By Chiara Redaelli, and Carlos Arévalo 

 This article aims to clarify how international humanitarian law (IHL) rules on targeting apply when drug cartels are party to a non-international armed conflict. The question of distinguishing between a cartel’s armed forces and the rest of the cartel members is a pertinent matter. It is crucial to avoid considering every drug dealer a legitimate target, just as we do not consider that everyone working for the government is a legitimate target. Nevertheless, it is unclear at what point a member of a cartel would change from being a criminal to being a member of the armed wing of the cartel, hence becoming a legitimate target. The present article will suggest a teleological approach to solving this conundrum. 

International Review of the Red Cross (2023), 105 (923), 652–673. 

By Martina Baradel & Niles Breuer

This paper addresses a significant gap in drug market literature by examining high-level drug trafficking networks in Japan. We focus on three aspects: the structure of drug importation networks, the impact of transport methods on these structures, and the role of Japan’s mafia, the yakuza. Using novel statistical techniques that extend exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to multi-network samples, we analyse 573 Japanese trial documents on wholesale drug importation. We test the theory that trafficking operations with higher information-processing demands exhibit more efficiency-oriented network structures, while governance-type groups avoid expanding into trade activities. Our findings support these theories, showing that networks with higher information-processing demands are more efficiency-oriented but maintain security. Conversely, smaller networks with simpler transport methods prioritise security and concealment. Additionally, the yakuza do not organisationally engage in drug trafficking; when involved, yakuza members act as independent entrepreneurs.

Global Crime Volume 25, 2024 - Issue 3-4

By Thomas Joyce

While existing research has readily applied perspectives garnered from open and closed market dealing to conceptualise darknet drug vending, this has been done without clear empirical consideration of the applicability of traditional market dealing to darknet drug vending. This research addresses this gap by considering these three forms of drug dealing in light of key typological features: motivation, environment, methods, business model, and offender profile. These features are then applied to 80 arrest cases of high-level darknet vendors to determine their applicability in understanding vendor behaviour. The results show that high-level darknet drug vendors reflect the characteristics of their highly anonymised, libertarian market, distinguishing them from traditional drug sellers.

Trends Organ Crim (2025)

By Manuel Sánchez-Pérez, María Belén Marín-Carrillo, María Dolores Illescas-Manzano & Zohair Souilim 

Despite the social, health, law enforcement, and economic importance of illegal drug supply, the lack of information and understanding regarding these supply chains stands out. This paper carries out a disaggregated analysis of the structure of the hashish supply chain from Morocco to Europe to explain the value contributions at each level, the end-price formation, and the supply chain management practices. The methodology adopted is based on a mixed method of data collection where the primary data are gathered from field interviews with cannabis producers and dealers and secondary information is obtained from official statistics, research papers, informational reports, and documentaries. We review supply and value chain frameworks through the lens of cost–benefit analysis. Our main findings show an unequal contribution on the part of the different levels of distribution, with end-user prices increasing by 7000% of the cost of production during the supply chain. The chain also has high variable costs but limited fixed ones, exacerbating the lack of stability and fostering continuous adaptation. We also detect a reluctance to raise end-user prices but a great propensity to change quality. This research may have implications for several stakeholders. In the case of dealers, we find that they have created a supply-push system thanks to their dominant power, leaning on information sharing as a source of resilience. In the case of law enforcement, we delve into the operational functioning of the drug chain and the reasons for its survival. For financial investigation operations, unknown or unrealized economic parameters are quantified. For development agencies, the need to implement alternative development programs for producers is evidenced. Finally, for health authorities, we highlight the consequences of seizures and prohibitions of hashish trafficking on the deterioration of the quality of hashish and the subsequently added health hazards for end-users.

Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10, 276 (2023)

By Janette L. Smith, Jared Brown, David Atefi, Thanjira Jiranantakan, Vanessa Shaw, Christopher Ewers, Lorraine du Toit-Prinsloo, Darren M. Roberts

Novel opioids, including non-medical and non-opium-based opioids such as fentanyl analogues and nitazenes, pose a significant risk of harm due to their high potency. There is little published data on novel opioid detections and harms in Australia, yet they are implicated in multiple deaths. This study describes the detections and harms of novel opioids in New South Wales.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted using four statewide datasets: Coronial Toxicology, the Illicit Drug Analysis Unit, the Prescription, Recreational and Illicit Substance Evaluation Program (PRISE), and the NSW Poisons Information Centre. These datasets were interrogated for available data (cases or substances seized by police) on novel opioid detections between 1 January 2019 and 31 May 2024.

Results

Overall, there were 106 novel opioid detections in 103 cases. PRISE identified 91% of clinical cases, reflecting the program's reach. Fentanyl analogues predominated until 2021, whereas nitazenes predominated from 2022. Most detections were acetylfentanyl (n = 54), followed by isotonitazene detections (n = 13). Positive detections were more frequent in urine compared to blood, supporting testing on both samples. Overall numbers were low, but they were often associated with harm, including deaths.

Discussion and Conclusions

We anticipate that these data underestimate the harms from novel opioids; for example, these drugs are not being tested routinely in laboratory testing of biological samples, and not all police seizures are analysed. A change in the predominant novel opioid was observed during the study period. Enhancing systems for readiness to detect and respond to novel opioids is vital, including resourcing laboratories.

Drug Alcohol Rev. 2025;1–11

By Plan International

The result of collaboration between Plan International and CNN As Equals to hear directly from young women and girls about the harms they face online, how they protect themselves and how tech companies, governments, local communities and their own families should play their part in keeping them safe.1 The intention was to give young women and girls an opportunity to not only talk about their digital lives but also share what they believe is needed for a safer digital future. The research built upon the insights gained from previous Plan International and CNN As Equals work in this area. This includes Plan’s ‘The Truth Gap’ in 2021 which explored misinformation online and ‘Free to be Online' in 2020 which investigated the online harassment girls have faced, as well as the CNN As Equals series ‘Systems Error’.   

Surrey, UK: Plan International 2024. 46p.p.

By Madison Lloyd, Alice Campbell, Amie Carrington, and Janeen Baxter

Domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) is a pervasive and growing issue in Australia. Despite government-led national plans to reduce this violence in Australia, there is evidence that rates are increasing and incidences are becoming more severe. DFSV support agencies offer a range of services to support victim-survivors including targeted support to assist clients to leave violent relationships, access housing, legal and counselling support, as well as offering emotional and social support and support to recognise and define abusive and violent behaviour. 

This paper argues that these services also have the potential to lead to social change at a structural level as suggested by a reverse dominance coalition framework. 

Inequalities persist when they are normalised and celebrated by society. 'Reverse dominance coalitions' make cultural change possible by establishing large collectives of people who speak out in solidarity, develop alliances and collectively establish expectations of equality.

Data from interviews of victim-survivors is used to illustrate the applicability of the reverse dominance coalition framework to DFSV support services. 

The paper finds that the framework offers a means of understanding how support at an individual level to victim-survivors also has broader transformative power to change societal awareness, attitudes and responses. It concludes that DFSV agencies not only assist DFSV victims to recover and heal but also play a leadership role in promoting broader changes at the community, policy and societal level. 

Life Course Centre Working Paper Series No. 2025-14

Sydney: The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course , 2025. 30p

By Anthony Morgan and Alexandra Voce

Espionage has become one of the most significant national security threats to Australia, impacting government, businesses and the university sector. The highly secretive nature of espionage makes it extremely difficult to measure. In this study we estimated, for the first time, the actual and prevented costs of espionage. Building on the Australian Institute of Criminology’s method for measuring the costs of serious and organised crime, we estimated the mitigation and response costs and the direct costs of espionage impacting Australia. We also estimated the preventable costs associated with a number of possible scenarios. The numbers are conservative and an underestimate of the true cost, given the challenges in identifying and measuring espionage activity and its consequences.

In 2023–24, espionage cost Australia at least $12.5 billion. This includes the direct costs of the consequences of known or probable espionage activity – primarily losses due to state or state-sponsored cyber attacks, insider threats and intellectual property theft – as well as the public and private sector response, remediation and mitigation costs. There are also tens of billions in additional costs that Australia may have prevented by countering potential espionage. For example, in just one week, a single incident of espionage-enabled sabotage from a large-scale cyber attack could cost the Australian economy nearly $6 billion. These prevented costs are significant, and highlight the importance and benefit of investing in efforts to reduce the threat of espionage and minimise the harm in high-risk settings.

Special reports. Bi, 21

Canberra: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. 2025. 52p.

By Bridget Harris and Delanie Woodlock

This research explores experiences of technology-facilitated abuse among women living with intellectual or cognitive disability. The findings are based on interviews with women with intellectual or cognitive disability and frontline workers who provide support services.

This research was commissioned to address major gaps in the evidence about technology-facilitated abuse against women with intellectual or cognitive disability.

The report reveals that the tactics used for technology-facilitated abuse of women with intellectual or cognitive disability are like those faced by all women, but there are some unique differences.

Key recommendations:

• The research participants were eager to learn about safer ways to use technology and would like accessible information to be available, such as visual guides and documents in Easy Read formats.

• The frontline workers recommended an integrated approach between the domestic and family violence sector, the disability sector and the justice system, to improve service provision.

Canberra; Office of the eSafety Commissioner, 2021. 61p.

In 2024, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner gave their first periodic notices on child sexual exploitation and abuse material and activity (CSEA) to eight online service providers: Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp.

These providers are required to respond to the questions in eSafety’s notice every six months commencing 15 June 2024 for a total period of 24 months. This report contains a summary of each of the providers' responses and shines a light on online industry action against child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Key findings

• Despite the availability of technology to help detect child sexual exploitation and abuse livestreaming or video calls, no providers were using it on all parts of their service(s).

• While most services were using tools to detect new CSEA, some were not.

• While most services provided user reporting options and stated they responded to user reports in a reasonable amount of time, there were some providers who took much longer.

• While most providers were using hash-matching on their services (other than end-to-end encrypted services or parts of services) not all services were using this tool.

• There are tools, such as language analysis tools, that services can use to detect sexual extortion and stop this criminal activity, but not all of them were using these tools and not all tools were calibrated to keep users of all ages safe.

Canberra: Office of the eSafety Commissioner, 2025. 156p.

By Peta Malins and Lauren Caulfield

Harm in the Name of Safety is a damning research report into the harms enacted in the course of  family violence policing, released today by the Beyond Survival Project, Flat Out and RMIT University.

The research documents evidence from 225 Victorian frontline workers about their experiences of police responses to family violence. It finds that harmful family violence policing practices are extremely frequent and widespread across the state, and that alternative community-based response pathways for victim-survivors are urgently needed.

The report details extensive examples of police minimising and dismissing family violence, engaging in racially targeted, sexist and discriminatory police practices, colluding with perpetrators in ways that extend violence and abuse, and misidentifying victim-survivors as perpetrators.

Melbourne: Flat Out Inc.2025. 111p.

By Isabella Voce Anthony Morgan

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released the Cybercrime in Australia 2024 Statistical Report. This latest report outlines the results from the second annual Australian Cybercrime Survey, which is the largest regular survey of the Australian community about different forms of cybercrime and provides important data on cybercrime victimisation, help-seeking and harms among Australian computer users.Nearly half of all respondents to the survey were a victim of at least one type of cybercrime in the 12 months prior to the survey. Twenty-seven percent of respondents had been a victim of online abuse and harassment, 20.6 percent had been a victim of malware, 21.9 percent had been a victim of identity crime and misuse, and 9.5 percent had been a victim of fraud and scams.The prevalence of online abuse and harassment, malware and fraud and scams victimisation was lower among 2024 respondents than in the previous survey. There was also a significant decrease in data breaches. Respondents were less likely in 2024 than in 2023 to say they were using various online safety strategies, and there was little change in the prevalence of high-risk online behaviours. And more victims were negatively impacted by cybercrime, particularly for social and health related harms. The report provides important evidence of the scale and impact of cybercrime on Australian computer users and where to target efforts to help build community resilience to cybercrime. 

 Statistical Report no. 53. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2025. 118p

By Emma Ziersch, Shawn Sowerbutts, Yilma Woldgabreal, Sophie Ransom

The Violence Risk Scale (VRS) is a risk assessment tool designed to assess and predict risk of future offending, inform decisions around therapeutic intervention and measure changes in violence risk as a result of treatment. While the tool has been used extensively both internationally and in Australia, its applicability to our Australian population is unclear.This study investigated the discriminative and predictive validity of the VRS for Australian Aboriginal and non-Indigenous males convicted of violent offending in multiple jurisdictions. The VRS total score had moderate discriminative accuracy for violent reoffending at five-year follow-up. However, Aboriginal males were significantly more likely to be categorised as high risk, and additional discrimination measures revealed variation in performance between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous males. Implications of the findings for correctional practice and recommendations to reduce bias in the assessment of Aboriginal offenders are discussed.

Research Report no. 34.  Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2025. 66p

By Reena Sarkar, Maaike Moller, and Lyndal Bugeja

This Australian study examined the frequency and clinical signs of neck injury among domestic and family violence (DFV) patients reporting strangulation in Victorian police regions and the forensic service response during a physical and/or sexual assault. The study compared the characteristics between patients with/without clinical signs of neck injury and between physical and sexual assault where a forensic practitioner performed a medical examination. Of 522 eligible patients of physical and/or sexual assault, 84 (16 %) self-reported strangulation. Amongst the 84 patients, 63 had complete forensic examination data. Of the 63 examinations, 38 were for physical assaults and 25 for sexual assaults. Observable neck injury was reported in 75 %. About half of the patients undergoing forensic examinations displayed neck injuries specific to non-fatal strangulation. Danger-to-life assessment, substance abuse, comorbidities, and previous domestic violence were comprehensively reported. This study suggests that observable neck injuries are associated with self-reported strangulation. The findings will inform policy, and response services, about the features of nonfatal strangulation in DFV in Victoria.

Forensic Science International Volume 374, September 2025, 112533  

By  The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

Report 24 of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program is based on data collected in August (capital city and regional sites) and October 2024 (capital city sites only). Sixty-one wastewater treatment plants participated nationwide, covering approximately 57% of the population. This provides a comprehensive picture of Australia’s illicit drug markets and drug consumption habits for 12 substances. Report 24 also provides data for the 8th year of the program, allowing for comparisons with previous years.

Findings

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has commissioned The University of Queensland, and through it the University of South Australia, to undertake the data collection and analysis that underpins the report.This latest report reveals that 22.2 tonnes of methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA was consumed between August 2023 and August 2024. This is a 34% increase from the previous year, driven by record high consumption of all 4 drugs. 

Longitudinal figures

Longitudinal figures are available for each state and territory and broken down by drug type. These figures offer a guide to trends over the period the respective drugs have been monitored by the wastewater program.

Canberra: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, 2025. 92p.

By John G. Russell

Seventeen investigations in and an undissipated miasma of suspicion continues to envelop Donald J. Trump. And yet, if his defenders are to be believed, the actions which prompted those investigations are neither technically crimes nor even impeachable offenses. Meanwhile, a U.S. district judge has condemned Michael Flynn’s behavior as “treasonous” and Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison, but their boss remains free to stalk the halls of power unimpeded, as America hurtles from one “constitutional crisis” to another.

January 3, 2019 In articles 2015,Leading Article |, 4p.

By Jack Kelly 

The aim of this research is to inform crime prevention and planning policy development by using an institutional perspective to understand why and how local governments in New South Wales have adopted Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles into their local planning policies. By both reviewing the literature on the effectiveness of CPTED in reducing crime and the current crop of Development Control Plans (DCP) in New South Wales which have incorporated CPTED, the research will reveal that there is limited empirical evidence to support the assertion that CPTED reduces crime, and that local government needs to adopt a more integrated and contextual approach to embedding CPTED into their policies. From this perspective, the inclusion of CPTED principles in local planning is argued to be counterproductive to a more comprehensive and effective response and eventually results in additional time and cost to the decision. This is in the context that assessment decisions are now being made within tighter approval times. It will be argued that the planning system has a stog tede to adopt ookook o uik fies to poles ithout osideig the overall effectiveness of the philosophy.

The University of Sydney, 13/11/2015, 87p.

By Ian Ayres, Joseph Bankman, & Daniel J. Hemel

The negative moral emotions of guilt and shame impose real social costs but also create opportunities for policymakers to engender compliance with legal rules in a cost-effective manner. We present a unified model of guilt and shame that demonstrates how legal policymakers can harness negative moral emotions to increase social welfare. The prospect of guilt and shame can deter individuals from violating moral norms and legal rules, thereby substituting for the expense of state enforcement. But when legal rules and law enforcement fail to induce total compliance, guilt and shame experienced by noncompliers can increase the law’s social costs. We identify specific circumstances in which rescinding a legal rule will improve social welfare because eliminating the rule reduces the moral costs of noncompliance with the law’s command. We also identify other instances in which moral costs strengthen the case for enacting legal rules and investing additional resources in enforcement because deterrence reduces the negative emotions experienced by noncompliers. We end by exploring the implications of our framework for legal policy across “guilt cultures” and “shame cultures,” for the debate over shaming sanctions, and for other moral emotions such as resentment and virtue.

University of Chicago Law Review (forthcoming), Yale Law & Economics Research Paper, Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 601, 

By Lark Mulligan

The police murdered Alton Sterling on camera. They also murdered Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, and many others; the videos of their deaths garnered millions of views. Information about some horrors of the criminal legal system is spreading widely, yet White mainstream media outlets frequently dismiss, erase, or demonize Black, Indegenous, and People of Color (“BIPOC”) communities who protest and organize to demand justice through the abolition of or radical changes to the policing and prison systems. In response to these racist atrocities and within the broader context of criminal legal reform, activists and academics frequently craft ethical arguments such as: “Solitary confinement is immoral because it inflicts psychological and physical torture” or “Incarceration is unethical because prisons are inherently violent places.” Many ethical arguments center on the racist injustices and harm that affronts human dignity and agency caused by prisons and police. Others critique the racist and retributive ethics of “law and order” rhetoric. Each argument is well-supported by accessible data that can be found in numerous studies, books, articles, and media. However, people often erroneously dismiss these data-driven, logical, ethical reasonings as factually inaccurate, or many respond with a deeply racist ethical-legal rationale, for example: “While there may be abuses in prisons, some people need to be put in solitary or prison and deserve it because [insert classical legal rationales for punishment: deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, etc.].” Ethical and legal arguments are severely limited, however, when they lack an epistemological interrogation into the power structures that determine what qualifies as “knowledge” within the ethical-social conversation. This article demonstrates why anti-prison activists’ ethical arguments generally do not receive the due credibility and weight they deserve unless they pair critical liberatory epistemic practices with material, institutional, and social transformations. Abolitionists claiming to fight the confines of carceral epistemologies cannot merely sit back and point out the already-existing logical contradictions in the criminal legal system—it is not enough.

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice, Vol. 27 [2025], No. 2, Art. 1

By Brian Taehyuk Keum,  Lianne Wong & Jung Yun Na

Social media is a major vehicle that can facilitate people’s exposure to gun violence and polarized attitudes that favor gun ownership, yet little research has examined how such exposure affects people’s mental health in today’s digital era. To advance empirical research in this area, the current study developed the Gun Violence on Social Media Scale (GVSMS) using best practices in measure development. Items were developed via a literature review, a survey of social media platforms, and an expert review. Exploratory (N = 277) and confirmatory (N = 241) factor analyses yielded a 2-factor structure with the following subscales: (a) Gun Violence Content (4 items); mediated exposure to gun violence through social media content, and (b) Pro-Gun Attitudes (3 items); exposure to polarized pro-gun attitudes on social media. The initial psychometric properties of the GVSMS were adequate. Internal consistency estimates were adequate, and construct validity was established with positive associations with other gun-related measures, negative mental health outcomes (depressive, anxiety and trauma symptoms), and non-significant associations with impression management. Implications for research practice are discussed.

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma