outside of policy control could be cumulatively and interactively reducing mortality. The fact that the declines in mortality are not uniform across U.S. ethnic, racial, and social groups or geographic areas suggests the importance of access to medication for overdose reversal and the treatment of opioid use disorder, as well as the influence of structural factors. There is strong bipartisan support for preserving access to medication-based treatments. But crucially, access depends on medical insurance coverage, such as that provided through Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. There are strong ideological divides about the financing and structure of the U.S. insurance industry as well as other aspects of drug policy. On February 1, President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on imports from China until each country stops the flow of fentanyl (as well as migrants, in the cases of Mexico and Canada).1 He gave all three countries a month-long reprieve before implementing the tariffs in March to see if they satisfied his counternarcotics demands. Canada adopted a robust package of anti-fentanyl measures. Mexico too tried to appease the United States through a set of law enforcement actions, though it held out on perhaps the most important form of cooperation—expanding the presence and mandates of U.S. law enforcement agents in Mexico to levels at least approaching those enjoyed during the Felipe Calderón administration. Unlike Mexico or Canada, China did not take any further counternarcotics actions and instead responded with counter-tariffs of its own, even as Trump threatened to add additional tariffs on imports from China of up to 60%.2 On March 4, 2025, Trump dismissed Canada’s and Mexico’s law enforcement actions as inadequate, implementing the 25% tariffs. He also added an additional 10% tariff on China, meaning the second Trump administration has now placed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods.3 Apart from increasing the cost of goods for U.S. customers and driving up inflation, these tariffs will have complex effects on anti-fentanyl cooperation. Any large U.S. tariffs on China will likely eviscerate Beijing’s cooperation with the United States, resetting the diplomatic clock  back to the bargaining of 2018 and noncooperation of 2021-2023. As crucial as it is to induce the government of Mexico to start robustly and systematically acting against Mexican criminal groups, whose power has grown enormously and threatens the Mexican state, Mexican society, and U.S. interests, Mexico has no capacity to halt the flow of fentanyl. Mixing the issues of migration and fentanyl risks Mexico appeasing the United States principally on migration while placating it with inadequate anti-fentanyl actions. Further, U.S. military action in Mexico, which has been threatened by Republican politicians close to Trump, would yield no sustained weakening of Mexican criminal groups or fentanyl flows. It would, however, poison the political atmosphere in Mexico and hinder its meaningful cooperation with the United States. Strong law enforcement cooperation with Canada is crucial. Canada has been facing law enforcement challenges, such as the expansion of Mexican and Asian organized crime groups and money laundering operations in Canada. But disregarding the domestic and collaborative law enforcement efforts Canada has put on the table is capricious. At home, Trump’s favored approach, which renews focus on imprisoning users and drug dealers, and dramatically toughening penalties for the latter, would be ineffective and counterproductive. And while providing treatment is very important, the dramatic effect of treatment modality on effectiveness cannot be overlooked. Approaches to treatment should be designed based on evidence, not ideology.

Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 2025. 49p.

 By The United States Sentencing Commission

  More than 780,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in the last ten years. Overdose deaths have increased more than 300 percent from the level two decades ago. The number of such deaths has continued to increase in recent years, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting that 91,799 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, 106,699 in 2021, 107,941 in 2022, and 105,007 in 2023. Provisional data shows a recent decline in overdose deaths beginning in late 2023 and continuing into 2024. Overdoses remain one of the leading causes of deaths in adults in the United States. While fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin are the drugs most often involved in these deaths, synthetic opioids like fentanyl— which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin—contribute to nearly 70 percent of overdose deaths. In this report, the Commission examines all overdoses identified in drug trafficking cases reported to the Commission for fiscal years 2019 to 2023. One or more deaths occurred in more than three-quarters of these cases, while no deaths occurred in the remaining cases. The Commission is able to collect information about the overdoses reported in these cases through the sentencing documents the courts provide to the Commission in every case.8 Using that information, this report provides an analysis of the 1,340 individuals sentenced for a federal drug trafficking offense involving an overdose in fiscal years 2019 to 2023. In it, the Commission analyzes the demographic characteristics of these individuals, the offense conduct that occurred in the case, and how the courts sentenced these individuals—including the application of sentencing guideline provisions that provide for heightened base offense levels when the offense of conviction established that death or serious bodily injury resulting from an overdose occurred, or departures from the guideline range for death or physical injury, or how often courts varied from the guideline range for a similar reason. Additionally, in this report, the Commission provides the results of a special data collection project to explore the outcome of each overdose, the type of drug involved in the overdose, the victim’s knowledge of the drug they were taking, and the sentenced individual’s conduct during the offense.  

Washington, DC, USSC, 2025.   52p.

By Greg Hannah, Caroline Harper, Heather James and Grace Whitehead, under the direction of Oliver Lodge.

 Definitions of the term ‘violence against women and girls’ (VAWG) vary, but the government defines it as “acts of violence or abuse that we know disproportionately affect women and girls”. It covers crimes including rape and other sexual offences, stalking, domestic abuse, ‘honour’-based abuse (including female genital mutilation, forced marriage and ‘honour’ killings), ‘revenge porn’ and ‘upskirting’.  Over one in four women are estimated to be victims of sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetime, and one in 12 women are victims of VAWG each year, although the actual number is likely to be much higher. The National Police Chiefs’ Council reported that, in 2022-23, 20% of all police-recorded crime was related to violence against women and girls. The victim was female in 86% of all police-recorded sexual offences in the year to March 2022. In the year ending December 2023, over 97% (23,723) of people convicted of sexual offences were male, and crimes are often committed by someone known to the victim. 3 Violence against women and girls can have long-term impacts on victims, affecting them physically, mentally, socially and financially. It is estimated that the economic and social cost of domestic abuse could be as high as £84 billion. The Home Office last estimated the societal cost of rape cases in 2018, based on 2015-16 data, when it estimated that the 122,000 rape cases reported that year could have a societal cost of around £4.8 billion.  In 2021, the then government introduced its strategy, “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls” (the VAWG Strategy), which outlined a series of commitments focused on: • prevention – to deliver long-term cultural and societal change; • supporting victims – to increase support for victims and survivors including providing support services that are run by and for the communities they serve; • pursuing perpetrators – to transform the criminal justice response to ensure all perpetrators of offences against women are brought to justice; and • building a stronger system – working with multiple government departments to develop a joined-up system across health, justice, law enforcement, housing, social care and education. In 2021, the Domestic Abuse Act received Royal Assent, and in 2022 the Home Office published a separate “Tackling Domestic Abuse” Plan (the Domestic Abuse Plan)   The Home Office leads on the government’s response to tackling VAWG, including domestic abuse. However, achieving progress requires the commitment of multiple government departments. There are important roles for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice and other parts of the criminal justice system, the Department for Education and NHS England in, for example, identifying victims and supporting them to feel safe, educating young people in safe relationships and ensuring justice through the courts and prison systems.  The new government has committed to halve the prevalence of VAWG within a decade as part of its ‘mission’ to make streets safer. The Home Office will lead this mission and is developing a new VAWG strategy. In this report, we have examined the Home Office’s leadership of the 2021 “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls” Strategy (the VAWG Strategy) and the 2022 “Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan” (the Domestic Abuse Plan), to identify lessons to support the delivery of the government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls. Key Findings Progress against the 2021 strategy  Violence against women and girls is a serious and growing problem. In 2023-24 the prevalence of sexual assault against women aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales (the percentage of the population estimated to have suffered a sexual assault each year) was higher than in 2009-10 (4.3% and 3.4% respectively). Conversely, the prevalence of domestic abuse against women was lower (9.2% and 7.4% respectively). Over the same period incidents of rape and sexual assault against women and girls recorded by police have increased almost fourfold, from 34,000 to 123,000, although this can in part be explained by improved recording of these crimes. The societal landscape against which these crimes are committed has also become increasingly complex and in recent years online harms (such as revenge porn) have been recognised as crimes in themselves (paragraphs 1.2, 1.4, 1.7 to 1.9 and Figures 1 and 2). 8 To date, the Home Office has not led an effective whole-system response. Successfully addressing the harms caused by VAWG requires the coordinated effort and commitment of many government departments. But the cross-departmental governance in place did not ensure all departments were prioritising the VAWG Strategy’s aims and were pulling in the same direction. The Home Office created a dedicated team to lead the VAWG Strategy, but it has found it challenging to get buy-in from other government departments. The Home Office’s Officials’ oversight group, established to progress the Strategy, did not meet until a year after the VAWG Strategy’s launch. The Home Office has since revised its governance, which has been welcomed by some departments. While strong ministerial support can encourage cross-government working, the Ministerial oversight group for the VAWG Strategy only met four times in three years (paragraphs 1.10, 3.4 to 3.8). 9 The Home Office has not had a full understanding of the scale of resources committed to tackling VAWG across government, limiting its ability to prioritise efforts. As the lead department for tackling VAWG, the Home Office needs to understand the capacity and resources other bodies are committing to the VAWG Strategy so it can effectively coordinate and oversee their work. The Home Office has not centrally coordinated funding for VAWG across government and, in contrast with the 2021 illegal drugs strategy, the relevant departments did not prepare a joint spending review bid during the period of implementing the VAWG Strategy. Our analysis suggests other government departments spent at least £979 million between 2021-22 and 2023-24. The Home Office has historically underspent its own budget allocated to the VAWG Strategy, by an average of 15% between 2021-22 and 2023-24 (paragraphs 2.5 to 2.9 and Figure 7).  The lack of a consistent definition for VAWG across public bodies and their approaches to measuring the scale of VAWG crimes has made it difficult to measure progress in a consistent way. The Home Office’s definition of VAWG includes all victims, across all ages and genders, whereas police forces only include women and girls. The Home Office told us it uses estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales to measure prevalence, which does not include children under the age of 16, even though they are included in the Strategy. The Home Office does not consider police-recorded crime an accurate indicator of the prevalence of VAWG, since it is likely to under-report crimes: the police only record one crime per victim/perpetrator relationship, even where multiple VAWG crimes are committed. This, in addition to gaps in data for some VAWG crime types such as ‘honour’-based abuse, limits the data available to measure progress. A consistent definition and approach to measuring the scale of VAWG crimes across all of government and policing would help to create a better shared understanding of the scale of the challenge the government is trying to address (paragraphs 3.16 to 3.21 and Figure 12).  

London: National Audit Office, 2025. 69p.

By Thorn in partnership with Burson Insights, Data & Intelligence 

Since 2019, Thorn has focused on amplifying youth voices to better understand their digital lives, with particular attention to how they encounter and navigate technologyfacilitated forms of sexual abuse and exploitation. Previous youth-centered research has explored topics such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM)1 —including that which is self-generated (“SG-CSAM”)—nonconsensual resharing, online grooming, and the barriers young people face in disclosing or reporting negative experiences. Thorn’s Emerging Threats to Young People research series aims to examine emergent online risks to better understand how current technologies create and/or exacerbate child safety vulnerabilities and identify areas where solutions are needed. This report, the first in the series, sheds light specifically on young people’s perceptions of and experiences with deepfake nudes. Future reports in this initiative will address other pressing issues, including sextortion and online solicitations. Drawing on responses from a survey of 1,200 young people aged 13-20, this report explores their awareness of deepfake nudes, lived experiences with them, and their involvement in creating such content. Three key findings emerged from this researc.  1. Young people overwhelmingly recognize deepfake nudes as a form of technology-facilitated abuse that harms the person depicted. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed believe that deepfake nudes cause harm, attributing this largely to the emotional and psychological impacts on victims, the potential for reputational damage, and the increasingly photorealistic quality of the imagery, which leads viewers to perceive—and consume—it as authentic. 2. Deepfake nudes already represent real experiences that young people have to navigate. Not only are many young people familiar with the concept, but a significant number report personal connections to this harm—either knowing someone targeted or experiencing it themselves. Forty-one percent of young people surveyed indicated they had heard the term “deepfake nudes,” including 1 in 3 (31%) teens. Additionally, among teens, 1 in 10 (10%) reported personally knowing someone who had deepfake nude imagery created of them, and 1 in 17 (6%) disclosed having been a direct victim of this form of abuse. 3. Among the limited sample of young people who admit to creating deepfake nudes of others, they describe easy access to deepfake technologies. Creators described access to the technologies through their devices’ app stores and accessibility via general search engines and social media 

El Segundo, CA  Thorn, 2025. 32p.

By Anne Summers, Thomas Shortridge, Kristen Sobeck

Whichever way you look at it, many women are paying a huge economic price in addition to the physical, emotional and psychological damage done to them by domestic violence. It is no accident that employment and education – the pathway to better employment – are targeted by perpetrators as a prime means of depleting or even destroying women’s ability to be financially self-sufficient.

The data used in this report enables the authors, for the first time, to quantify the economic impact of domestic violence on Australian women. The report sets out in detail how large numbers of women have not attained a degree, have left the labour force, have reduced their working hours, or have taken time off work– all because of domestic violence.

The authors identify changes that need to be made across the following areas: paid domestic violence leave policie tthe operation of paid domestic violence leave multiple avenues of support are needed support to (re-)enter employment the Leaving Violence Program.

Sydney: University of Technology Sydney 2025. 52p.