By Hannah Rose and Paula-Charlotte Matlach

As news of the 7 October Hamas attack reached social media, online hate began to surge before official accounts could provide clear details. This report identifies and analyses both antisemitic and anti-Muslim narratives about the conflict, using automated hate speech detection software to track trends over time in YouTube comments. This analysis identifies the themes and sub-themes which comprised and drove the surge of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate between October and December 2023. It aims to both evidence the targeting of communities on mainstream platforms, and inform countermeasures, ranging from government and law enforcement strategies to civil society interventions.   

Amman Berlin London Paris Washington DC Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), 2024. 18p.

By Mary Catherine Roper and Solomon Furious Worlds

The purpose of this policy paper is to document how the city of Philadelphia has evolved its policies regarding the use of stop-and-frisk by city police since the 2011 settlement agreement in Bailey v. City of Philadelphia. Stop-and-frisk (also known as a Terry stop) is a tactic used by police with the stated intention of finding dangerous weapons and preventing violent crime. According to Fourth Amendment law, if an officer has reasonable suspicion to believe that a particular person might have committed a crime or is about to commit a crime, the officer can “stop” them. Similarly, if an officer has reasonable suspicion that that particular person has a weapon after they are stopped, the officer can “frisk” them or conduct a pat-down search on the outside of their clothes without having to obtain a warrant from a judge. In 2010, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, a professor from Penn Law School, and Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, LLP, a civil rights law firm, filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of Plaintiffs (a number of Black and Latine Philadelphians) against the city for Philadelphia Police Department’s (“PPD”) officers’ illegal and racially disproportionate use of stop-and-frisk. Less than a year later, the city and the Plaintiffs reached a settlement agreement. Under that agreement, the city and PPD agreed to reduce the number of unlawful stops and frisks to, eventually, comply with the standard set by Fourth Amendment law. The city and PPD also agreed that they would not allow officers to target people on the basis of race with stop-and-frisk and would, eventually, comply with the Fourteenth Amendment’s mandate for equal treatment under the law. The fact that the court is still monitoring the Consent Decree means that the city, PPD, and their officers are still using stop-and-frisk without having reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or that the person is armed and dangerous, and it means that PPD’s officers are still stopping Black and Latino people at disproportionately high rates that cannot be explained by factors other than race. In reality, stop-and-frisk very rarely leads to the discovery of a weapon. At the height of PPD’s use of stop-and-frisk, in the first half of 2011, guns were recovered in less than 0.1 percent of the stops. Additionally, in the same time period, more than half of stops and more than half of frisks conducted were illegal, meaning police did not have reasonable suspicion to support their stops or frisks. With the policy and training changes required by the consent decree, the percentage of illegal stops and frisks dropped dramatically to 12.8% and 17.8%, respectively, by 2023. Still, the rate at which PPD recovered guns remained low with only about 6% of stops and 8.6% of frisks resulting in officers finding guns (and both percentages include illegal stops and frisks). In addition to being ineffective, stop-and-frisk was spawned from the same racist history as our criminal legal system and so it is plagued by the same race-related issues. Black and Latine people are stopped at a much higher rate than white people. This can lead to unnecessary and dangerous interactions with police that have the potential to quickly spiral into a violent confrontation. By 2020, the overall number of stops recorded by police had dropped significantly; however, the racial disparities remained nearly unchanged. In the tenth year of litigation, data showed that Black people were over 50% more likely to be stopped without reasonable suspicion and over 40% more likely to be frisked without reasonable suspicion than white people. This led the city to finally acknowledge that these disparities could not be explained other than as racial targeting. This admission led the court to order the city to consider remedies to address the racial disparities. The city’s own expert conceded that race was the most significant factor to determine whether someone is likely to be stopped. Because of this, the court ordered the city to implement something bold: the Quality of Life Pilot Program (“program”). Under this new program, PPD officers are supposed to instruct someone engaged in a number of minor offenses (called “quality of life offenses”) to stop doing the illegal activity without formally using stop-and-frisk. The program started in one police district but is now city-wide. That means PPD officers are supposed to verbally warn someone to stop doing whatever the minor offense1 is before using stop-and-frisk. The hope was that by reducing officers’ use of stop-and frisk on people engaged in non-violent, low-level unlawful conduct, officers would reduce the number of illegal uses of stop-and-frisk and lessen the racial disparity in their use of stop-and-frisk. As PPD officers have reduced the overall number of stops as a result of the program, the percentage of illegal stops has dropped and the percentage of stops that uncover a dangerous weapon has increased. This is a success both in cutting down on unnecessary police interactions with the public and in improving the impact that legal stops have had on increasing public safety. It is clear that reducing the instances of police using stop-and-frisk for minor offenses allows 1 Those minor “quality of life” offenses include: sounds from residential properties, sounds created on public right of way, spitting, al coholic beverages (open containers), public urination or defecation, aggressive conduct on sidewalk (panhandling), gambling, disorder ly conduct, obstructing the highway or other passageway, defiant trespass, litter in public places, litter in parks, smoking marijuana in a public space, sound production devices (loud music from cars), and prostitution. officers to focus on more serious crime and significantly increases the percentage of stops that recover dangerous weapons. More stops decreases the impact that police have on improving public safety. In 2024, with the inauguration of Mayor Cherelle Parker and a change of leadership at PPD, there has been a clear shift in the rhetoric city leadership uses when talking about the use of stop-and-frisk. To them, it seems more stops-and frisks means more effective policing. But research and Philadelphia-specific experience shows that is not true. Of course, PPD under the Parker Administration could increase the use of stop-and frisk without violating Bailey court orders. But doing so would be a mistake. Increasing even legal stops goes against the clear lessons learned from the changes made to stop-and-frisk in recent years and will make Philadelphia less safe, and policing in Philadelphia more racist. This policy paper will serve as a starting point for a renewed conversation with the Parker Administration and PPD leadership about stop-and-frisk.. The program that reduced the use of stop-and-frisk for minor offenses improves public safety while continuing to reduce unjustified stops. Critically, it also monitors and seeks to address the persistent racial disparities in pedestrian stops and frisks. 

Philadelphia: ACLU Pennsylvania, 2024. 22p.

By Logan Seacrest

Over the past two decades, community violence intervention (CVI) has emerged as an important violence prevention strategy. CVI programs rely on credible messengers to mediate disputes, conduct focused deterrence, provide service referral, and, most importantly, build genuine relationships with individuals at risk of experiencing violence. By treating violence as a public health problem, CVI programs represent a paradigm shift in protecting vulnerable communities. They remove law enforcement from the equation entirely, going beyond the familiar “limited government solution” framework to one that could be more accurately described as a “no government solution.” Policymakers and community leaders across the country need the latest information on this promising, non-law enforcement approach to youth violence. Fortunately, in the past five years, a new generation of youth-focused pilot programs has added to the growing body of evidence demonstrating that CVI programs can help juveniles as well as adults. This paper presents evidence covering CVI’s history, theoretical framework, operating models, program evaluations, challenges, and policy implications and concludes with recommendations. 

 R  Street Policy Study No. 305  

Washington, DC: R Street, 2024. 17p.

By Paula Harriott, Soruche Saajedi, Femi Laryea-Adekimi, Marc Conway, Daniel Francis,  Lucy Wainwright

While race and ethnicity have long been a feature within criminal justice debate, the Black Lives Matter protests and the reaction that followed, sharpened the focus on dignity, fairness, respect and decency for those from ethnic minorities living (and working) in the criminal justice system. Prisoner Policy Network members have often raised the issue of race and ethnicity in discussion groups and correspondences. Their interest in the subject – and concerns they have expressed in responses to previous consultations – led us to engage the Prisoner Policy Network (PPN) more fully and methodically in the conversation. In this national consultation, we sought to capture the perspectives of current serving prisoners and former prisoners and their families on race and ethnicity, to understand how their own ethnicity had impacted on their time in prison, and to explore any further views on racial equality or discrimination in the system. We also discussed the topic with a small number of prison staff. Our intention with this report was to seek to influence Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service policy teams working on Diversity and Inclusion planning, with a specific focus on race and ethnicity and to stimulate positive action in responding to this consultation report. 

London: Prison Reform Trust, 2024. 31p.

By Don Weatherburn, Michael Doyle, Tegan Weatherall, Joanna Wang

The Australian Indigenous imprisonment rate is currently 16.7 times the non-Indigenous imprisonment rate. The leading proximate cause of this over-representation is a high rate of Indigenous arrest.

In this report, the authors develop and test a model of Indigenous arrest in which the primary drivers of risk are substance use, stress and trauma, adverse social environment, exposure to arrest, human/economic/social capital, and state/territory of residence. They test the model using data from the 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey. The strongest risk factors are alcohol and other drug use and having a high or very high level of psychological distress. The strongest protective factors are completing school, having an income in the top four deciles, and having a permanent home.

AIC Research Report 32

Canberra: 

Australian Institute of Criminology    2024. 50p.

By Don Weatherburn, Michael Doyle, Teagan Weatherall and Joanna Wang

This study examines the correlates of First Nations contact with the criminal justice system. Key risk factors include membership of the stolen generation, psychological distress, and having used illicit drugs and alcohol over the preceding 12 months. The latter increases the marginal risk of arrest by 14 percentage points. The strongest protective factors are completing school, having an income in the top four deciles, having a permanent home, being aged 51 or over and living in a remote area. Completing school is the strongest protective factor, reducing the risk of arrest by eight percentage points. Further research using a longitudinal dataset specifically designed to identify causal effects is required.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 694.

 Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2024. 22p.

By  DeFacto Consultancy

This report has been prepared with two primary objectives. The first is to examine how the media in Montenegro report on gender-based violence (GBV) through the analysis of a sample of 2,661 media reports and to what extent they adhere to the principles of journalistic professionalism and ethical reporting. The second objective is to employ an innovative experimental method to assess the extent and nature of the influence that media reporting on this subject exerts on citizens’ attitudes, opinions, and subsequent behaviour.


 Vienna: 

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

  OSCE, 2023. 68p.

By Jedidiah L. Knode, Scott E. Wolfe, Travis M. Carter

The veil of darkness (VOD) is a practical and rigorous methodology for examining racial disparities in police traffic stop behavior. Past research, however, has been littered with methodological inconsistencies inhibiting cross-study comparison and decisions regarding policy. Accordingly, we clarify four aspects of its implementation: 1) coding daylight, our treatment condition; 2) constructing an intertwilight period; 3) accounting for seasonal differences in driving or patrol patterns; and 4) modeling VOD multivariable regression equations. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of methodological decisions as they pertain to the method's functionality as a natural experiment. Furthermore, we propose a novel weighting procedure to account for seasonal driving population differences. We examined more than 50,000 traffic stops conducted by Michigan State Police during 2021 to demonstrate our suggested framework for future analyses.

Criminology, early view,  May 2024.

By John Briere, Marsha Runtz, Keara Rodd

n contrast to adults, there is considerably less research on childhood or adolescent exposure to sexual harassment (CAESH), its lasting psychological correlates, and whether such experiences should be included in definitions of childhood sexual abuse. The current study examined the prevalence and symptomatic sequels of unwanted flirting, being “checked out” sexually, unwanted sexual attention, sexual comments, propositions, and related noncontact behaviors that occurred before age 18, as well as the multivariate relationship between CAESH and contact child sexual abuse (C-CSA) in a diverse online sample of 528 individuals. CAESH was very common, with over 95% of women and 64% of men reporting at least one experience of noncontact sexual harassment before age 18. When childhood sexual abuse was operationalized as the presence of either C-CSA or a total CAESH score of 18 or higher (corresponding to an average score of “3–5 times” prior to age 18), the prevalence was 67% for women and 26% for men, more than three times higher than C-CSA alone. This expanded definition was associated with significantly more anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress relative to C-CSA alone. These results suggest that CAESH is a significant source of symptoms in adults and support the emerging perspective that childhood sexual abuse may be best understood as including both contact and noncontact events.

By  Rebecca L. Crookes, Carlo Tramontano, […], and Hayley Wright, et al.

 A new report from the FairChecks campaign compares what appears on criminal record checks in England and Wales and five US states: California, Connecticut, Utah, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. The information listed on criminal record checks depends on the type of offence someone has committed and the type of check a job is eligible for. Therefore, to get a clear and comparable view of each system, researchers explored the criminal record implications of five specific scenarios in each jurisdiction.

Sexual Abuse, Volume 34, Issue 3, April 2022, Pages 341-371

By Eric.S. Janus

  How can it be that in the era in which almost one million Americans are on sex offender registries—most of whom are publicly stigmatized on websites,

banished from their homes, shunned from their jobs, prevented from uniting with their families and traveling internationally, forced into homelessness, all of which increases their risk for suicide, and shames their spouses and children, even if their offenses occurred long in the past—that the #MeToo movement would explode, revealing widespread sexual misconduct against women, by powerful men, protected by iconic institutions? How can we have had three decades of the most aggressive, “spare-no-expense” laws ostensibly designed to prevent sexual violence and, at the same time, observe the widespread failure of law enforcement agencies to take the simple step of analyzing sexual assault kits, as a first step in the investigation of allegations of sexual abuse? How can these phenomena co-exist? This Article argues that this incongruity is not an ironic coincidence, but rather a flaw that goes to the heart of our contemporary approach to sexual violence prevention. This flaw has, at its core, an almost obsessive focus on recidivistic sexual violence. Understanding this central characteristic will illuminate a framework for an alternative approach to our public policy on sexual violence, one in which the prevention of recidivism plays but a small role in a more comprehensive approach to sexual violence and its place in our culture.    

  103 Marq. L. Rev. 819 (2020). 

By Johan Lidberg, Sofia Berne, Ann Frisén

The aim of this study was to explore how resilience is manifested in the experiences of emerging adults who were subjected to bullying victimization in school and have high levels of psychological functioning in emerging adulthood.

Methods

Fifteen Swedish emerging adults (Mage = 29.13, SD = 0.52) who, despite experiences of bullying victimization at age 10, had high levels of psychological functioning as emerging adults were interviewed. The interviews focused on experiences of bullying victimization and the long-term outcomes of these experiences. Qualitative methods were used in the analysis, with a specific focus on resilience.

Results/Conclusion

The findings illustrate how long-term outcomes of bullying victimization in school, in relation to resilience, comprise a dynamic process between personal agency and social resources in the environmental context.

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2024DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12999

By The Center for Countering Digital Hate

   Social media platforms have changed the way we communicate, build and maintain relationships, set social standards, and negotiate and assert our society’s values. In the process, they have become safe spaces for the spread of hate, conspiracy theories and disinformation. Social media companies erode basic human rights and civil liberties by enabling the spread of online hate and disinformation. At CCDH, we have developed a deep understanding of the online harm landscape, showing how easily hate actors and disinformation spreaders exploit the digital platforms and search engines that promote and profit from their content. We are fighting for better online spaces that promote truth, democracy, and are safe for all. Our goal is to increase the economic and reputational costs for the platforms that facilitate the spread of hate and disinformation.

   Since the appalling Hamas terrorist atrocity in Israel on October 7th, there has been a corollary surge in antisemitism across all social media platforms, and in our communities. Antisemites have always flourished online, but in recent months there has been marked growth in content ranging from subtle dog whistles to explicit and unequivocal hate speech and incitement. One arena where bad actors have endeavored to advance their antisemitic agenda has been within online groups, camouflaging their antisemitism by cynically adopting pro-Palestinian or human rights language and themes to inculcate hatred against Jewish people. This new study from CCDH started by examining the ways nefarious individuals have cynically embedded themselves in leadership positions in Facebook Groups that serve as meeting places for well-meaning people to express their solidarity with the Palestinian cause. We found that most content in these Groups primarily entailed political criticisms of the Israeli government and solidarity with Palestinian people. However, Facebook’s negligent design has made it easy for these groups to be run by antisemites who drip-feed lies and exhortations to hate and discrimination against Jews, while the platform itself fails to take responsibility for content moderation. 99% of the time, when we reported hate found in groups to Meta using the “safety tools” it loves to boast about to lawmakers, no action was taken. In its total indifference to its moral responsibility to combat hate speech, Meta has effectively handed all content moderation powers to these Group admins. Those moderators, we found, were similarly poor at acting against hate in the groups they control. Furthermore, we found evidence of coordinated activity among Group admins. When our researchers reported antisemitic posts to the admins and moderators in one Group, they were not only banned from that Group, but also from several other affiliated Facebook Groups who shared admins. This shows the emptiness of the claim that this is all about free speech and counter-speech. If those expressing opposition to antisemitism are banned, but the moderators themselves revel in spreading and tolerating antisemitism, there is no debate. It is simply a free-for-all of increasing radicalization and normalization of ever-more-dangerous lies and prejudice against Jewish people. Meta’s moderation practices are crucial information for regulators in the United Kingdom and European Union, where online safety legislation is largely dependent on social media platforms’ enforcing their  community standards and reporting on their moderation actions. This report shows that Meta is delegating content moderation duties to volunteer admins who fail to uphold the company’s terms and conditions, and by extension fail in their duties to regulators. Policymakers need to ensure independent oversight of moderation by empowering researchers through statutory data access pathways that are broadly available to civil society organizations set up to counter hate, and providing means for holding platforms accountable and economically responsible when they fail to uphold their policies and thereby impinge on the fundamental human rights to life, liberty and prosperity for our Jewish neighbors and friends.  

London; Washington, DC: The Center, 2024. 43p.

By Jennifer S. Wong, Chelsey Lee, Natalie Beck

Background

High rates of youth re-offending indicate that young custody-leavers face challenges when reintegrating into their communities. Aftercare and resettlement programs can occur pre-, during, and post-release and generally provide multiple forms of support services to address youths' transitional needs.

Objectives

The present review examines (1) the impact of youth aftercare/resettlement programs on crime-related outcomes, (2) how treatment effect is moderated by participant, program, and study characteristics, (3) whether some types of interventions are more effective than others, (4) barriers/facilitators to effective program implementation, (5) the theory of change underlying resettlement interventions, and (6) available research on intervention cost.

Search Methods

A comprehensive set of keywords and synonyms was combined in a Boolean search across 26 electronic databases. Multiple gray literature sources were also searched, including 23 journals, 4 meeting archives, 11 organization websites, 3 open access journal websites, and the CVs of 8 well-known researchers in the field. The search was completed in January 2023.

Selection Criteria

For objectives 1–3, studies were included if they utilized a randomized controlled design or quasi-experimental comparison group design in which participants were matched on at least some baseline variables and included at least one quantitative individual-measure of crime. For objective 4, included studies presented process evaluations of aftercare/reentry programs, clearly stated their research goals, and used qualitative methods in an appropriate way to answer the stated research question. For objectives 5 and 6, no specific methods were required; any study meeting the criteria for objectives 1–4 which presented findings on theory of change or cost data were included. For all outcomes, only studies conducted in a westernized country, and published after 1991 in English, French, or German were considered.

Data Collection and Analysis

Two coders conducted primary data extraction for the included studies. Data were entered into a Microsoft Excel database. After data extraction, the two coders validated the coding by cross-checking the database with each research report. Discrepancies between coders were discussed until consensus was reached. Where consensus could not be reached, a third coder was consulted. Study risk of bias was addressed using the ROBINS-I (Sterne et al., 2016), ROB-2 (Higgins et al., 2019), and the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP, 2018). Objectives 1–3 were addressed by synthesizing quantitative outcomes from rigorous impact evaluations of aftercare interventions using random effects models and meta-regression. Thematic and narrative analysis was conducted to address objectives 4–6.

Results

The search resulted in 15 impact studies, representing 4,718 participants across 21 program sites, and 35 effect sizes. The 21 impact evaluations were rated as having either low/moderate bias (k = 11) or serious bias (k = 10). The synthesis of 15 impact studies found no significant effects for arrest (k = 14; OR = 1.044, 95% prediction interval [0.527, 2.075], t = 0.335) or incarceration (k = 8, OR = 0.806, 95% prediction interval [2.203, 1.433], t = −1.674). A significant pooled effect was found for conviction (k = 13, OR = 1.209, 95% prediction interval [1.000, 1.462], t = 2.256), but results were highly sensitive to the inclusion of specific studies. No meaningful pattern of results emerged in moderator analyses with respect to study, sample, program component, or program delivery characteristics. The 19 process studies were rated as either high quality (k = 12) or moderate quality (k = 7). Thematic synthesis of the process evaluations revealed 15 themes related to the strengths/challenges of program implementation. The assessment of program cost (k = 7) determined a lack of data within the literature, preventing any summative analysis.

Authors' Conclusions

Current evidence is promising with respect to conviction outcomes but overall does not find that aftercare/resettlement interventions have a reliably positive impact on crime-related outcomes for young people who have offended. High variability across outcomes and reported data resulted in small sample sizes per outcome and limited moderator analyses. Multiple challenges for program implementation exist; additional rigorous research is sorely needed to further investigate the nuances of the program effects

Campbell Systematic Reviews
Volume 20, Issue 2

June 2024

By Lorena Roque and Sapna Mehta

The Department of Labor (DOL) found that child labor violations increased in 2023: 5,800 children were employed in violation of labor law, an increase of 14 percent from the previous year and 88 percent from 2019. But this likely underestimates the prevalence of child labor across the United States, as the DOL only highlights cases known to the government and many uses of child labor go unreported.

While corporations cite “tight labor markets” and “a labor shortage” as reasons for using child labor, the more accurate reason seems to be that it increases corporations’ profit margins. Children and their families are unlikely to be aware of child labor rights or resources available to report child labor violations. In addition, children and youth from families with low incomes often experience pressure to work to support themselves and their families, increasing their likelihood to be exploited by employers.

Migrant children are significantly more vulnerable to dangerous forms of child labor. An estimated 130,000 unaccompanied minors entered the United States, with 66 percent of all unaccompanied migrant children working full-time in 2022. Children who migrate to the United States are often pressured to work in order to send remittances to their family in their home country, pay off smugglers, or help support themselves. Unaccompanied migrant children are also waiting for their immigration case to be resolved, which means they are unable to access work authorization or federal support programs due to their lack of immigration status. Research shows that unaccompanied children who are connected to lawyers and social workers are better able to navigate the legal process and integrate into their new communities, including obtaining work authorization, immigration status, and critical services like health care. Therefore, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) needs to direct more resources to legal counsel and post-release services for unaccompanied migrant children.

Child labor has had a long history in farmwork in the United States due to the original Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA), which excluded protections for all workers in the farmwork, agriculture, and domestic industries–including minimum wage, Social Security benefits, and overtime compensation. These exclusions disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic workers who were overrepresented in agricultural work and were intentional by design. These jobs were some of the only ones that Black and Hispanic people were allowed to have after the Great Migration. As of 2020, 78 percent of all farm workers identified as being a part of the Hispanic community.

Even today, the FLSA has a different set of standards for youth employment for workers in the agricultural sector. For example, youth must be 14 years old to hold a nonagricultural position, while youth 12 and under can work in agriculture if a parent has given written permission and if the farm is not required to pay the federal minimum wage.

In recent years there have been several deeply researched media reports on child labor. A 2023 New York Times investigative report showed the precarious working conditions migrant children endure. In July 2023, the death of a 16-year-old boy in a Mississippi poultry plant that had experienced previous fatalities drew wide coverage.11 This heightened coverage has drawn Congressional attention to the growing problem of child labor.

Astonishingly, since 2021, many state governments have encouraged the use of child labor, with at least 28 states proposing or enacting laws that loosen child labor protections.12 Arkansas enacted legislation that eliminated age verification for child labor as well as parent or guardian permission requirements, while Iowa lowered the minimum age of child care workers.

As states continue to enact laws and child labor standards that are more dangerous and negligent than the FLSA, federal legislation should prioritize child labor protections by ensuring that companies are held accountable at every step of the supply chain. This legislation should also include staffing agencies and independent contractors to ensure that all companies employing children in hazardous workplaces are held accountable for their actions.

At the federal level, policymakers have introduced several bills to address child labor, including some with bipartisan support. U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the Preventing Child Labor Exploitation Act. This bill would combat child labor by preventing the U.S. government from signing contracts with companies that violated child labor laws or those that do business with third-party vendors that fail to address child labor infractions. The Stop Child Labor Act, introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Todd Young (R-IN), would establish new criminal penalties for repeat violations of child labor laws and increase civil penalties to a minimum penalty of $5,000 per child labor violation. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Patty Murray (D-WA), along with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3), introduced the Children Harmed in Life-Threatened or Dangerous (CHILD) Labor Act, which would increase civil penalties for child labor violations to at least $11,000 and would also increase transparency by authorizing the Secretary of Labor to add warning labels to goods manufactured with oppressive child labor and issue a stop order to any individual who is in violation of child labor provisions.

It is also necessary to close the child labor loopholes between agriculture work and non-agricultural work. The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act), introduced by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D CA) would bring age and work hour standards for children working in farmwork and agriculture to the labor standards of all other labor industries.

Washington, DC: CLASP, 2024. 5p.

By Gwendolyn Chang, Joseph D. Tucker , Kate Walker, Claire Chu, Naomi Miall, Rayner K. J. Tan, Dan Wu

Intimate partner violence (IPV) may have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Middle-aged and older adults, ages 45 years or older, are at higher risk of COVID-19 mortality and social isolation. However, most studies on IPV during the pandemic do not focus on this important subpopulation. Informed by the social-ecological theory, this study examines individual, household, community, and country-level correlates of IPV among middle-aged and older adults in multiple countries using a cross-sectional online survey. Data from 2867 participants aged 45 or older in the International Sexual Health and Reproductive Health (I-SHARE) survey from July 2020 to February 2021 were described using univariate analysis. IPV was defined using four validated WHO measures. Individual characteristics included self-isolation and food security. At the country-level, we examined social distancing stringency. Logistic regression models with a random intercept for country were conducted to explore IPV correlates among 1730 eligible individuals from 20 countries with complete data. Most participants were heterosexual (2469/2867), cisgender (2531/2867) females (1589/2867) between the ages of 45–54 (1539/2867). 12.1% (346/2867) of participants experienced IPV during social distancing measures. After adjustment, participants who self-isolated experienced 1.4 (95% CI 1.0, 2.0, p = 0.04) times the odds of IPV compared to those who had not isolated. Those who reported an increase in food insecurity compared to pre-pandemic experienced 2.2 times the odds (95% CI 1.6, 3.0, p<0.0001) of IPV compared to those who did not report increased food insecurity. People in countries with more stringent social distancing policies were less likely to experience IPV compared to people in countries with lower levels of stringency (aOR = 0.6, 95% CI 0.4, 0.9, p = 0.04). IPV was common among middle-aged and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data suggest the need for further crisis management and social protection measures for middle-aged and older adults who have intersecting vulnerabilities to IPV to mitigate COVID-19 impact

PLOS Glob Public Health 4(5): e0002500.

By Phillip B. Levine, Robin McKnight

his paper examines the impact of high-fatality school shootings on the subsequent outcomes of the survivors of those events. We focus specifically on the shootings at Columbine High School (Littleton, CO), Sandy Hook Elementary (Newtown, CT), and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, FL). We assess the subsequent educational record, including attendance and test scores, and the long-term health consequences of surviving students. In all analyses, we treat the timing and location of these events as random, enabling us to identify causal effects. Our results indicate that these high-fatality school shootings led to substantial reductions in attendance and test scores. These educational effects appear to be larger than the effects of shootings with fewer fatalities estimated by others. Children who survived the Columbine shooting were more likely to die by age 30, particularly among boys. They experienced higher levels of suicide and accidental poisonings (overdoses).

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, First published: 23 February 2024

By Delvin Davis; Southern Poverty Law Center

Alabama has a long history of incarcerating Black children. For generations, the state has overly criminalized Black youth, pushing them out of school without due process and penalizing them more harshly than their white counterparts. Today, youth incarceration has also evolved into a lucrative business venture in Alabama. For-profit youth detention facilities have been repeatedly exposed for rampant abuse, while cutting corners to maximize financial profit. Overall, Alabama’s approach to youth justice has produced persistent racial disparities and a system that is more expensive than it is rehabilitative. This report examines the state’s youth legal system and offers policy recommendations for reform. Alabama’s youth legal system overemphasizes incarceration, even though youth crime rates have declined for decades. •  Contrary to the “superpredator” myth that predicted a sharp increase in youth crime, youth arrest rates decreased by 80%  in the U.S. and 86% in Alabama from 2000 to 2020. •  Alabama has the eighth-highest youth incarceration rate in the nation as of 2021. 4 Alabama’s school-to-prison pipeline and youth incarceration disproportionately impact  Black children. •  A Black student is suspended from Alabama schools every 15 minutes – leading to the sixth-highest suspension and expulsion rates in the country. •  Black children are more likely to be suspended from school than their white counterparts, even when committing similar offenses. •  Alabama’s schools are more likely to refer Black boys with disabilities to law enforcement than any other group of students. Alabama’s youth detention facilities – especially ones run for profit – have proven to be dangerously abusive to youth and expensive for taxpayers. •  Incarcerated youth experience harm from excessive solitary confinement, physical and sexual abuse, and educational disruption – all contributing to recidivism. •  Incarcerating a young person in Alabama for one year in a public facility ($161,694) or private facility ($120,450) is more expensive than the annual cost to educate that child in Alabama public schools ($12,092), fund community-based programs ($20,075), and pay for attendance at the University of Alabama and Auburn University combined Policy reforms for Alabama should prioritize youth rehabilitation, disruption of the school-to-prison pipeline, and investment in the successful futures  of children. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s recommendations: 1.  Alabama should end exclusionary and punitive discipline as an arbitrary, routine practice and require that local school boards create due process protections against long-term suspensions and expulsions. 2.  Alabama should discontinue the use of privately owned for-profit youth incarceration facilities. 3.  Alabama should make nonviolent offenses, especially technical violations and nonviolent drug offenses, nonjailable offenses for youth. 4.  Alabama should raise the minimum age of youth incarceration and prosecution in the state from 11 to at least 14. 5.  Alabama should invest in communitybased alternatives to youth incarceration, and school-based policies that prioritize rehabilitation and services to support children’s needs.

Montgomery, Ala.: Southern Poverty Law Center, 2024. 26p. 

By John Howard Society of Ontario, Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness

No Fixed Address: The Intersections of Justice Involvement and Homelessness represents the first phase of a new research endeavor conducted by the John Howard Society of Ontario in partnership with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation. This report explores the vicious cycle of justice involvement and homelessness. People involved with the justice system are at an increased risk of becoming homeless, while people living with homelessness are at an increased risk of incarceration. There are various systemic barriers that serve to trap people in this cycle of homelessness and justice involvement, preventing reintegration into society after incarceration. This report also analyzed over a decade’s worth of data on admissions to Ontario’s correctional institutions for people with No Fixed Address. The findings suggest that the number of admissions of people with No Fixed Address has increased over the past decade. Furthermore, the problems are worse for some people than it is for others. It is clear that changes to policy and practices are required to prevent more people from becoming trapped in this cycle.

John Howard Society of Ontario, Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, 2022. 58p.

By Rachel Cox

This paper looks at the implications of addressing gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) under a work health and safety (WHS) framework. It describes the characteristics of gender-responsive WHS approaches to prevention of violence and harassment, in particular with respect to risk assessment and other WHS prevention mechanisms. Integration of rights and obligations under equality and non-discrimination legislation and WHS legislation are considered, specifically with respect to responses to GBVH within organisations and access to remedies for workers who have been harmed by such behaviour. Parallel prevention duties incumbent on organisations are also considered.

The paper concludes that addressing GBVH under a WHS framework allows for proactive, systematic, collective, inclusive and publicly-enforceable approaches to prevention. As such, WHS regimes have the potential to offer the kind of progressive and transformational change needed to prevent GBVH at work and ensure that women’s and other people’s equality rights, as well as their health and safety, are respected. However, given historical and ongoing resistance to the idea that GBVH is a work-related risk, a legal obligation to conduct a gender-responsive risk assessment emerges as an important precondition for effective prevention.

ILO Working Paper 116. 

Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2024. 55p.