By The International Justice Mission

The UK Government is among the world leaders in combatting various forms of OSEC both at home and abroad. Some of those significant contributions include: • Launching the WePROTECT Global Alliance; • Providing, through the National Crime Agency (NCA), equipment, training, case referrals, and other partnership to Philippine law enforcement as a founding member of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC); • Investing £40 million in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children; • Safeguarding 8,329 children and arresting 7,212 perpetrators in relation to online child sexual abuse (during a 12-month period ending March 2020); and • Sponsoring the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and publishing the Online Harms White Paper.6 Through this report, IJM aims to provide OSEC and CSEM offender case studies, analyses, and recommendations relevant to the UK’s already robust efforts to end online child sexual abuse and exploitation, including through the NCA and local police units. IJM seeks to provide the perspective of an NGO with experience dating to 2011 working “in the trenches” with Philippine Government, international law enforcement, and NGO partners, to support investigations, prosecutions, and social service delivery to survivors of livestreamed child sexual abuse and exploitation in the Philippines. IJM’s Composite Case Review found a trend of low sentences for UK offenders who paid for, directed, and consumed live sexual abuse and exploitation of Filipino children. These are not image offenders—they are remote abusers and exploiters fuelling modern slavery. An offence’s gravity is often reflected in the maximum penalty a government prescribes through legislation. UK laws against OSEC offending are serious, holding maximum penalties of 10 to 14 years imprisonment. Yet, while most of the offenders in this Review were convicted of multiple counts of serious offences, they each received a sentence less than half the maximum sentence for one count.

International Justice Mission, 2020. 72p.

By Freddie Radakin, Angie Scholes, Kien Soloman, Constance Thomas-Lacroix, Alex Davies.

This report provides an estimate of the financial and non-financial (monetised) costs relating to all children who began to experience contact sexual abuse, or who continued to experience contact sexual abuse, in England and Wales in the year ending 31st March 2019. This is estimated to be at least £10.1 billion (in 2018/19 prices). This estimate includes the costs of this cohort being victimised in previous and future years, in addition to lifetime consequences as a result of experiencing child sexual abuse (CSA). It should be noted that due to the way some costs are incurred over a victim’s lifetime this cannot be used as an annual or an in-year cost.

There are a few important things to note about this cost:

• it is mostly a ‘non-financial’ cost – that is, not all costs are directly paid by one organisation to another; some costs use notional (non-market) values which represent estimated harm in monetary terms[footnote 1]

• the estimate represents the historic and future costs associated with victims of abuse who were identified during the year ending 31st March 2019

• this estimate cannot be used as an annual cost (for example, completing an equivalent exercise for the year ending 31st March 2020 and adding these costs together would lead to double counting)

• this estimate does not include the costs associated with online and non-contact sexual abuse

London: Home Office, 2021.

By Debra Allnock, Helen Beckett, Claire Soares, Lindsay Starbuck, Camille Warrington and Joanne Walker

Whilst a significant body of literature exists on the impacts of child sexual abuse, the literature review undertaken at the outset of this study found that there is little that specifically considers the impacts of experiencing such abuse during adolescence, or the experiences and needs of those who do so. ‘Learning from the Experts’ sought to address this gap, recognising that those affected by sexual abuse in this distinct phase of development may have different needs and responses from younger children or adults experiencing similar abuse and, as such, require adapted responses. The research foregrounded the perspectives of young people, viewing them as experts on their own experiences and demonstrating young people’s skills and interest in contributing to improved responses to sexual abuse. Through a trauma-informed, participatory and collaborative approach, the research sought to provide safe and meaningful opportunities to learn from young people. This was achieved through a combination of participatory group workshops and individual interviews, followed by opportunities to feedback on emerging findings and co-create research outputs. A total of 32 young people took part in these different elements of the study, with their participation supported by ten specialist voluntary sector services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The research also involved interviews and focus groups with parents and professionals, the latter of whom also took part in stakeholder workshops on emerging findings. The design and conduct of the study was undertaken by staff from the Safer Young Lives Research Centre (SYLRC) at the University of Bedfordshire and the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH), in conjunction with four young expert youth advisors from the SYLRC’s Young Researchers’ Advisory panel. The study was funded and commissioned by the NSPCC and ESRC.

Luton: University of Bedfordshire, 2022. 89p.

By HM Government (UK)

The publication of the Rape Review in 2021 demonstrated a commitment to improving the Criminal Justice System process for victims, and to more than double the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the end of Parliament. Now, two years after its publication, we are making strong progress towards the Rape Review’s ambition to return volumes of cases being referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); charged by the CPS; and going to court, to at least 2016 levels. The data shows us that 2016 marked a key point in time where the system faltered: well-documented issues regarding the disclosure of evidence combined with strained relationships between criminal justice agencies, inconsistent support for victims, and ultimately a decline in the number of charges and prosecutions for rape cases. We have made clear our intention to continue reversing these trends. Having delivered on the vast majority of milestones set out by our Action Plan’s eight levers, we are pleased to report that we have already met two of our ambitions and remain well on-track to meet the one that remains, with a strong upward trajectory. Whilst we know that there is much more to do, this shows that our Action Plan is working.

London: HM Government, 2023. 40p.

By Haylely Boxall, Anthony Morgan, Isabella Voce and Maggie Coughlan

Despite growing recognition of the prevalence of and harms associated with adolescent family violence, our knowledge of how best to respond remains underdeveloped. This paper describes the findings from the outcome evaluation of the Adolescent Family Violence Program. The results show that the program had a positive impact on young people and their families, leading to improved parenting capacity and parent–adolescent attachment. However, there was mixed evidence of its impact on the prevalence, frequency and severity of violent behaviours. The evaluation reaffirms the importance of dedicated responses for young people who use family violence, and the potential benefits, and limits, of community-based programs.

Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 601. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2020. 18p.

By Hayley Boxall and Christopher Dowling and Anthony Morgan

Differences between male and female perpetrated domestic violence are widely acknowledged. However, there is a lack of Australian data on the circumstances of female perpetrated violence. This study analysed 153 police narratives of domestic violence incidents involving a female person of interest (POI). Results were consistent with international studies. Half of the episodes involved either self-defensive or retaliatory violence—otherwise known as violent resistance—meaning the POI had been a victim of prior violence by their partner or the episode involved a male victim who was abusive in the lead-up to the incident. Violent resistance was more common in incidents involving Indigenous women. The findings highlight the different motivations for female perpetrated domestic violence, and the importance of understanding the complex dynamics of violent episodes.

Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 584. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2020.17p.

by Hannah Jeffery, Lucy Slade, and Stephen Whitehead

Victim-survivors of domestic abuse face complex barriers at every stage of the criminal justice system. Subsequently, many withdraw from the process due to experiencing re-traumatisation, personal safety concerns and not being engaged in the process. Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts (SDACs) seek to address these complex barriers through offering a dedicated approach to processing domestic abuse cases. 

This report presents an evaluation of the Westminster Specialist Domestic Abuse Court, identifies the key elements of the SDAC model through conducting qualitative interviews with stakeholders and victim-survivors. It is hoped that these findings can be applied to the replication of the model elsewhere and develop practice in existing SDACs. 

London: Centre for Justice Innovation, 2022. 36p

By Carmen Germaine Warner.

From the Preface: Violence and the impact on its victims is nothing new to the helping professional. Specific assessment and intervention has been ad­dressed in Emergency Departments for years, but it has only been within the past decade that first responders have been challenged with the shared responsibility for the early stabilization and man­agement of victims of violence. Accompanying this responsibility is the need for first responders to be prepared both educationally and emotionally to intervene in situations of violence. The first per­son who cares for victims of violence plays a critical role in not only establishing good lines of communication but possesses the poten­tial for developing a trusting relationship. This element of trust helps the victim to remain open and creative throughout stages of short and long-term intervention. It is only with a comprehensive foundation of theory, specific causes, victim and family impact, along with conflict intervention that first responders will effec­tively be able to understand and properly manage victims of vio­lence.

This text is designed to provide the reader with a firm knowl­edge base. The first section outlines some of the theories and philosophies concerning violence, why and how it occurs, specific learned behavior, and factors which influence evolvement, along with common threads in violent behavior. The second section emphasizes definitions, general knowl­edge, statistical data, signs and symptoms, and the victim's specific transition sequences. Section Three identifies specific intervention techniques which, based on the accumulated knowledge base gained in sec­tions One and Two, will afford the reader a comprehensive, holistic approach to quality assessment and management.

Maryland. Robert J. Brady & Co. 1981. 279p.

Edited by Elena Martellozzo and Emma A Jane

The last twenty years have seen an explosion in the development of information technology, to the point that people spend a major portion of waking life in online spaces. While there are enormous benefits associated with this technology, there are also risks that can affect the most vulnerable in our society but also the most confident. Cybercrime and its victims explores the social construction of violence and victimisation in online spaces and brings together scholars from many areas of inquiry, including criminology, sociology, and cultural, media, and gender studies.

The book is organised thematically into five parts. Part one addresses some broad conceptual and theoretical issues. Part two is concerned with issues relating to sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation, as well as to sexual expression online. Part three addresses issues related to race and culture. Part four addresses concerns around cyberbullying and online suicide, grouped together as ‘social violence’. The final part argues that victims of cybercrime are, in general, neglected and not receiving the recognition and support they need and deserve. It concludes that in the volatile and complex world of cyberspace continued awareness-raising is essential for bringing attention to the plight of victims. It also argues that there needs to be more support of all kinds for victims, as well as an increase in the exposure and punishment of perpetrators.

Drawing on a range of pressing contemporary issues such as online grooming, sexting, cyber-hate, cyberbullying and online radicalization, this book examines how cyberspace makes us more vulnerable to crime and violence, how it gives rise to new forms of surveillance and social control and how cybercrime can be prevented.

London: Routledge, 2017. 251p.

By Adam Cotter

Criminal victimization in Canada, 2019: Highlights

 According to the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization, more than three-quarters (78%) of Canadians were very or somewhat satisfied with their personal safety from crime in 2019.

 One in five (19%) Canadians or their households were impacted by one of the eight crimes measured by the GSS in 2019. There were 8.3 million incidents of sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, break and enter, theft of motor vehicles (or parts), theft of household or personal property, or vandalism.

 Almost seven in ten (69%) self-reported incidents were non-violent in nature. Theft of personal property, the most common crime type, accounted for more than one-third (37%) of all criminal incidents.

 Women (106 incidents per 1,000 women) were violently victimized at a rate nearly double that of men (59 incidents per 1,000 men) in 2019. This gender difference is a result of the fact that women were five times more likely than men to be a victim of sexual assault (50 versus 9 per 1,000).

……

Criminal Victimization in Canada, 2019.

By Suzanne Ost

Child pornography and sexual grooming provide case study exemplars of problems that society and law have sought to tackle to avoid both actual and potential harm to children. Yet despite the considerable legal, political and societal concern that these critical phenomena attract, they have not, thus far, been subjected to detailed socio-legal and theoretical scrutiny. How do society and law construct the harms of child pornography and grooming? What impact do constructions of the child have upon legal and societal responses to these phenomena? What has been the impetus behind the expanding criminalisation of behaviour in these areas? Suzanne Ost addresses these and other important questions, exploring the critical tensions within legal and social discourses which must be tackled to discourage moral panic reactions towards child pornography and grooming, and advocating a new, more rational approach towards combating these forms of exploitation.

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 289p.

By William Adams, Colleen Owens, and Kevonne Small

Each year, as many as 300,000 children become victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. Such victimization can have devastating effects on a child’s physical and mental health and well-being. In an effort to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), Congress enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (TVPA) in 2000. As the seminal legislation in America’s efforts to end CSEC, the Act criminalizes human trafficking on a federal level. This bulletin describes the results of a study funded by OJJDP to examine TVPA’s impact on the prosecution of CSEC cases. The authors draw on CSEC cases processed in federal courts between 1998 and 2005 to take a look at how current laws addressing CSEC are enforced, indicate key features of successful CSEC prosecutions, and describe how legislation has affected sentences imposed on CSEC perpetrators, as well as legislation’s effects on the provision of services to victims. The bulletin concludes with a discussion of how the juvenile justice community and policymakers could improve the prosecution of CSEC crimes.

Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2010. 12p.

By Brian Neil Levine

Nothing in history has transformed the character and practice of child sexual exploitation more than the internet. Individuals who commit child sex crimes use internet services, social networks, and mobile apps to meet minors and each other in ways they cannot in person and to groom victims by normalizing abusive sexual acts. Many of those who commit child sex crimes deceive, coerce, and sexually extort child victims with threats that too often are realized. Individuals who commit child sex crimes use the internet to arrange in-person meetings for hands-on abuse, and they use it to remotely coerce young children to selfproduce sexual and sadistic acts. Whether the abuse is hands-on or remote, the images or videos in which an individual captures their rape of a child are referred to as child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). An ever-growing set of online services are misused daily for the upload and immediate distribution of CSAM, supporting worldwide sharing. The harms to victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation are lifelong.

By Markus González Beilfuss

According to the European Union (EU) Victims-Directive, victims of crime have the right to be informed, supported and protected, as well as to participate in criminal proceedings. EU Member States retain notable scope for action to transpose these rights into their national legislation, but with the entry into force of this Directive in October 2012, victims' protection entitlements improved significantly within thre remit of EU Law. However, foreign victims with irregular migration status are still in a vulnerable position. Indeed, they are included in the Directive in a particular way. On the one hand, Member States have to take the necessary measures to ensure that the rights set out in the Directive are not conditional on the victim's residence status. According to Art. 1.1, the rights delineated shall apply to all victims in a non-discriminatory manner, including with respect to their residence status. Nevertheless, on the other hand the Directive does not address the conditions of the residence of crime victims in the territory of the Member States. As mentioned in the preamble of the Directive (Recital 10), ‘reporting a crime and participating in criminal proceedings do not create any rights regarding the residence status of the victim’. Victims of crime with irregular migration status fall under the scope of the EU's Return-Directive. As with any third-country nationals staying irregularly in their territories, Member States shall issue them with a return decision. As stated in Art. 6.4 of the Return-Directive, ‘compassionate, humanitarian or other reasons’ allow Member States to grant at any moment a residence permit or the right to stay to any person with irregular migration status. However, EU law does not directly grant these victims of crime the right to stay if they report the case to the police or the criminal justice system. The outcome of the existing legal framework can be particularly harmful for these crime victims, who are exposed to retaliation and can fear deportation if they report the crime to the police. But it also impacts upon the whole criminal justice system, which may lose crucial actors for the prosecution of crime. In the last decade, EU and international law have started to bring in some exceptions to this inconsistent and harmful legal system. According to Directive 2004/81/EC, victims of human trafficking have access to a so-called ‘reflection period’ that allows them to recover and escape from the influence of traffickers. During this period, it is not possible to enforce deportation orders of third-country national victims, and once the reflection period is finished, victims may under certain circumstances access a residence permit.

Oxford, UK: COMPAS, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, 2019. 33p.

By Ruben Timmerman, Arjen Leerkes, and Richard Staring

Across Europe, irregular migrants experience considerable difficulty obtaining basic access to justice, protection, and services across a wide range of areas. The structural exclusion of irregular migrants from the integration strategies of European Union (EU) Member States serves in many situations to limit the full exercise of their basic rights, including in particular the right of an individual to safely report to the police if they have been a victim of or witness to crime.1 In recent years, however, efforts have been made to ensure that irregular migrants within Europe are guaranteed equal access to justice and basic rights should they fall victim to crime. Perhaps most notably, Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (hereinafter, Victims’ Directive), which entered into force in 2015, sets out to ensure that the rights of all victims of crime are protected, regardless of nationality or residence status.2 Among other things, the EU Victims’ Directive signifies—at least on paper—the inclusion of irregular migrants within the wider purview of victims’ rights. However, there remain significant challenges and barriers to access to justice and rights for irregular migrant victims of crime within Europe, and there is much work still to be done in effectively realising the vision set out by the EU Victims’ Directive. In particular, it has long been observed by human rights observers, scholars, and practitioners in the field of migration that irregular migrants are often hesitant or unwilling to contact or interact with law enforcement authorities to report crime, either as victims or as witnesses, out of fear of arrest or deportation.3 As a result, these irregular migrants are unable to exercise their basic rights to necessary services, protection, and justice, and are often more vulnerable to perpetrators who are able to exploit their reluctance to report crime. Moreover, the lack of opportunity for irregular migrants to safely report crime results in a lack of crucial intelligence about criminal activity for law enforcement, and significantly reduces authorities’ insight into crime and public safety issues in their communities. As a result of these challenges, both in the United States and across Europe innovative and diverse initiatives have been developed—particularly at the local level—to promote ‘safe reporting’ of crime among irregular migrants, and in turn to ensure greater access to justice for victims.4 In particular, many localities have developed what are commonly referred to as ‘firewall policies’.

Oxford, UK; COMPAS, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, 2019. 46p.

Edited by Carol Hagemann-White, Liz Kelly and Thomas Meysen

This book offers insights and perspectives from a study of “Cultural Encounters in Intervention Against Violence” (CEINAV) in four EU-countries. Seeking a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of intervention practices in Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, the team explored variations in institutional structures and traditions of law, policing, and social welfare. Theories of structural inequality and ethics are discussed and translated into practice.

Leverkusen-Opladen, Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2019. 320p.

By Ben Mathews

This book offers a timely and detailed exploration and analysis of key contemporary issues and challenges in child sexual abuse, which holds great relevance for scholarly, legal, policy, professional and clinical audiences worldwide. The book draws together the best current evidence about the nature, aetiology, contexts, and sequelae of child sexual abuse. It explores the optimal definition of child sexual abuse, considers sexual abuse in history, and explores new theoretical understandings of children’s rights and other key theories including public health and the Capabilities Approach, and their relevance to child sexual abuse prevention and responses. It examines a selection of the most pressing legal, theoretical, policy and practical challenges in child sexual abuse in the modern world, in developed and developing economies, including institutional child sexual abuse, female genital cutting, child marriage, the use of technology for sexual abuse, and the ethical responsibility and legal liability of major state and religious organisations, and individuals. It examines recent landmark legal and policy developments in all of these areas, drawing in particular on extensive developments from Australia in the wake of its Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It also considers the best evidence about promising strategies and future promising directions in enhancing effective prevention, intervention and responses to child sexual abuse.

Cham, SWIT: Springer, 2019. 322p.

By Sue Jago, with Lorena Arocha, Isabelle Brodie, Margaret Melrose, Jenny Pearce and Camille Warrington

This research project has explored the extent and nature of the response of LSCBs to the 2009 government guidance on safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation. Where the guidance is followed, there are examples of developing and innovative practice to protect and support young people and their families and to investigate and prosecute their abusers. However, the research has found that the delivery of that dual approach to child sexual exploitation is far from the norm. There are three areas that cause particular concern: • only a quarter of LSCBs in England are implementing the guidance • young people, their families and carers receive awareness raising in less than half of the country • the prosecution of abusers is rare and, where criminal proceedings take place, young people’s experience of court is intolerable These and related findings are set out below together with recommendations on how to ensure that action is taken, locally and nationally, to address this form of child abuse.

Bedfordshire, UK: University of Bedfordshire, 2011.140p.

By Diana Lopez-Avila

This paper aims at shedding light on the relationship between women's empowerment and domestic violence. For this, we explore different ways to measure women's empowerment and domestic violence, and analyze whether the relation depends on the definitions used. We take advantage of a rich data set collected in rural Colombia, including several measures of self-esteem, disagreement towards domestic violence, participation in household decisions and social capital; and analyze the relationship with both aggressive and controlling ways of domestic violence. The results indicate that the different measures of women's empowerment help explain much better the aggressive ways of domestic violence than the controlling ones. Our results show a positive correlation between women's empowerment and domestic violence. This goes in line with the theories that argue that men use violence as a way to leverage their power within the household. Among the different latent measures of women's empowerment we used, we found that social capital and self-esteem are significantly correlated with aggressive domestic violence. We do not find that more common proxies, such as women's participation in household decisions, are significantly correlated to domestic violence.

Paris: Paris School of Economics, 2015. 42p.

By Human Rights Watch

This report—based largely on research and interviews conducted with 22 North Koreans detained in detention and interrogation facilities after 2011 (when Kim Jong Un came to power) and eight former North Korean officials who fled the country—provides new information on North Korea’s opaque pretrial detention and investigation system. It describes the criminal investigation process; North Korea’s weak legal and institutional framework; the dependence of law enforcement and the judiciary on the ruling WPK; the apparent presumption of guilt; bribery and corruption; and inhumane conditions and mistreatment of those in detention and interrogation facilities (kuryujang) that often amounts to torture. Because North Korea is a “closed” country, not much is known about the legal processes in its pretrial detention system, but the experiences of those interviewed and the other evidence detailed below, show that torture, humiliation, coerced confessions, hunger, unhygienic conditions, and the necessity of connections and bribes to avoid the worst treatment appear to be fundamental characteristics.

New York: HRW, 2021. 100p.