By Rachel Delafave

This Article empirically illustrates that red flag laws—laws which permit removal of firearms from a person who presents a risk to themselves or others—contribute to a statistically significant decrease in suicide rates, but do not influence homicide rates. I exploit state-level variation across time in the existence of red flag laws between 1990 and 2018 and find that the existence of a risk-based law reduces firearm-related suicides by 6.4% and overall suicides by 3.7%, with no substitution to non-firearm suicides. Red flag laws are not associated with a statistically significant change in homicides rates. Policymakers should consider red flag laws an effective tool to prevent firearm-related suicide, one of the most prevalent preventable causes of death in the United States. In light of this evidence, red flag laws should be more politically successful in the current partisan environment than other forms of gun control legislation because of their targeted nature and potential to balance the interests of gun owners against the negative externalities of gun violence.

52 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 867 (2021)

By Yvon Dandurand

This policy brief focuses on a small but especially vulnerable type of transportation business that has been prone to infiltration by organized crime groups through violence, intimidation and corruption: the vehicle-towing services industry. This type of criminal infiltration has been observed in different countries and it involves violent confrontation and competition for a share of the market. As such, this brief provides an opportunity for a comparison between patterns of infiltration and the use of violence by criminal organizations, as well as a review of law enforcement and policy responses  

Geneva: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2021. 26p.

By Yvon Dandurand and Jessica Jahn

Success in addressing transnational organized crime hinges on multilateral cooperation. However, existing cooperation regimes are ineffective at countering the rapid changes in the organized crime landscape and countries increasingly tend to turn to national solutions. The diminishing support for multilateral cooperation means the international criminal justice system has become disjointed, insufficient and reactive. This paper sets out five possible scenarios that could affect the future of international criminal justice cooperation, and raises thought-provoking questions about possible outcomes and impacts on transnational organized crime. To be useful as planning tools, any scenario or vision of the future must be connectable to decisions in the present, and therefore the scenarios described here are presented in the framework of current challenges. It is hoped that civil society organizations will take the lead in formulating a comprehensive international criminal justice cooperation strategy, built on what works. Such a strategy should also supplemented with new ideas to address shortcomings and to facilitate effective reforms of the multilateral institutions needed to implement such a strategy.

Geneva: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2021. 18p.

By Mark Freeman and Vanda Felbab-Brown

Negotiations with violent criminal groups – such as mafias, cartels, gangs and pirates – occur more often than imagined. This publication, grounded in more than three years of in-depth IFIT research and dozens of first-person interviews conducted with actual negotiators, offers key lessons drawn from the most diverse set of negotiations with violent criminal groups ever examined in one place. One of the prominent discoveries of this study – which centres on negotiations intended to reduce or end violence – is how the best of theory and practice regarding peace talks with militant groups (and associated areas such as transitional justice) appears largely absent from consideration or application in talks with violent criminal groups. The gap is striking and counterproductive, but also heralds an opportunity to achieve greater results in future. Another key discovery relates to the endgame of the negotiation. With militant groups, the point of negotiations is typically to end the use of organised political violence, by exchanging disarmament (and/or incorporation into the army) for some form of political empowerment and rehabilitation. With violent criminal groups, the endgame is harder to pin down, because their motivations are understood to be mainly pecuniary, leaving it unclear what they could transform into. However, the examined cases suggest that the challenge is surmountable – and under a surprising variety of conditions.

Barcelona, Spain: Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), 2021. 34p.

By Anna Sergi and Alice Rizzuti

By using open data and primary resources, previous and ongoing research, and the privileged partnerships with Eurojust Italian Desk and Operations and Europol, the Mafiaround-Europe report - stemming from the CRIME (Countering Regional Italian Mafia Expansion) project presents the first analysis of the presence of Italian mafias in 7 European countries in addition to Italy and the challenges of cross border policing of mafia-type organised crime. Production of the report, Mafiaround Europe, was enabled by funding from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, block awards made to research organisations to accelerate the impact of research. The report highlights how mafia-type activities have adapted to individual countries, their economy, culture, infrastructure and logistics networks.

Colchester, UK:  University of Essex, 2021. 258p.  

By  Colombian Organized Crime Observatory, Arlene B. Tickner, et al.

In Latin America, the participation of women in organized crime has been in the shadow of academic and public policy debate due to the male dominance in the different criminal economies and the tendency to see criminal activities as a “man’s activity”. However, a more detailed analysis of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling, based on the application of a gender lens, allows the appreciation of the different roles that women play. After examining a series of documents, data and information collected through fieldwork, this investigation by the InSight Crime and Universidad del Rosario’s Colombian Observatory of Organized Crime, increases the complexity of female roles inside organized crime and questions the tendency to present women only as victims, or in some cases, as victimizers. From cooks and coca harvesters to owners of their drug empires or trafficking and smuggling networks, women operate in a versatile manner and move in a broad spectrum of roles, challenging the existent division of labor based on gender while at the same time coexisting with criminal organizations that continue to impose a patriarchal system. Through the description of these roles, the development of two case studies – one regarding women and gangs in El Salvador, and another tackling human trafficking and migrant smuggling in the Colombia-Venezuela border town of Cúcuta- and the construction of profiles of some of the greatest protagonists of organized crime in recent times, the investigation takes the shape of a woman. The document also analyses…..

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  the use of violence by women, a characteristic that is usually attributed to men and masculine behavior. However, violence is a tool often used by women in some organized crime structures. Based on this, as well as the examination of the main factors that push women to organized crime activities, a series of public policy recommendations are set forth for governments and local authorities. These are aimed at understanding a phenomenon that, aside from being under-analyzed, is continuously growing.   

Washington, DC: Washington, DC: InSight Crime, 2020.   41p.

By Jenny Pearce

While Latin America’s high levels of chronic violence are mostly carried out by poor young men and mostly cost the lives of poor young men, the conditions for its reproduction are generated by logics of elite power and wealth accumulation. Drawing on more than 70 interviews with oligarchic elites from Colombia and Mexico, the paper offers propositions for further empirical research into these logics. It discusses why it makes sense to use the term “oligarchic elites” to analyse both the failure to invest in the rule of law and also the elite preference for a fragmented security state whose permeability facilitates influence trafficking. It studies the direct and indirect relationships between elites and varied forms of violence, exploring how they have affected the nature of the state in Latin America, the diffusion of criminal violences, and the emergence of micro criminal orders in many parts of the region. Latin America’s history of social action against violences – not least disappearances, feminicide, forced displacement, and state torture – should extend to de-sanctioning violence as a phenomenon. This could open up spaces for social and political participation to create the conditions of social justice which reduce violence.   

London:  LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre, 2018. 30p.

By Christopher Blattman, Gustavo Duncan, Benjamin Lessing and Santiago Tobón

Organised criminal activities, by their nature, are hard to measure. Administrative data are often missing, problematic, or misleading. Moreover, organised criminal activities are under-reported, and under-reporting rates may be greatest where gangs are strongest. Researchers hoping to quantify organised crime systematically face daunting challenges. Collecting information on organised crime is inherently a slow process of cautious trial and error. It will vary from city to city, and typically within a city as well. Dozens of qualitative and quantitative researchers have shown that this can be done with care, ethically, and with adequate protection for human subjects. What they all have in common is that they commit themselves to a place, and they all take their time. While there are risks, the benefits can be enormous. The information these investigators collect is often rare and invaluable. Officials and policymakers commonly have little insight into criminal organisations, with terrible consequences for policy, be it inaction, mediocrity, or adverse and unintended consequences. Here we draw on our experience in Colombia, Brazil, and Liberia of collecting systematic data on illicit activities and armed groups, in order to share our learning with other researchers or organisations that fund research in this area, who may find this useful for their own research. We address: first steps before asking questions, common challenges and solutions, and alternative sources. Our work thus far emphasises the relevance of deep qualitative work to identify local partners; the need for intense piloting of…..

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  survey instruments and a close oversight of survey firms, ranging from how they hire enumerators to how they plan and implement field work; the power of using survey experiments to mitigate and measure measurement error; and the relevance of cross-validating findings with complementary data sources.

Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham, 2022. 13p.

By INTERPOL and ENACT Africa

With the increase in Internet coverage, online trade of illicit goods is likely increasing on the African continent. In recent years, cyber-enabled crimes have increased on the African continent. This has been a result of a combination of factors, including, the improvement of Internet coverage, the wide availability of cyber-tools and the growing flexibility of cybercriminals. As a consequence, online crime nowadays represents a bigger security issue for law enforcement in African member countries than ever before. In this framework, INTERPOL, under the European Union funded ENACT Project, examines through this assessment the issue of cyber and cyber-enabled crimes in Africa in order to help drive a more strategic law enforcement response.

Lyon, France: INTERPOL; ENACT AFRICA, 2020. 79p.

By  Robert Urquhart and Jennifer Doyle 

The devastating effect of domestic and family violence (DFV) on children and young people has been increasingly researched, and its lasting impact acknowledged. Yet, despite the evidence, children and young people continue to be regarded as onlookers who ‘witness’ DFV, rather than as victims who directly experience DFV. Indeed, recognition of children and young people experiencing DFV as victim survivors in their own right and with their own unique needs is long overdue. It is time to recognise children and young people as equal victim survivors with their own safety and support needs, and to establish appropriate DFV support policy and programs which reflect the presence of multiple victims of DFV.  

Sydney: Barnardos Australia, 2022. 116p.

By  Catherine Mackenzie and Tanya Mackay

Violence against women is one of the most pervasive and dangerous ways in which power imbalances between women and men operate in Australian society. Increasing outrage and pressure from the community service and health sectors, plus compelling evidence on the alarming prevalence of violence against women, led to the launch of The National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010-2022 and associated Action Plans. A great deal of media and policy attention has been directed toward both highlighting the unacceptably high incidence of, and finding ways to reduce, violence against women and their children. Disturbingly, almost a decade after the National Plan was launched, surveys of attitudes towards violence against women are not finding a great deal of positive change, particularly among young people. Attitudes that are supportive of violence against women, particularly those of young men, are especially concerning. Young women are the highest risk group of women for being victims of violence. Young people are the leaders of the next generations and it is crucial that this generation’s leaders take immediate action to ensure that the next generation has the support and empowerment to identify and stop violence against women. If this does not happen, it will be a shameful addition to the long list of intergenerational inequities that will result from the inaction of our generation. Australia-wide studies indicate that higher proportions of rural women have experienced intimate partner violence than urban women.

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  However, most research has sought the accounts of women living in urban environments and policy and funding allocation is therefore skewed toward the needs of urban women (Dillon, Hussain & Loxton, 2015). While some studies have investigated rural intimate partner violence from the perspective of service workers (e.g. Wendt, 2010) few have reported on the perspectives of women (for examples, see Campo & Tayton, 2015; Ragusa, 2017). This project addresses this important gap by aiming to understand young country women’s (16-24 years) perceptions and experiences of intimate partner violence to inform Uniting Country SA (UCSA) Youth and Domestic Violence service worker practices. The project also aimed to provide evidence to assist UCSA coordinate their work across internal and external services and with their local communities to actively reduce violence against women in current and future generations. Interviews were conducted with young country women aged 16-24 years and country women who had experienced intimate partner violence when they were aged 16-24 years, to provide data that would meet project aims.  

Adelaide: The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise and University of South Australia, 2019     41p.

By Sibel Korkmaz 

Swedish studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) among young people are virtually non-existent, and the European research field on this phenomenon has not been specifically overviewed. This thesis aims to review European research on youth IPV, investigate the extent and characteristics of youth IPV victimization in a sample of Swedish high school students, and explore the dynamics of this victimization. The dissertation consists of four sub-studies employing different kinds of methods and using different sets of data. Analyses are underpinned by a rather extensive theoretical framework, permitting an examination of youth IPV from different perspectives and angles. Study I gives an overview of existing European research, pointing out trends and challenges within the field and providing a frame of reference for the Swedish study. One conclusion of this overview is that an intersectional approach is needed when researching violence among youth, and that gender, especially, is a key variable to explore in research on youth IPV. Study II presents IPV prevalence rates in a regional sample of Swedish young people. Drawing upon survey data, the study shows that over half of participating youth reported experiences of some form of IPV, and that girls experience more repeated IPV compared to boys. Furthermore, the study places youth IPV in a physical context, suggesting that it takes place in different arenas, such as the parents’ house, the partner’s house, and at school. Study III uses data consisting of “teller-focused” interviews with 18 IPV victimized youth (aged 17-23) in Sweden, and…..

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  illustrates the dynamics of IPV victimization, establishing it as a social phenomenon and emphasizing the agency of young people in the midst of abusive relationships. It shows varying responses (including a lack of response) from three different actors: parents, school, and young people themselves, all from the young person’s perspective. Overall, the data show that youth-specific factors (e.g. parental dependency, attending school) have a meaningful bearing on both responses and resilience to IPV. Lastly, study IV draws upon data consisting of “teller-focused” interviews with 18 IPV victimized youth (aged 17-23) in Sweden, and shows how young people’s abusive relationships come to an end. It shows that the ending process for youth may be different than for adults, since youth-specific factors create unique barriers (e.g. the desire to be a girlfriend) and bridges (e.g. parental responsibilities) for young people seeking to end abusive relationships. Overall, this dissertation shows that many Swedish youth experience violence within a romantic intimate relationship, and that such violence, many times, is repeated and severe. The results indicate a gendered dimension to youth IPV— compared to boys, girls report more repeated violence and also describe how gendered norms affect their victimization. Moreover, regarding the physical context of youth IPV, the results show that this social problem takes place in arenas where adults dwell and how they can respond. Hence, it is not possible for the adult world to dismiss youth IPV as something undetectable. In sum, this dissertation shows that IPV does happen “when you’re young too.” Thus, it seems apparent that a wide-ranging response is called for: one that involves parents, schools, social workers, and policy makers alike. Only then will youth IPV as a social problem receive the attention it needs and deserves.  

Stockholm: Stockholm University,  2021. 149p.

By Dominiek Coates, Maria Koleth and Lauren Hamilton   

Sexual violence is highly prevalent globally, and rates of reported sexual violence in Australia continue to rise. It can be both a standalone crime and a form of domestic and family violence. Sexual violence can adversely affect the physical and mental health and social wellbeing of victims and survivors, who might require support from legal, medical, counselling and advocacy services. Various specific interventions have been developed over time to support recovery and reduce the impact after sexual violence. Interventions typically fall into two categories: crisis responses delivered in the immediate aftermath of a sexual violence event, often in specialist sexual assault centres or in healthcare settings and comprising specialised medico-legal and counselling services; and post-crisis responses, typically therapeutic interventions implemented as long-term efforts to address psychological and emotional impacts. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the state of the evidence from existing systematic reviews in relation to the effectiveness of crisis and post-crisis interventions for victims and survivors of sexual violence.  

Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), 2022. 32p.

By Charlotte Bell and  Dominiek Coates 

To reduce domestic and family violence (DFV) and intimate partner violence (IPV), interventions for perpetrators are critical. There are two key intervention types for perpetrators: behaviour change interventions and legal and policing interventions. The aim of this review study is to provide an overview of the effectiveness evidence as reported by reviews of interventions for perpetrators of DFV and IPV.  

Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) , 2022. 62p.

By Megan Rose and Dominiek Coates

 Respectful relationships education and bystander interventions in school and tertiary settings seek to promote health and equal relationships and reduce sexual violence and dating violence experienced and perpetrated by young people, in and out of relationships, by equipping them with attitudes, knowledge and skills to confront violence. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the evidence from systematic reviews in relation to the effectiveness of respectful relationships and bystander intervention programs in school and tertiary education settings.   

Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS)  2021. 34p.

By Erin Carlisle, Christine Coumarelos, Kate Minter and Ben Lohmeyer  

The 2017 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) found that although young people have a good overall understanding of domestic violence, particularly its physical forms, there were also some “areas of concern” within young people’s understandings. The NCAS raised concerns about young people’s understandings of:

• the non-physical forms of domestic violence, such as financial and technology-facilitated abuse

• the high prevalence of violence against women in the community

• the gendered nature of domestic violence.

To further explore these findings, the current study unpacked how young people define and make sense of domestic violence. In particular, the study examined how young people distinguish domestic violence from other unhealthy relationship behaviours, how common they perceive domestic violence to be and their understanding of the gendered nature of domestic violence.

Sydney:  Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS), 2022. 114p.

By Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Family, domestic and sexual violence is a major national health and welfare issue that can have lifelong impacts for victims and perpetrators. It affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds, but predominantly affects women and children. The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Personal Safety Survey estimated that 2.2 million adults have been victims of physical and/or sexual violence from a partner since the age of 15, 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men have been sexually harassed, and 1 in 6 women and 1 in 16 men have experienced stalking. In 2017, police recorded 25,000 victims of sexual assault. This report builds on the AIHW’s inaugural Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia 2018 report. It presents new information on vulnerable groups, such as children and young women. It examines elder abuse in the context of family, domestic and sexual violence, and includes new data on telephone and web-based support services, community attitudes, sexual harassment and stalking. It also includes the latest data on homicides, child protection, hospitals and specialist homelessness services.

Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019. 162p.

By Carmel Hobbs

In this report you will find pieces of stories of strong young people who together share over 60 years of violence and abuse inflicted by a partner they cared about, trusted and often loved. Their voices are prioritised over other data in the report because the voices of young people who have experienced violence and abuse are sorely missing from research, policy and community-based knowledge about this issue. You will see their voices amplified by the professionals who participated in this project. These workers represent a range of government and non-government services who have direct contact with young people. Teen domestic violence and abuse is reaching epidemic proportions in Tasmania and nationally. Statistical evidence of this is also included in the report, further demonstrating the magnitude of this issue.  

Hobart Tasmania: Social Action and Research Centre, Anglicare, 2022. 168p.

By Masayuki Sakamoto

Africaʼ s elephants continue to be poached for their ivory tusks. To combat the poaching crisis, and to support the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)ʼ s 1990 ban on international commercial ivory trade, nations and jurisdictions around the world have taken steps to close their domestic markets for ivory. By closing the market for ivory, governments send a strong signal that the trade in ivory and killing of elephants is unacceptable, streamline enforcement efforts by eliminating legal cover for illegal ivory, and support ivory demand reduction efforts. Nevertheless, one major consumer market remains open ‒ Japan. With an ivory stockpile of 244 tonnes, Japanʼ s domestic market is the worldʼ s largest and most significant legalized ivory market. Evidence indicates its ivory trade controls are porous, enabling the trade in illegal ivory and illegal ivory exports. At least 76 seizures of ivory from Japan were made between 2018 and 2020, mostly in China by Chinese authorities. To further examine illegal ivory export from Japan to China, the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) turned to court cases in China, which could include more details than seizure data. JTEF identified court cases on illegal export of ivory from Japan into China, and analyzed them in order to contribute to evidence-based decision-making, constructive dialogue, and decisive outcomes from the Parties at the 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to CITES,. In all, 49 public court decisions on 45 different cases between 2010 and 2019, published by the Government of China, were…..

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  identified and analyzed. Fifteen out of 45 cases occurred in 2018 and 2019, after Chinaʼ s domestic ivory market closure went into effect. In addition to summarizing basic information about each case, any information pertaining to the role of Japanʼ s legal market in illegal ivory export and information regarding the defining characteristics of transnational organized crime was assessed.  

Tokyo: Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) 2022. 88p.

By The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

West and Central Africa continues to raise concerns among Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as a significant hub for global wildlife trafficking. This briefing highlights the parallel responsibilities and shortcomings of both West and Central Africa and South-East Asia in implementing their commitments under CITES and outlines what needs to happen to tackle transnational wildlife crime more effectively. At SC74, EIA raised these concerns in our briefing document Joint Responsibilities: The Nigeria- Vietnam wildlife trafficking corridor and compliance with CITES, which similarly highlighted the need for urgent action.

London; Washington, DC: EIA, 2022. 12p.