By Cassandra Popham, Ellie Taylor and William Teager.. et al

The Youth Endowment Fund surveyed over 10,000 teenage children (aged 13-17) in England and Wales about their experiences of violence. The findings are detailed across five reports, each focusing on a different aspect. In this report, we explore children’s access to positive activities, youth clubs and trusted adult figures. Here’s what we found. Most children do positive activities. Activities such as sports programmes, arts and volunteering can provide children with safe spaces, support, educational opportunities and a sense of community. They can also provide ‘hooks’ to engage them in other services and support. The majority of teenage children (95%) have access to these sorts of activities locally, with 84% participating in at least one activity once a month or more. Team and individual sports are the most common, with 72% of 13-17-year-olds having access to team sports and 42% regularly participating. Similarly, 62% have access to individual sports, with 35% participating. Gender differences are notable: 88% of boys engage in positive activities compared to 80% of girls. Boys are far more involved in team sports (54% of boys vs 30% of girls), while girls participate more in arts (27% of girls vs 13% of boys) and part-time work (15% of girls vs 11% of boys). Among 17-year-olds, 34% of girls take up part-time work, compared to 25% of boys. Interestingly, children directly affected by violence as victims (88%) and perpetrators (90%) are more likely to take part in positive activities than children who haven’t been victims of or perpetrated violence (83%). They are less likely to do activities such as team sports, but are more likely to do volunteering, wilderness activities and combat sports. Vulnerable children are the most likely to attend youth clubs. Youth clubs are places that provide children and young people access to activities, support and community. They also provide opportunities or ‘hooks’ to engage children with other services and forms of support. While 70% of 13-17-year-olds report having access to a youth club in their area, 40% attend one at least once a month. School-based youth clubs are the most commonly attended (35% have access and 17% attend), followed by those in youth or community centres (37% have access and 12% attend). A third (33%) of teenage children who don’t currently attend a youth club would like to. It seems that youth clubs manage to reach those who most need them. Children who’ve been directly affected by violence are twice as likely to regularly go to a youth club – 60% of victims and 65% of those who’ve perpetrated violence, compared to 31% who haven’t been victims or perpetrators of violence. Youth clubs, especially those based in schools, are generally viewed as safe spaces. For children who’ve been victims of violence, online youth clubs1 are considered safer, with 14% attending them compared to 7% of their peers. Most children, including those most affected by violence, have a trusted adult outside the home. When a child or young person is vulnerable and in need of support, having an adult in their life who they can turn to can make a big difference. For some, this might be a family member, but others might feel more comfortable seeking help from someone outside their family or friends – for example, a youth worker, sports coach or more formal mentor. While 82% of teenage children have a trusted adult outside their family, 18% do not. School staff are the most trusted adults (58%), but children who’ve been suspended, excluded or face greater risks of violence —such as drug use, exploitation or involvement with the police – are more likely than others to turn to adults outside of school settings, such as sports coaches, mentors, doctors or youth workers. Boys, in particular, are more likely to trust a sports coach (24% of boys vs 12% of girls), while girls tend to rely more on school staff (60% of girls vs 56% of boys). These findings highlight the importance of supporting and facilitating these trusted relationships to help vulnerable children navigate their challenges.

London: Youth Endowment Fund, 2024 Report No. 5, 2024. 37p.

By Sofia Amaral, Aixa Garcia-Ramos, Selim Gulesci, Sarita Oré, Alejandra Ramos, & Maria Micaela Sviatschi

Gender-based violence (GBV) at schools is a pervasive problem that affects millions of adolescent girls worldwide. In partnership with the Ministry of Education in Mozambique, we developed an intervention to increase the capacity of key school personnel to address GBV and to improve students’ awareness as well as proactive behaviors. To understand the role of GBV on girls’ education, we randomized not only exposure to the intervention but also whether the student component was targeted to girls only, boys only, or both. Our findings indicate a reduction in sexual violence by teachers and school staff against girls, regardless of the targeted gender group, providing evidence of the role of improving the capacity of key school personnel to deter perpetrators. Using administrative records, we also find that in schools where the intervention encouraged proactive behavior by girls, there was an increase in their school enrollment, largely due to an increased propensity for GBV reporting by victims. Our findings suggest that effectively mitigating violence to improve girls’ schooling requires a dual approach: deterring potential perpetrators and fostering a proactive stance among victims, such as increased reporting.

CESifo Working Paper Series No. 11506, Nov 2024, 64p.

By Megan Steele-Baser; Alyssa L. Brown; Denise V. D’Angelo; Kathleen C. Basile, Rosalyn D. Lee, ; Antoinette T. Nguyen, & Cynthia H. Cassell

Intimate partner violence (IPV) can include emotional, physical, or sexual violence. IPV during pregnancy is a preventable cause of injury and death with negative short- and long-term impacts for pregnant women, infants, and families. Using data from the 2016–2022 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in nine U.S. jurisdictions, CDC examined associations between IPV during pregnancy among women with a recent live birth and the following outcomes: prenatal care initiation, health conditions during pregnancy (gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related hypertension, and depression), substance use during pregnancy, and infant birth outcomes. Overall, 5.4% of women reported IPV during pregnancy. Emotional IPV was most prevalent (5.2%), followed by physical (1.5%) and sexual (1.0%) IPV. All types were associated with delayed or no prenatal care; depression during pregnancy; cigarette smoking, alcohol use, marijuana or illicit substance use during pregnancy; and having an infant with low birth weight. Physical, sexual, and any IPV were associated with having a preterm birth. Physical IPV was associated with pregnancyrelated hypertension. Evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies that address multiple types of IPV are important for supporting healthy parents and families because they might reduce pregnancy complications, depression and substance use during pregnancy, and adverse infant outcomes

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024, 6p.

By Timothy Cubitt, Anthony Morgan and Rick Brown

Drawing on a survey of 13,302 online Australians, this study examines the characteristics and behaviours of respondents who viewed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and fringe or radical content online, or both. In the past 12 months, 40.6 percent of respondents had viewed fringe or radical content and 4.5 percent had viewed CSAM. Among respondents who viewed CSAM, 64.7 percent had also viewed fringe or radical content, while 7.1 percent of those who viewed radical content had also viewed CSAM. Respondents who viewed only CSAM or only fringe or radical content were similar to one another. Respondents who viewed both were more likely to be younger and male and had higher rates of criminal justice system contact and diagnosed mental illness. Their online activity, including the platforms used, also differed.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 708. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2024. 16p.

By Australia Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services

This report examining financial abuse in Australia provides a comprehensive analysis of the issue, identifies key challenges within legislation, regulation, and financial institutions, and puts forward 61 recommendations to prevent and mitigate financial abuse.

The report highlights that financial abuse is a widespread issue with a direct cost to victims estimated at $5.7 billion—a figure higher than Australia's total scam losses in 2023.

It calls for legislative amendments, enhanced support services for victims, improved identification and response mechanisms within financial institutions, and greater collaboration between government agencies and stakeholders.

Key findings

Financial abuse is a prevalent issue in Australia, often occurring alongside other forms of domestic and family violence.

The financial toll on victims of financial abuse is estimated at $5.7 billion.

Current legislative and regulatory frameworks have significant gaps.

Financial institutions have made some progress in implementing measures to address financial abuse but require further action to provide comprehensive support for victims.

The rise of online financial platforms presents both opportunities and challenges in tackling financial abuse.

Vulnerable groups, including older Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those in regional and remote areas, face unique challenges and barriers in accessing support and protection from financial abuse.

Key recommendations

Establish a mechanism for co-design with victim-survivors of financial abuse in developing reforms to mitigate the prevalence and impact of financial abuse.

Amend the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 to recognise the unique threats posed by financial abuse and strengthen protections for victims.

Review the intersection between financial abuse and the superannuation system.

Implement a mandatory requirement for providers of financial services, products, and government agencies to include a "quick exit" button on webpages.

Co-design standard operating guidelines for the referral of reasonably suspected financial abuse to financial institutions.

Amend the Social Security Act 1991 to remove the requirement for victims to have left their home to qualify for crisis support payments, lengthen the application time frame for crisis payments, and ensure access to "special circumstances" waivers for victims subjected to perpetrator manipulation.

e Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra, 2024, 230p.

By Elodie Rolls, Yasmin Youle and Charlotte Hartwright

Domestic abuse (DA) is a widespread crime. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, about 4.4% of people aged 16 and over experienced DA in a single 12-month period. This means approximately 2.1 million people were victims of DA in just one year (Office for National Statistics, 2023). The Government’s plan to tackle DA, announced in 2022, included the establishment of interventions for perpetrators, such as electronic monitoring (EM) for high-risk individuals. The Domestic Abuse Perpetrators on Licence (DAPOL) scheme was launched in August 2023 in two probation regions, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. DAPOL requires adult offenders at risk of committing DA to wear an electronic tag upon leaving prison, if deemed necessary and proportionate as part of the formal licence planning process. The scheme aims to strengthen offender management, help victims feel safe following the release of the abuser, and help prevent further offending. An evaluation of DAPOL was commissioned by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). It will involve three types of evaluation: process, impact, and economic. This report presents findings from a process evaluation conducted during the first few months of delivery. The findings can be used to inform expansion of the scheme, prior to assessing impacts. 1.1 Evaluation Objectives The research was undertaken during the first six months of delivering the DAPOL scheme. The evaluation aimed to address four objectives: • To gather evidence that describes the context in which DAPOL was delivered (see Sections 4 and 8). • To collect evidence on how DAPOL was used by practitioners (see Section 5). • To provide a descriptive analysis of compliance and any early perceived impacts (see Sections 6 and 7). • To identify facilitators and barriers to the implementation of DAPOL (see Section 8). These objectives centred on understanding early implementation of the DAPOL pilot. This ensured that lessons learned could be embedded prior to any expansion and assessment of impact. The research comprised three strands: primary data collection through interviews and surveys with people on probation and staff working with EM or DA, an analysis of management information (quantitative) data, and qualitative analysis of probation case management records. By triangulating findings across these data sources, the research team aimed to capture the complexity surrounding the implementation of DAPOL. 1.2 Key Findings There were 442 DAPOL orders during the six-month evaluation period. Key findings are summarised below: • The scheme was used to manage high risk individuals with complex criminogenic needs. Probation practitioners typically used DAPOL with prison leavers who had a history of violent offending, stalking and harassment, and those with an elevated risk of perpetrating DA. People supervised under the scheme often had attitudinal and psychosocial risks relating to relationships, thinking and behaviour, and pro-criminality. EM was used alongside other licence conditions such as alcohol monitoring, freedom of movement, non-contact, supervised contact, disclosure of information and (notification of) relationships. The profile of people on the scheme was consistent with established predictors of DA perpetration (e.g., Costa et al., 2015), suggesting that DAPOL was applied with reasoned professional judgement around DA risk. • To gather evidence that describes the context in which DAPOL was delivered (see Sections 4 and 8). • To collect evidence on how DAPOL was used by practitioners (see Section 5). • To provide a descriptive analysis of compliance and any early perceived impacts (see Sections 6 and 7). • To identify facilitators and barriers to the implementation of DAPOL (see Section 8). These objectives centred on understanding early implementation of the DAPOL pilot. This ensured that lessons learned could be embedded prior to any expansion and assessment of impact. The research comprised three strands: primary data collection through interviews and surveys with people on probation and staff working with EM or DA, an analysis of management information (quantitative) data, and qualitative analysis of probation case management records. By triangulating findings across these data sources, the research team aimed to capture the complexity surrounding the implementation of DAPOL. 1.2 Key Findings There were 442 DAPOL orders during the six-month evaluation period. Key findings are summarised below: • The scheme was used to manage high risk individuals with complex criminogenic needs. Probation practitioners typically used DAPOL with prison leavers who had a history of violent offending, stalking and harassment, and those with an elevated risk of perpetrating DA. People supervised under the scheme often had attitudinal and psychosocial risks relating to relationships, thinking and behaviour, and pro-criminality. EM was used alongside other licence conditions such as alcohol monitoring, freedom of movement, non-contact, supervised contact, disclosure of information and (notification of) relationships. The profile of people on the scheme was consistent with established predictors of DA perpetration (e.g., Costa et al., 2015), suggesting that DAPOL was applied with reasoned professional judgement around DA risk. the early stages of this scheme, it is likely that demand will increase with further expansion of DAPOL. This may result in more demand for GPS tagging equipment. This report also found qualitative evidence that location monitoring was more time consuming to manage. Therefore, the potential for a greater time cost to supervise DAPOL cases should also be considered.

Ministry of Justice Ministry of Justice Analytical Series, London: UK Ministry of Justice, 2024. 77p.

By Ching-Min Tang, Chen-Fang Lou, Shao-Hsuan Hsia, Kuang-Tsung Liang, Wen Chang, Jainn-Jim Lin, Oi-Wa Chan, Kuang-Lin Lin & En-Pei Lee

Background: Child abuse in Taiwan is a major societal concern that severely affects the well-being of children. Despite the complexity in detecting abuse, reports of child abuse are increasing, evidenced by a rise in cases and heightened awareness. This study utilizes judicial judgments as a lens to understand the varied interpretations of child abuse by clinical and forensic experts and explores the broader epidemiological trends of such abuse within the declining youth population of Taiwan.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study by analyzing official court judgments on child abuse allegations judged from 2008 to 2022 from the online database of Judicial Yuan. Furthermore, the study analyzed demographic factors, injury patterns, and opinions from various experts.

Results: The results reveal that severe criminal cases of child abuse predominantly involve biological fathers as the primary offenders and physical abuse as the most common form of maltreatment. Victims are typically aged less than 5 years, which frequently leads to an unfavorable prognosis. Analysis also highlights the TEN-4-FACESp acronym as a highly predictive indicator of child abuse and underscores the prevalence of abusive head trauma (AHT). Moreover, the findings emphasize ongoing disparities in opinions between forensic medical examiners and clinical physicians, especially in AHT cases, which potentially influences judicial decisions.

Conclusion: In summary, the study reveals ongoing disagreements between forensic medical examiners and clinical physicians, especially in cases of AHT, which may impact judicial decisions. Promoting consensus through interdisciplinary collaboration and improved communication can aid in revealing the truth in child abuse cases.

Archives of Public Health volume 82, Article number: 191, 2024, 8p.

By Leila Pereira, Rafael Pucci, Rodrigo R. Soares

We study a Force-down/Shoot-down intervention in Brazil that led cocaine traffickers to shift from air to river routes. Using data on cocaine production, homicides, and the network of rivers in the Amazon, we provide evidence that violence increased in municipalities along river routes originating from Andean producing countries after the policy. We also show that, during the same period, violence in these municipalities became more responsive to cocaine production in origin countries. We document an instance of crime displacement over the three-dimensional space, involving sophisticated adaptations from criminals regarding transportation technologies, with dramatic side-effects for local populations.

Bonn: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 55p.

By European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA).

This report explores the intricate relationship between economic recessions and illicit drug use through an in-depth scoping review of the literature. Unravelling complexities among demographics and drug types, this analysis sheds light on potential impacts of economic downturns, suggesting that young and already socioeconomically vulnerable population groups appear to be most affected during economic downturns. Among young adults, several studies indicate that the use of cannabis may increase during economic downturns. In addition, there are indications that transitioning to more problematic patterns of drug use, such as from smoking or snorting to injecting, may also increase during times of economic turmoil.

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union., 2024. 60p.

By Claire Provost,

U.S. leads global drug war

The role of the United States in exporting the destructive war on drugs to other countries is unparalleled. Since 1971, the U.S. has spent more than a trillion dollars on the war on drugs, prioritising law enforcement responses and fuelling mass incarceration within its borders. It has also played a leading role in pushing and funding punitive responses to drugs internationally. This has continued despite clear evidence that such approaches don’t work to achieve their stated aims (ending drug use and sales) while having devastating effects on rights and health, including mass criminalisation, disease transmission, repression and displacement.

This report demonstrates how U.S. assistance has supported and expanded destructive and deadly anti-drug responses in low- and middle-income countries around the world. It also presents new follow-the-money data analysis on U.S. international drug control spending by various government departments and budgets. This includes official development assistance (ODA) intended to support poverty reduction and other global development goals; and three case studies – Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines – to reveal the damage done by this spending.

Vast and complex global network

The 2023 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the U.S. State Department described a “whole of government approach” to drug control and a strategy of deep collaboration and “capacity building” with counterparts in other countries. A vast and complex global network of U.S. government agencies, programs, and activities has been developed in the ongoing “war on drugs.”

U.S. support for drug enforcement internationally includes financial, material and technical assistance. The U.S. drug war bureaucracy is expansive, involving numerous agencies of the government, including the Department of Defense (DOD), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), State Department, Department of Homeland Security, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as the infamous Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), under the Department of Justice (DOJ). By 2023, the DEA had 93 foreign offices in 69 countries.

Follow the money

Over the decade between 2015-2024, a total of almost $13 billion of U.S. taxpayer money was allocated to “counternarcotics” activities internationally.

For fiscal year 2025, the President requested $1 billion for international “counternarcotics” activities. Almost half of this request was to be received and spent by the DEA ($480 million); the second largest planned intermediary for this spending was to be the State Department’s INL bureau (about $350 million).

Separate budget documents from the involved departments contain further detail on where and how international drug control funding is to be spent. For instance, the U.S. Department of State’s 2023 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) showed that Latin America was budgeted to receive more than half ($225 million) of the total $375 million for “counternarcotics” requested by the department and its agencies (including INL and USAID). Colombia was to be the largest single country recipient ($115 million).

Aid donors (led by the U.S.) spent almost $1 billion of their ODA on “narcotics control” projects in dozens of low- and middle-income countries over the decade 2013-2022. No donor contributed more to these “narcotics control” budgets than the U.S.

Controversially, the U.S. has been increasingly classifying drug control spending as ODA: in 2020, it counted just over $30 million like this; in 2021 that figure was $309 million (and while it dropped to $106 million in 2022, this was still higher than earlier years).

Profit-making companies are also benefiting from this ODA spending on “narcotics control.” The top “channel” for this spending has been private companies (“private sector institutions,” receiving $244 million over the decade) followed by the governments of countries funded ($202 million), and then multilateral organisations such as UNODC ($77 million).

Harm Reduction International | Drug Policy Alliance, 2024. 47p.

By Raquel Rosenbloom

Agricultural workers in the United States not only support the US economy, but are also responsible for keeping people across the country and the globe fed. The agricultural sector contributed $1.055 trillion to the US GDP in 2020, with $134.7 billion coming just from farms. US agricultural exports were worth $139.6 billion in 2018.

The agricultural sector in the United States relies on foreign workers; 86 percent of agricultural workers in the United States are foreign-born and 45 percent of all US agricultural workers are undocumented. Seasonal and agricultural labor demands are also growing in the United States. Requests for the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program, which brings immigrants from abroad for periods of up to eight months to meet agricultural workforce needs, have more than doubled from 2010 to 2019. The program increased from 79,000 H-2A workers in 2010 to 258,000 in 2019.

CMS estimates characteristics of populations who would be eligible for general and population-specific legalization programs and for special legal status programs. Due to the cyclical nature of agricultural work, it can be difficult to estimate exact numbers and characteristics of workers with an annual survey.

According to CMS estimates, there are approximately 283,000 undocumented immigrants who work in the United States as agricultural workers. These individuals make up approximately 4 percent of the total undocumented workforce in the United States. Immigrants coming from Mexico comprise the majority of undocumented agricultural workers at 88 percent. Following Mexico, undocumented agricultural workers come from Guatemala (7 percent), El Salvador (3 percent), Honduras (2 percent), and Nicaragua (1 percent) (Figure 1). Approximately 63 percent of undocumented agricultural workers are male and 37 percent are female (Figure 2)

New York: Center for Migration Studies, 2022. 9p

By Indra de Soysa

Democracy and the level of economic development correlate tightly. While some argue that egalitarian conditions inherent in democracies reduce homicide, others suggest that it is economic development that matters. This study evaluates competing theory and tests the democracy—homicide link using homicide data defined as death due to interpersonal violence and novel data on a variety of democracies. The results show that democracies associate positively with homicide, and egalitarian democracy shows the strongest effect. The level of economic development is negative on homicide and substantively large. The basic results are robust to alternative data, estimating method, and to omitted variables bias.

The British Journal of Criminology, 2024, 22 p.

By Matthew Mitchell, Tully O’Neill, & Curtis Redd

While criminology has studied news media reporting for decades, it has largely overlooked reporting on anti-queer violence and depictions of crime outside mainstream outlets. This article addresses this gap by analysing how anti-queer violence is represented in LGBTQ community media. By analysing 1,295 articles from 11 LGBTQ publications across five Anglophone countries between 2019 and 2021, we examine which forms of anti-queer violence are deemed newsworthy in these outlets. Our analysis reveals that LGBTQ community media emphasize particular types of violence, relationships between victims and perpetrators and contexts of victimization while downplaying or disregarding others. We argue that this selective representation both mirrors and ‘queers’ prevailing norms in mainstream crime news reporting in culturally and criminologically significant ways. In grappling with this tension, we identify and critique several cisheteronormative assumptions embedded in the existing literature on news media representations of crime. Ultimately, our analysis calls for a re-evaluation and revision of the existing discourse within media criminology, urging scholars to engage with a broader range of experiences, communities and narrative practices to understand better how violence is culturally mediated.

British Journal of Criminology, Dec. 2024. 19p.

By Sarah Treves-Kagan, Yanet Ruvalcaba, Daniel T. Corry, et al.

Problem/Condition: In 2022, homicide was the second leading cause of death for Hispanic and Latino persons aged 15–24 years in the United States, the third leading cause of death for those aged 25–34 years, and the fourth leading cause of death for those aged 1–14 years. The majority of homicides of females, including among Hispanic and Latino persons, occur in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). This report summarizes data from CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) on IPV-related homicides of Hispanic and Latino persons in the United States.

Period Covered: 2003–2021.

Description of System: NVDRS collects data regarding violent deaths in the United States and links three sources: death certificates, coroner or medical examiner reports, and law enforcement reports. IPV-related homicides include both intimate partner homicides (IPHs) by current or former partners and homicides of corollary victims (e.g., children, family members, and new partners). Findings describe victim and suspect sex, age group, and race and ethnicity; method of injury; type of location where the homicide occurred; precipitating circumstances (i.e., events that contributed to the homicide); and other selected characteristics. Deaths related to each other (e.g., an ex-partner kills the former partner and their new partner) are linked into a single incident. State participation in NVDRS has expanded over time, and the number of states participating has varied by year; data from all available years (2003–2021) and U.S. jurisdictions (49 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia) were used for this report. Of the 49 states that collect data, all except California and Texas collect data statewide; Puerto Rico and District of Columbia data are jurisdiction wide. Florida was excluded because the data did not meet the completeness threshold for circumstances.

Results: NVDRS collected data on 24,581 homicides of Hispanic and Latino persons, and data from all available years (2003–2021) and U.S. jurisdictions (49 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia) were examined. Among homicides with known circumstances (n = 17,737), a total of 2,444 were classified as IPV-related (13.8%). Nearly half of female homicides (n = 1,453; 48.2%) and 6.7% (n = 991) of male homicides were IPV-related; however, among all Hispanic and Latino homicides, most victims were male (n = 20,627; 83.9%). Among the 2,319 IPV-related homicides with known suspects, 85% (n = 1,205) of suspects were current or former partners for female victims, compared with 26.2% (n = 236) for male Hispanic and Latino victims. Approximately one fifth (71 of 359 [19.8%]) of female IPV-related homicide victims of childbearing age with known pregnancy status were pregnant or ≤1 year postpartum. Approximately 5% of IPV-related homicide victims were identified as Black Hispanic or Latino persons (males: n = 67; 6.8%; females: n = 64; 4.4%). A firearm was used in the majority of Hispanic and Latino IPV-related homicides (males: n = 676; 68.2%; females: n = 766; 52.7%).

MMWR Surveill Summ, 2024, 20p.

By United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women

The latest report on femicides reveals that 60 per cent of all female homicides are committed by an intimate partner or other family member.

New York/Vienna 25 November 2024 — On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25, the report Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides by UN Women and UNODC reveals that femicide—the most extreme form of violence against women and girls—remains pervasive in the world.

Globally, 85,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2023. 60 per cent of these homicides—51,000—were committed by an intimate partner or other family member. 140 women and girls die every day at the hands of their partner or a close relative, which means one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes.

In 2023, Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicide, followed by the Americas and then by Oceania. In Europe and the Americas, most women killed in the domestic sphere (64 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively) were victims of intimate partners, while elsewhere, family members were the primary perpetrators.

“Violence against women and girls is not inevitable—it is preventable. We need robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for women’s rights organizations and institutional bodies. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to UNiTE and act with urgency, recommit, and channel the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all," highlighted UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; 2024

By Stephen Machin, Matteo Sandi:

Research studying connections between crime and education is a prominent aspect of the big increase of publication and research interest in the economics of crime field. This work demonstrates a crime reducing impact of education, which can be interpreted as causal through leveraging research designs (e.g., based on education policy changes) that ensure the direction of causality flows from education to crime. A significant body of research also explores in detail, and in various directions, the means by which education has a crime reducing impact. This includes evidence on incapacitation versus productivity raising aspects of education, and on the quality of schooling at different stages of education, ranging from early age interventions, through primary and secondary schooling and policy changes that alter school dropout age. From this evidence base, there are education policies that have been effective crime prevention tools in many settings around the world.

Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024 59p.

By Gunes A. Aşık, Naci Mocan:

We analyze the expressive content of government action, focusing on Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at protecting women against violence, signed and ratified by 39 countries. In 2021, ten years after signing the Convention, the Turkish government withdrew from it, on the grounds that it "was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality, which is incompatible with Turkey's social and family values." Although this withdrawal did not alter existing laws or law enforcement practices, women's rights advocates viewed it as a signal of tolerance for violence against women. We use two separate datasets on female murders from independent sources. Analyses, including a difference-in-difference model with male homicide data, show that the withdrawal led to an additional 70 female murders per year, primarily committed by intimate partners. The effect is more pronounced in provinces where the long-governing religious-conservative coalition parties have stronger voter support and in provinces with lower education levels. We also show that Turkey's entry into the Convention in 2011 had the opposite impact, leading to a decrease in female murders. The signing of the Convention, which acted as a normative signal against violence, and the subsequent enactment of comprehensive legislation strengthening deterrence, had distinct effects. The signaling effect of the Entry was more significant in the same provinces that reacted more strongly to the Exit: those with lower education levels, stronger support for the governing party, and the Eastern region of the country. These findings indicate that government actions are interpreted as normative signals by society.

Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 56p

By Nina Hudson, Rachel Moody, Heather McKay, Rae Kaspiew

The guide presents research-based insights that challenge common stereotypes, highlighting the diverse experiences of victims and survivors and offering practical examples and approaches for professionals to implement in their practice. It is intended for use by professionals within the Australian justice sector, specifically police, lawyers, and judicial officers.

This resource aims to support a more trauma-informed, victim-centred approach within the Australian justice system, ultimately fostering a greater understanding of the complexities of sexual assault. It was developed in response to calls for improvements in the justice system's handling of sexual assault cases and draws on research from over 100 Australian and international sources.

Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2024. 83p.

By Isabel Meciar, Cheneal Puljević, Alice Holland, Coral Gartner

Australian survey and seizure data suggest a growing illicit tobacco market. As an illicit product, accurately tracking trends in illicit tobacco growing, manufacture, and sales is challenging. We examined trends in Australian illicit tobacco-related crimes using a content analysis of news articles.

Aims and Methods

We analyzed Australian news articles identified in the Factiva database and government press releases describing Australian illicit tobacco-related crimes reported between January 2000 and December 2023. Sources were coded for crime type, location, product type, dollar value of seized products, methods of distribution or storage, agencies involved, and other crimes involved.

Results

We identified 447 crimes reported in 389 sources. The number of illicit tobacco-related crimes reported increased between 2000 and 2023. The most common crimes were possession of illicit tobacco (n = 196/43.7%) and smuggling (n = 187/41.8%), and the most common product type was “illicit cigarettes” (n = 197/44.1%). The most common distribution/storage method reported was via residential premises (n = 98/21.9%). One-hundred and twenty incidents involved other crimes such as financial crimes involving money laundering (n = 59/13.2%). Across all included news articles, the quantity of seized products totaled 827 529 307 cigarette sticks, 76 185 cartons, 668 687 packs, 239 hectares (of land growing tobacco plants), and 2 149 000 plants of illicit tobacco between 2000 and 2023. The median value (worth; AUD) of each seizure was $1 500 000 (range $43 to $67 000 000).

Conclusions

Australian media reporting on illicit tobacco-related crimes increased over the past two decades, particularly since 2018. These findings highlight a need for improved border detection measures, investment in enforcement, and other deterrent activities.

Implications

This media analysis complements trends identified in national survey data that indicate a growing illicit tobacco market in Australia since 2013 with a marked increase since 2018. While survey data suggests that the Australian tobacco tax policy, which has included regular large tax increases since 2010, has decreased consumer demand for tobacco overall, it may have also incentivized criminal networks to supply illicit tobacco products due to it being a “low risk” and “high reward” activity. Controlling the Australian illicit tobacco market should be a policy priority.

Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 26 October 2024, 8 pages

By The Texas Organized Retail Theft Task Force

Organized Retail Theft (ORT), the large-scale theft and reselling of merchandise, is a growing problem, according to Texas retailers. In 2023, the Texas Legislature created a special task force led by Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar to analyze and develop strategies for combatting ORT. The ORT Task Force, which includes law enforcement, retailers and policy experts, conducted research, listened to expert testimony and conducted site visits as part of its study. The following report represents the findings of the Task Force and offers recommendations for further action. Summary of Findings and Recommendations As the Task Force listened to expert testimony and Comptroller staff visited retailer sites, ORT Task Force members noted three recurrent themes: a lack of ORT data, a need for coordination among ORT stakeholders and a need for consistency in the application of ORT laws. Finding 1 Statewide data relating specifically to ORT are not collected in Texas, which makes it difficult to quantify the extent and cost of ORT, pinpoint where crimes are happening and dedicate sufficient resources to combat ORT. Retailers are reluctant to share certain proprietary data with their competitors. Recommendations • Develop a statewide repository to collect ORT data that can be aggregated and analyzed. • Work with retailers to categorize and mask their confidential data in a manner that doesn’t expose proprietary information while still allowing analysts to estimate the cost of ORT and detect trends. • If ORT trends indicate a need, consider creating an organization to combat ORT modeled after or housed under the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center. Finding 2 Thefts conducted by perpetrators who target multiple types of merchandise or who operate in more than one law enforcement jurisdiction may be difficult to identify as ORT. Improved transparency, interaction and communication among all stakeholders—retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors—have yielded positive results in some cities. Recommendations • Continue support for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Organized Retail Theft Prevention Unit and consider increasing the total number of FTEs for the unit. • Identify an existing state agency to serve as both an information clearinghouse and a facilitator to help local law enforcement departments develop and improve ORT coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing with other jurisdictions so that potential links to related cases may be identified and shared. • San Antonio’s Businesses Against Theft Network (BAT-NET) program could serve as a model for other cities to improve communication, transparency and collaboration among stakeholders. • Establish a store walk-through program. Retailers can launch a store walk-through program inviting law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices to get a better understanding of the ORT issue. This can also help foster a stronger relationship between retailers and law enforcement. • Incorporate training on ORT in new officer training classes and as part of a continuing education class for law enforcement. • One-hour presentation to new academy classes. • Quarterly and annual meeting/certification by Texas Organized Retail Crime Association (TXORCA) or similar association. Finding 3 Prosecuting ORT can be time and resource intensive, and prosecutors sometimes apply ORT charges inconsistently (e.g., charging an ORT crime as simple theft, which may take less time and be easier to prove). Prosecutors find the requirement to prove intentionality in ORT cases to be an obstacle in the pursuit of charges under the ORT statute. Other state laws may inadvertently make it difficult for ORT crimes to be prosecuted. Retailers, for example, are required by law to wait 10 days before reporting the theft of certain rental items. Although normally this provision likely would be in a consumer’s best interest, it is a barrier when the retailer becomes aware that the items are being resold before the retailer is allowed to report the theft. Recommendation • Form a committee of prosecutors to review the ORT statute’s requirements, including proof of intentionality, and other statutes that are barriers to ORT prosecution, such as the waiting period on reporting stolen rental items. The committee should seek input from retailers and law enforcement during its review. The committee will present its suggestions to the ORT Task Force before the next legislative session. • Develop training on ORT as a continuing education course, such as a one-hour presentation on the key steps for prosecuting an ORT case.

Austin: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 2024. 24p.