By Nathan P. Jones

This report seeks to understand and define the gang issue in Mexico, establish the regional histories and sociologies of what is known about these gangs, and understand the causes of youth gang involvement. The paper briefly describes U.S.-Mexico bilateral efforts on youth gang prevention via the Merida Initiative, and identifies a sampling of existing civil society groups and programs geared specifically toward addressing youth gangs in Mexico and Central America. The report concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the U.S. and Mexican governments on how to best support civil society and strengthen relevant state institutions.

Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars; Trans-Border Institute, San Diego: University of San Diego; 2013. 46p.

By Albert De Amicis

This paper follows the beginnings of one of the most notorious transnational street gangs in existence today. We will trace the growth of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) from their emigration from El Salvador to Los Angeles, California. El Salvador had just suffered a civil war that had claimed an estimated 100,000 people. This gang’s transformation from a local sureno street gang (southern street gang) to a transnational gang happened when the United States got tough on immigration laws and deported many of these MS-13’s back to El Salvador. At this juncture, they used their knowledge from what they had learned back in the U.S. and created the MS-13 in Central America and Mexico. This paper will prove from the research just how the MS-13 and Los Zetas, a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), have collaborated in a criminal enterprise in those countries and now domestically back in the United States.

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 2018. 38p.

Edited by Matthew Valasik and Shannon E. Reid

Conflict, including the threat or fear of potential violence, or being witness to or a victim of physical violence, constantly surrounds gangs and their communities and is the principal driver sustaining gang life. This Special Issue examines the diverse nature of gang-related violence with the goal of better understanding the growing complexities of gang violence over the last two decades to better inform public policy solutions. The contributions included in this Special Issue highlight the complex nature of gang-related violence in the 21st Century. As much as policy makers, the media, and even scholars like to simplify gang-related violence, all of the studies included in this Special Issue highlight the nuance and variation that exists.

Basel, SWIT: MDPI, 2021. 189p.

By The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

In this report, EIA documents for the first time the systematic export and import of illegal wood from Peru to the United States. In many ways, this report not a new story: the system’s corruption is something of which everyone in the sector is aware. EIA’s contribution lies in having identified and patiently put together the pieces of the puzzle to reveal the mechanism that allows this trade to happen: what Peruvians call the “laundering machine”.

EIA’s investigative work focused on reconstructing the routes that timber takes from the Amazon to the warehouses of US importers, through use of official information obtained under Peru’s Transparency and Access to Public Information Law. The links in this chain are willfully obscured to perpetuate confusion about the origins of almost all timber traded in Peru. EIA was able to reconstruct the chain of custody for trade in cedar (Cedrela odorata) and bigleaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) only because both species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) and thus require specific export permit documents. The same illegal modus operandi is being applied for other species, but the even more limited information available regarding non-CITES species trade makes it virtually impossible to connect the concession of origin with the shipments being exported.

Washington, DC; London:: EIA, 2012. 72p.

By The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

Money Trails – Identifying financial flows linked to wildlife trafficking looks at the current state of play and makes the case for using financial investigations and anti-money laundering laws as standard when investigating wildlife crime.

It also features case studies from major EIA investigations which reveal widespread use of the formal financial system by wildlife crime syndicates and the important role banks can play in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions.

London; Washington, DC: EIA, 2020. 14p.

By Texas Department of Public Safety, Criminal Intelligence Service

The perpetual growth of gangs and active recruitment within the state, compounded by the continual influx of criminal illegal aliens crossing the Texas-Mexico border, threatens the security of not only Texans, but also all US citizens. Furthermore, the established alliances between Texas prison gangs and various drug trafficking organizations pose a significant threat to the state of Texas and the nation. Gangs now have access to a larger supply of narcotics, which will undoubtedly increase their influence over and presence in the drug trade, as well as increase the level of gang-related violence associated with illegal narcotics trafficking. Illegal alien smuggling has also become profitable for Texas prison gangs and other street gangs, and potentially may pose a major threat to national security. Multi-agency collaboration and networking—supplemented with modern technology, analytical resources, and gang intervention and prevention programs—will be critical in the ongoing efforts to curtail the violence associated with the numerous gangs now thriving in Texas.

Austin, TX: Texas Department of Public Safety, Criminal Intelligence Service, 2007. 45p.

By U.S. Dept. of Justice, National Institute of Corrections,

Prison disturbances range from minor incidents that disrupt institution routine to major disturbances that involve a large proportion of inmates and threaten security and safety. Realizing that proactive management strategies and informed readiness can reduce the potential damage of prison disturbances, many departments of corrections are seriously addressing the need both to prevent and to plan for managing such disturbances. Administrators are also looking for better ways to avert the potentially violent activities and serious problems caused by prison gangs and organized groups. In response to the need for improved, current information on how corrections departments might prepare themselves to deal with the problems of both gangs and disturbances, the NIC Prisons Division and the NIC National Academy of Corrections sponsored special issue seminars entitled "Management Strategies in Disturbances and with Gangs/Disruptive Groups" in Boulder, Colorado, and in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants in each seminar included prison administrators and central office managers responsible for institution security < The seminar not only emphasized management principles directly related to controlling gangs/disruptive groups and preventing disturbances, but also identified specific techniques for responding to disturbances if they do occur. The seminar staff is listed in the Appendix

Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, 1992. 54p.

By Mark Gregory

Illegal logging is believed to account for between 15% and 30% of the international trade in timber. Revenues from timber crime are likely to run into billions of dollars each year. Data such as this has prompted the European Union (EU), the World Bank and others to call for tougher enforcement and more effective use of anti-money laundering (AML) procedures as a way of tackling the illicit financial flows that support illegal logging. Against this background, Fern carried out research to find out if action on money laundering could be a worthwhile lever to help preserve the world’s forests.

Brussels: FERN, 2015. 27p.

By Sam Lawson

Previous studies commissioned by the EU have shown that the EU has been leading the world in imports of ‘embodied deforestation’ in the form of agricultural and timber products. This study goes a step further, by showing that the EU is also one of the largest importers of products resulting from illegal deforestation. The study estimates that in 2012, the EU imported EUR 6 billion of soy, beef, leather and palm oil which were grown or reared on land illegally cleared of forests in the tropics – almost a quarter of the total world trade. The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy and France are among the largest consumers of these illegally sourced deforestation commodities, being collectively responsible for two-thirds of EU purchasing by value and three-quarters in terms of the areas of forest destroyed.

Brussels: FERN, 2015. 28p.

By Davin Nina and Péan Maxence

Money laundering is an activity that consists of legitimizing the proceeds of crime by integrating them into the economic system. The primary objective of this process is to conceal the origin of money from illegal activities (drug trafficking, insider trading, corruption, etc.). The proceeds of these crimes take different forms. It can be cash, financial assets or material objects (works of art, jewelry, etc.). Money laundering is most often carried out in three distinct stages: placement, layering and integration. The placement stage consists of placing the dirty money in the financial system. Most often, criminal organizations come through companies to increase the inflow of capital, which is then deposited in a banking institution. Afterwards, the stratification process takes place, which consists of a large series of conversions and movements of funds in order to mask the origin of these products. Finally, once the money is laundered, it is reused by criminals to finance their activities. Today, the emergence of new information and communication technologies (NICT) in particular is giving a new boost to money laundering activities. The advent of online payment systems, crypto-currencies and dematerialized cash transfers make it even more difficult to track down illegal money transfers. Moreover, the multiplication of online auctions or gambling sites greatly facilitates money laundering. Faced with the development of these new methods, the authorities of European countries are trying to set up a new system to fight against money laundering, in particular by strengthening their cooperation. In addition, following the numerous attacks that occurred in the decade 2010-2020, the fight against the financing of terrorism has become the focus of these institutions. Despite the strengthening of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT), the latter "has weaknesses1". These weaknesses are based on "institutional fragmentation and insufficient coordination at the European Union level2" but also because the EU bodies have "limited tools". Furthermore, following the work of many researchers, it is estimated that today the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is liberticide. Indeed, as early as 2003, a report by the CNIL pointed out the numerous liberticidal measures to fight against money laundering. In this paper, we will first present the framework of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in the European Union (I), then we will describe the main flaws of this system (II), and finally we will demonstrate that this fight is today deeply liberticidal, notably because of the tools it uses (III)

IEP Aix-en-Provence - Sciences Po Aix - Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence, 2022. 22p.

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By Thomas Bourveau, Renaud Coulomb and Marc Sangnier

This paper investigates whether political connections affect individuals’ propensity to engage in illegal activities in financial markets. We use the 2007 French presidential election as marker of change in the value of political connections, in a difference-indifferences research design. We examine the behavior of directors of publicly listed companies who are connected to the future president through campaign donations or direct friendships, relative to that of other non-connected directors, before and after the election. We uncover indirect evidence that connected directors do more illegal insider trading after the election. More precisely, we find that purchases by connected directors trigger larger abnormal returns, and that connected directors are more likely not to comply with trading disclosure requirements and to trade closer to major corporate events.

Italy: Aix Marseille University, 2016. 36p.

By Myrna Dawson

“She was Toronto’s homicide No. 70 of 2019. We only found out after her husband died of COVID-19 in jail.” The above headline appeared in the Toronto Star on April 19, 2021. No. 70 was 75-year-old Zohra Derouiche who had been fatally stabbed in her Scarborough home on Dec. 10, 2019. Her husband was charged with second degree murder when Zohra died 10 days after the stabbing. Until April 19, 2021, almost 1.5 years later, the public did not know about her death. The Toronto police did not release any information at the time of the stabbing. They did not issue a press release when she died or when her husband was charged. There was no coverage of her femicide. Her name was never made public. No one knew what she looked like because no photo of her in life was ever published. The Toronto Star only learned about the case because her 85-year-old husband died in custody in March 2021 after contracting COVID-19. His death will now be the subject of a coroner’s investigation. It is not clear if any investigation will ever occur into Zohra’s death. The Toronto police provided no specific reason for their failure to report Zohra’s death. It is likely that both sexism and ageism played a role. This research paper is about women like Zohra – older women who are killed mostly by men, but also by acquaintances and strangers, and sometimes by those in professional caregiving roles.

Ottawa: Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, 2021. 54p.

By Monique Widyono

This publication provides an overview of a conference on femicide convened jointly by PATH, the Inter-American Alliance for the Prevention of Gender-based Violence (InterCambios), the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Washington, DC, April 14–16, 2008. The conference brought together activists, researchers, and forensic professionals from 13 countries, with the aim of identifying common ground for strengthening research and galvanizing global action to prevent femicide and end the impunity so often granted to perpetrators. Participants agreed on three outcomes: a publication with an overview of the meeting and a collation of presentations; the convening of an ad hoc International Working Group on Femicide; and an addendum to the PATH/World Health Organization manual, Researching Violence against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists, that focuses on femicide research.

Seattle: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH); Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. 120p.

Edited by: Helen Hemblade, Andrada Filip, Andrew Hunt, Marie Jasser, Fritz Kainz, Markus Gerz, Kathryn Platzer and Michael Platzer

Unless there is accurate and comparable data collection on a given crime, there will be no proper understanding of it and no effective strategy with which to combat it. Having clear data helps law makers and government officials win the public’s support for tackling it through targeted prevention and investigation resources. Femicide has been defined as murder of a woman by an intimate partner or family members and the targeting of women by criminal gangs or as a weapon of war. It has been universally recognised as a crime. But how do horrific crimes of this type so often slip under the radar? Why is it so difficult to collect data on such an abhorrent criminal activity and, subsequently, to arrest the perpetrators? On 25 November 2016 in Vienna, Austria, experts from around the world gathered for an ACUNS/OSCE UNODC symposi um entitled “Combating Femicide”; Dr. Šimonović reiterated the importance of establishing a Femicide Watch in each country. Excerpts from this conference are featured in this publication; they include UNODC Deputy Executive Director Aldo Lale-Demoz, the Austrian Ambassador Clemens Koja. and Biljana Branković, member of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office. 2017. 80p.

Edited by Simona Domazetoska, Michael Platzer and Gejsi Plaku

This is the second volume of Femicide: A Global Issue That Demands Action. This “resource book” will contribute to the worldwide campaign to stop Femicide

Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office, 2014, 136p.

Edited by: Claire Laurent, Michael Platzer and Maria Idomir

This publication is the result of this symposium and comprises the speeches and presentations of the various experts of the symposium. They discussed the issue of femicide from different perspectives, addressed the problems related to femicide including impunity and proposed comprehensive ways to fight this crime efficiently. In addition to the speeches this publication contains further information about the major forms of femicide. These short articles give an overview of the various crimes, including a description of the extent of the respective form of femicide and best practice examples to fight this crime.

Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office, 2013. 156p.

By Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)

Violence against women is the most atrocious manifestation of the systematic and widespread discrimination and inequality that women and girls around the world continue to face. Women and their children continue to die as victims of gender related killing, often in cruel ways. The weaknesses of national prevention systems, lack of proper risk assessment and the scarcity or poor quality of data are major barriers in preventing gender-related killing of women and developing meaningful prevention strategies. These weaknesses result in misidentification, concealment and underreporting of gender-motivated killings thus perpetuating impunity for such killings. For that reason, I call all States to establish a ‘Femicide Watch’ and to publish on each 25 November – International Day on the Elimination of violence against Women – the number of femicides or gender related killing of women per year, disaggregated by age and sex of the perpetrators, as well as the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim or victims. Information concerning the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators should also be collected and published. Most importantly, each case of gender-related killing should be carefully analysed to identify any failure of protection in view of improving and developing further preventive measures. In the collection, analysis and publication of such data, States should co-operate with NGOs and independent human rights institutions working in this field, academia, victims’ representatives, as well as relevant international organizations and other stakeholders.

Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office, 2016. 97p.

By United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Homicide represents the most extreme form of violence against women, a lethal act on a continuum of gender-based discrimination and abuse. As this research shows, gender-related killings of women and girls remain a grave problem across regions, in countries rich and poor. While the vast majority of homicide victims are men, killed by strangers, women are far more likely to die at the hands of someone they know. Women killed by intimate partners or family members account for 58 per cent of all female homicide victims reported globally last year, and little progress has been made in preventing such murders. Targeted responses are clearly needed..

Vienna: UNODC, 2018. 64p.

By Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)

Since 2013 the ACUNS Vienna Liaison Office has worked hard to provide a platform for those who dedicate their resources to fighting gender-related violence against women and girls, including the killing of women (femicide), its most severe manifestation. Hence, over the years FEMICIDE has become an important resource book for international institutions, scholars and practitioners. Connecting the right people has always been at the top of our agenda. We are convinced that it is only by working together that we can end gender-related violence worldwide. FEMICIDE X reflects this important principle. International organisations, NGOs and independent researchers have come together to help produce this awareness-raising publication on contemporary forms of slavery, which touches upon many important and, sadly, overlooked issues. In the first part of this Volume important statements give an overview of past actions to eliminate violence against women and what needs to be done in the future. There then follows a collection of reports and articles on modern-day enslavement of women and girls, a practice that is still commonplace in too many parts of this world. Further, we provide a review of the ACUNS Vienna Liaison Office symposium on "Ending Impunity for Gender-related Killing of Women and Girls - State Responsibility and Accountability", which took place in May 2018. There is then a short preview of our next volume on cyber bullying as a form of violence against women. The last section of FEMICIDE X is dedicated to the efforts and achievements of the civil society to combat femicide. FEMICIDE X is meant to be a wake-up call and provides a glimmer of hope at the same time. Countless women and girls suffer slavery and other horrible situations every day. However, the hard work being undertaken on so many sides to combat violence against women has not been in vain. Much has changed as a result of this work; many have been saved, and many more will be saved in the future.

Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), 2018. 100p.

Edited by Helena Gabriel and Helen Hemblade

This volume again compiles strategies, best practices and innovative approaches, serves as a platform for, and provides practical support to anybody who wishes to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish VAW and gender-related killings of women and girls, i.e. femicide. The second section on cyber crimes includes an interview with Neil Walsh of UNODC, articles on online harassment of women journalists and cyber crimes against women in India, among others.

UN Studies Association (UNSA), 2019. 84p.