By Kristine M. Chapleau; Debra L. Oswald

The concepts of power and sex are closely associated in our society. A common example is describing sex as a conquest or as a surrender, which suggests that sex is about one person overpowering another. Similarly, describing being taken advantage of in a business trans- action as ‘‘getting screwed’’ sexualizes power transac- tions. The connection between power and sex is most apparent and serious in acts of rape. Indeed, earlier theories of sexual aggression examined if rapists are motivated by either power or sex (e.g., Brownmiller, 1975; Ellis, 1991; Thornhill & Thornhill, 1992). More recent theories, however, have examined how perpetrators are motivated by the combination of power and sex at the implicit (Bargh, Raymond, Pryor, & Strack, 1995; Kamphuis, de Ruiter, Janssen, & Spiering, 2005; Zurbriggen, 2000) and explicit (Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes, & Acker, 1995) levels of cognitive processing.

Publisher Routledge, 25 January 2010, 14p.

By Dr Anastasia Powell, Dr Nicola Henry, Dr Asher Flynn and Dr Emma Henderson

Since the 1980s, laws regulating the meaning and interpretation of sexual consent have been substantially reformed across Australian and international jurisdictions. Of particular note in an Australian context are the significant changes to the definition of consent introduced in Victoria in 2006 and 2007, which were primarily informed by the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s review of legislative provisions relating to sexual offences. In this article, we explore the persistence of traditional rape discourses in the courtroom following the 2007 Victorian reforms by examining meanings of ‘sex’ and ‘consent’ in a pilot sample of rape trials. Our analysis suggests that although deeply entrenched societal myths or discourses about rape continue to pervade Victorian courtrooms, there is some evidence of a shift towards a legal focus on the accused’s state of mind, in addition to that of the victim-complainant. This shift, however, is only prominent in cases in which the accused testifies. In light of these preliminary findings, we suggest that further comparative analyses of the qualitative impact of law reform on discursive constructions of ‘sex’ and ‘consent’ in rape trials may provide alternative measures of the impact of rape law reform.

Powell, A., Henry, N., Flynn, A. and Henderson, E. (in press, 2014). ‘Meanings of “Sex” and “Consent”: The Persistence of Rape Myths in Victorian Rape Law’, in Griffith Law Review, (accepted 10 January 2014), 1-38.

By ALIRAZA JAVAID

On an unimaginable, uncertain and unpredictable night, I was alone after a night out, floating aimlessly when really I should be getting home, to sleep and to experience the dreaded hangover the next day: but no, something kept me lingering on after the night out fuelled with alcohol and excitement. I was drunk. There was just one thing on my mind and that was finding love; I was still embedded in naivety, even at the age of 20–21, which was how old I was when my selfish offender raped me. When I was lingering on while people on the night out had started to disperse into their own ways, getting taxis to go home alone or with strangers for casual sex, I was looking for something or should I say someone, someone with whom I had previous sex with. Him and I had sex twice before. I wanted to see him again for the third time, as I was thirsty for some more sex. I fancied him. I lusted over him. I wanted to fall in love with him, but he just wanted to penetrate me and then to leave me, like all men. I never gave up trying to fall head over heels for him, though, so I went to see him after the night out; it was not dark as such, the light started to shine. While I was intoxicated, I made my way to his flat. Eventually, he came downstairs to get me after he was sleeping.

Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 302p.

By Shraddha Chigateri, Mubashira Zaidi and Anweshaa Ghosh

This research seeks to address the question of when and why the state in India responds to women’s claims making by foregrounding the mobilisations of women’s groups on two issues: anti-rape laws and domestic work. In particular, it analyses the relationship between women’s claims making and laws and policies, especially focusing on the issues around which mobilisations take place, the processes and strategies of claims making by women’s groups, and the processes through which the changes in laws and policies occur. The research addresses these concerns at both a national level, as well as two subnational levels, Gujarat and Karnataka. It also compares the differences and similarities in mobilisations, structural configurations, actors and coalitions between the two issue areas, and across the levels (national and subnational).

Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi, April 2016, 226p.

By Katherine J McLachlan

Women who have been raped rarely report their assaults to police. Researchers have attributed this to a range of reasons, both personal and systemic, including the influence of stereotypes and myths about rape on victims’/survivors’ decision- making. Rape myths often reflect community attitudes, social norms and police responses. For example, victims/survivors may blame themselves and also expect police will blame or disbelieve them. Such expectations (or subsequent experiences) of negative police responses undermine victims’/survivors’ faith in police. Poor or uncertain expectations held by victims/survivors are often borne out in reality, for police responses to rape are typically inconsistent and unpredictable. The potential diversity of responses is reflected in the mixed experiences reported by victims/survivors in my study.

Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology,, March 2007, 256p.

By Kiran Kaur Grewal PhD

This thesis is a comparative analysis of the public discourses in France and Australia on a series of highly mediatised gang rapes. In the context of Australia, the ‘Sydney gang rapes’ attracted intense media and political attention in 2001 through reports of a gang rape phenomenon involving gangs of young ‘Lebanese’/’Muslim’ men targeting and raping ‘Australian’ girls. Some commentators also identified links between these gang rapes and what they identified as being similar gang rapes involving ‘young Muslim men’ in France: a phenomenon known as ‘les tournantes’.

Yuval-Davis, Nira 1997, Gender and nation, SAGE Publishers, London, 2009, 424p.

BY Richard Grelling.. Translated By Alexander Gray. Introduction by Colin Heston.

Richard Grelling’s The Crime (Das Verbrechen), translated into English by Alexander Gray and published in London and New York between 1917 and 1919, is conceived as both a moral successor and completion to his earlier pacifist landmark, J’Accuse!, written between August 1915 and November 1916. In creating this extended work, Grelling sought to underscore the causes of World War I and dissect the self-justifying rhetoric that sustained the conflict long after its outbreak. Volumes I and II lay foundational groundwork, tracing the immediate antecedents of the war: imperialist tendencies within Germany and, on the part of the opposing Entente powers, ostensibly defensive motives followed by trait protectionism.

Never before in the annals of humankind has a crime of such sweeping magnitude been committed—and seldom has its perpetration been met with denial so unashamed. Within the very citadels of reason and culture, a proud civilization unleashed catastrophe under the guise of necessity—only to scramble afterward in self-exculpation. It is in this spirit of moral defiance—standing firm against voices of dissent, even from one’s own kin—that The Crime is offered to you. In the trilogy’s third volume, Grelling moves beyond the origins of war into the heart of wartime rationalization, exposing the “war-aims” that enabled aggression to persist under the cloak of purpose. May this work cast a clear light upon the structures of self-deception that allowed the world’s descent, and may it stir an unyielding clarity in us to recognize—and reject—such patterns again.

Read-Me.Org Inc. New York-Philadelphia-Australia. 2025. 261p.

By Ian Mynot and Oksana Ihnatenko

This report summarises the main findings of the first meeting of the Taskforce on Public–Private Partnership in Fighting Financial Crime in Ukraine

Overview

On 15 November 2024, RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security and the Center for Financial Integrity (CFI)1 launched a Taskforce on Public–Private Partnership in Fighting Financial Crime in Ukraine. An in-person meeting in Warsaw, held on a non-attributable basis, convened 40 representatives, including those from the public and private sectors in Ukraine, and international experts.

The discussion included two sessions focused on the current state of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in Ukraine and on international experience and recommendations. This report summarises the main findings of each of these sessions.

London: The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. (RUSI) 2025. 15p.

By Rusi - Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies

Economic crime poses a significant threat to the UK, undermining its financial stability and security. To address this threat, in March 2023, the UK government launched the Economic Crime Plan 2,1 outlining a series of coordinated actions that should be undertaken across multiple government departments. Among these measures, the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) was tasked with developing a people strategy to strengthen expertise and cross-sector collaboration, considering partnerships with industry and other stakeholders such as academia.2 Although there is a growing body of research on economic crime in the UK, there is scope for academia to play a more important role as a valuable resource in combatting economic crime. In October 2024, the NECC and the Home Office convened the first Economic Crime Academic Forum, hosted by RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security. The forum aimed to bridge the gap between academic research and policymaking by fostering dialogue and identifying actionable solutions to issues including money laundering, fraud, kleptocracy and corruption. Academic participants came from a range of related disciplines and included both more established and early career academics, bringing a range of perspectives. Government attendees came from multiple government departments and law enforcement. The discussions focused on three aspects of research on economic crime: economic crime threats; the response to economic crime in terms of policy, enforcement and evaluation; and research methods and associated challenges. Due to the breadth and fluidity of the discussion, this report does not provide a linear summary of the matters raised. Instead, it details ways in which academics conduct research on economic crime, identifies gaps and challenges in research and academic engagement with government initiatives, and explores potential solutions. The forum was conducted on a non-attributable basis.

London: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), 2025. 11p

By European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA)

The European Drug Report 2025: Trends and Developments presents the EUDA’s latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report provides a comprehensive set of national data across these themes, as well as on specialist drug treatment and key harm reduction interventions

This report is based on information provided to the EUDA by the EU Member States, the candidate country Türkiye, and Norway, in an annual reporting process. The purpose of the current report is to provide an overview and summary of the European drug situation up to the end of 2024. All grouping, aggregates and labels therefore reflect the situation based on the available data in 2024 in respect to the composition of the European Union and the countries participating in the EUDA’s reporting exercises. However, not all data will cover the full period. Due to the time needed to compile and submit data, many of the annual national data sets included here are from the reference year January to December 2023. Analysis of trends is based only on those countries providing sufficient data to describe changes over the period specified. The reader should also be aware that monitoring patterns and trends in a hidden and stigmatised behaviour such as drug use is both practically and methodologically challenging. For this reason, multiple sources of data are used for the purposes of analysis in this report. Although considerable improvements can be noted, both nationally and in respect to what is possible to achieve in a European-level analysis, the methodological difficulties in this area must be acknowledged. Caution is therefore required in interpretation, in particular when countries are compared on any single measure. Caveats relating to the data are to be found in the online Statistical Bulletin 2025 , which contains detailed information on methodology, qualifications on analysis and comments on the limitations in the information set available. Information is also available there on the methods and data used for European-level estimates, where interpolation may be used :

PortugalEuropean Union Drugs Agency (EUDA); 2025 355p

By Erik Gamm and Mitch Morrissey

DNA evidence, where it’s available, is crucial to solving sexual assault cases—according to one study, it raises the likelihood of a guilty verdict from less than a third to nearly 75%. The trouble and expense of processing it, however, can create backlogs that put cases on hold for years. Dozens of state and local law-enforcement agencies have faced this problem over the decades since DNA technology emerged.

This year, due in part to years of alleged misconduct by one of its forensic scientists, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found itself with a queue of more than 1,400 untested sexual assault kits and without the means to process new ones promptly. The unsolved cases stuck in this backlog represent substantial further crime risks from repeat offenders, delayed justice for victims, and tangible costs to Colorado’s economy.

Key Findings

By processing all of the 1,369 DNA kits in the state’s backlog, Colorado could prosecute up to 200 rape cases.

This would also prevent up to 1,030 sexual assaults, 108 other violent crimes, 230 property offenses, and 113 drug/alcohol, public disorder, and other crimes.

At a testing cost of $2,000 per kit and adjudication, public-services, and work-loss costs totaling $82,000 per case, clearing the backlog and prosecuting cases associated with it will cost the state $21 million. In return, Colorado’s economy will eventually save $234.7 million due to prevention of future crimes.

The longer authorities take to clear the backlog, the larger the costs and smaller the savings will become.

CSI estimates that, by training 15 more DNA scientists over the next year, CBI will clear its DNA backlog of excess kits by July 2027. Delayed processing of kits currently in the backlog, which are expected to be tested by September 2026, will have allowed $51.8 million worth of additional criminal activity.

Even kits that don't lead to convictions are worth testing for the qualitative benefits they offer, like identifying deceased and incarcerated perpetrators, adding to the national DNA database, and providing closure to victims.

Greenwood Village, CO: Common Sense Institute, 2025. 12p.

By Brown, K., Crawford, A., Lloyd, C, Birks, D., Capstick, N., Wood, M., et al. (2024).

Children who are victims of crime and those drawn into offending behaviours are amongst the most vulnerable in society. The evidence is clear: life chances of young people are significantly affected by childhood experiences of crime, harm, abuse, and victimisation, as well as engagement with the criminal justice system. This is not deterministic and many children find ways to cope with the adversities they face. However, adverse childhood experiences greatly elevate the probability of a young person becoming involved with the police and we must act to support these children before they become trapped within the criminal justice system. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we promote a whole-child approach to childhood vulnerability that focuses on needs – one that is informed by the evidence base on best practice throughout the UK and internationally. We make three evidence-based recommendations that align with the new government’s Opportunity Mission to improve outcomes for CYP and reduce crime.

Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives. , 2024. 50p.

By Megan Kang

This study draws on 95 interviews and observations with gang-affiliated individuals in Chicago to examine how gang structures shape disengagement and desistance from crime. Over the last two decades, the city’s gangs have experienced a decline in group closure, or their capacity to regulate membership and member behavior, and a blurring of boundaries between those active in a gang from all others. In the past, Chicago’s gangs maintained closure and bright boundaries that made gang affiliations, norms, and territories clearly defined. Leaving these gangs required costly exit rituals that signaled an unambiguous departure while facilitating desistance. Today, with weaker gang structures and blurry boundaries, leaving a gang is no longer a distinct event. However, the ease of gang disengagement makes desistance harder, as inactive members struggle to knife off past ties and access turning points. In this uncertain landscape, desistance tactics can backfire, sending blurred signals—behaviors intended to create distance from former affiliates and rivals but appear as wavering commitment to supporters—that trap individuals in a liminal space between social worlds. Contrary to leading desistance theories that emphasize individual readiness, opportunity, and pro-social bonds, this study underscores how group structures critically shape pathways out of crime

Unpublished paper 2025, 55p.

By Kristina Amerhauser and Audrey Thill with support from Martin Thorley, Louise Taylor and Matt Herbert

Cyber scam operations have surged across Southeast Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, evolving into a transnational organized crime crisis of staggering proportions. In this report, we expose the inner workings of scam compounds and the sophisticated criminal ecosystem sustaining them.

Repurposed hotels, casinos, and private compounds across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines have become centres of global fraud. These compounds are operated by organized criminal networks that exploit hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are trafficked and forced to perpetrate online scams. Victims include not only those defrauded online but also the scam workers themselves, subjected to threats, violence, sexual exploitation and extreme working conditions.

The report details how cyber scams —including ‘pig-butchering’ romance-investment scams, crypto fraud, impersonation and sextortion— now generate tens of billions of dollars annually.

These illicit operations thrive due to weak rule of law, widespread corruption, and complicity from powerful figures who operate as ‘role shifters’ —individuals who blur the lines between government, business and crime. Scam compounds often enjoy protection from local elites and security forces, and rely on global money laundering networks, including cryptocurrencies and high-risk financial services providers.

This in-depth analysis, based on extensive fieldwork and case studies, highlights the devastating economic, human rights and security implications of cyber scam operations.

The report calls for urgent, coordinated responses, including better victim identification systems, crackdowns on enablers, and reforms to protect vulnerable communities.

Geneva, SWIT: 5 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2025. 68p.

By James C. Wo, Ethan M. Rogers

Urban greenspace (UGS) has been recently linked to public safety. Criminologists, however, have been largely absent from the discussion about this association, despite having important theoretical tools and empirical findings to contribute. In the current study, we review the prominent criminological perspectives that may be used to explain the association between UGS and crime. Furthermore, we draw from prior work to extend beyond the question of whether UGS affects crime to the more crucial question of when it does. Using a sample of block groups in Washington, D.C., we examine the association between two measures of UGS—tree canopy coverage and noncanopy vegetation coverage—and violent and property crime. We also assess the moderating effects of antecedents to social disorganization (poverty and homeownership) on the association between UGS and crime. Our results suggest that both types of UGS are associated with fewer crimes, even while controlling for a range of criminogenic factors. The effects of tree canopy coverage appear to be crime general, while the effects of noncanopy vegetation coverage only apply to violent crime. The effects of tree canopy, however, are weaker in communities characterized by high levels of poverty and low levels of homeownership.

Criminology, Volume62, Issue 2, May 2024, Pages 236-275

By Carly Lightowlers, Lucy Bryant

COVID-19 restrictions significantly altered alcohol availability across England, at times with on-trade premises closed, presenting a novel opportunity to examine the efects of of-trade alcohol availability on violence. Police recorded violent crime data were used to examine changes in the level and proportion of (i) violence as well as (ii) domestic violence, which was alcohol-related during this period. On-trade closures saw the proportion of violent incidents recorded as alcohol-related fall only subtly (by 3 percentage points in months of closure) and did not lead to a significant difference in the proportion of domestic violence, which was recorded as alcohol-related. Tis suggests of- and on-trade alcohol availability may be comparable contributory factors to levels of violence and domestic violence

Te British Journal of Criminology, 2025, XX, 1–18

By David Jinkins, Elira Kuka, Claudio Labanca

Research on the social safety net examines its effects on recipients and their families. We show that these effects extend beyond recipients’ families. Using a regression discontinuity design and administrative data, we study a Danish policy that cut welfare benefits for refugees, increasing crime among affected individuals. Linking refugees to neighbors, we find increased crime among non-Danish neighbors, with spillovers persisting even after direct effects stabilize. Accounting for these spillovers raises the marginal value of public funds by 20%. We explore several mechanisms and find evidence consistent with peer effects among young individuals from the same country of origin.

IZA DP No. 17958

Bonn: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics , 2025. 85p.

By Daniel M. Gerstein

his report is one in a series of analyses on the effects of emerging technologies on U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) missions and capabilities. As part of this work, the research team was charged with developing a technology and risk assessment methodology for evaluating emerging technologies and understanding their implications in a homeland security context. The methodology and analyses provide a basis for DHS to better understand the emerging technologies and the risks presented.

This report describes the implications that the metaverse could have on digital crimes that involve the targeting and exploitation of children. These digital crimes are already occurring and have affected and endangered many victims and families. In an immersive online environment, such as the metaverse, opportunities for criminal activity and exploitation aimed at children could expand further.

Key Findings

Metaverse technologies — which encompass artificial intelligence systems, immersive technologies, and enabling digital technologies — will likely continue to become more available, have greater capabilities, and cost less to obtain and use. As has been the case with other digital technologies, metaverse technologies likely will have few policy, legal, ethical, or regulatory impediments constraining their development or use.

The metaverse concept is at an inflection point. How it will expand, how large it will become, and whether will it become an expansive virtual world that directly competes with the physical world remain unanswered questions. The timelines for expansion of the metaverse also remain speculative and will largely depend on use case, demand, and market forces.

Both non-metaverse and metaverse platforms have been and will continue to be used effectively to target children. Furthermore, an overlap exists between non-metaverse and metaverse platform use in luring and victimizing children, which makes it impossible to delineate the share of these abhorrent behaviors ascribable to each.

The lack of legal frameworks for crimes involving the targeting and exploitation of children in online applications will likely continue to be an issue. Clear definitions for what constitute attacks in the metaverse are not available as they are in the physical world, which hinders investigations and prosecutions. Despite the known vulnerabilities and consequences, these platforms continue to be aggressively marketed to children.

As the metaverse grows, the potential of these platforms for targeting, luring, exploiting, and victimizing children through targeted criminal activity or child exploitation will likely also grow.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2025. 24p.

By Vaclav Prusa

Liberia’s mining sector accounts for a significant amount of its GDP, but its economic potential is undermined by bribery and political interference in licensing and the granting of concession agreements. While data on illicit financial flows (IFFs) derived from or enabled by corruption is limited, bribery cases involving foreign companies, the prevalence of trade mispricing and existence of a professional enabler industry, suggest vulnerabilities. Corruption and IFFs in the sector create fiscal losses, lead to environmental degradation and foster instability. Best practices for mitigation include robust legal frameworks, enhanced transparency and accountancy mechanisms, greater regional collaboration and community engagement.

Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen InstituteU4 HELPDESK ANSWER 10 2025. 30p.

By Mathias Bak and Matthew Jenkins

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) undermine economic growth by weakening institutional quality, state legitimacy, facilitating corruption and discouraging foreign and domestic investment. Empirical studies that have explicitly assessed the links between IFFs and economic growth, either on a regional scale or at the national level, generally find that illicit financial outflows have a negative and significant impact on core determinants of economic growth, notably domestic investment. Evidence suggests that IFFs not only hinder growth in source countries but also distort investment patterns in destination countries, particularly in real estate markets.

Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2025: 2. 44p.