By: Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile

This book highlights that there is a wide room for women victims of rape during war and those who are expelled from their families because they have been raped for empowerment. In this vein, the book portrays the different possibilities the Congolese Females Action for Promoting Rights and Development (COFAPRI) is exploring in order to empower rural women victims of war rape and domestic violence in the rural villages of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The aim of this emancipation is to help these victims to scar up both their physical and moral wounds in order to reshape the meaning of their lives, as well as their FKLOGUHQ¶V and then trace a peaceful way toward a future that gives hope and confidence in their hearts.

COFAPRI is a women’s grassroots organization that is operating in remote and dangerous villages of the eastern DR Congo. The villages of this part of the world are still a hub for militia and hooligans who are intimidating, raping, killing pitilessly women, children and the ecosystem. The organization is closely and tirelessly working with rural women who are victims of local discriminatory traditions in order to empower them for a better future. Such liberation aims to break these discriminatory traditions that reduce women and girls to nothing, making them second class people who have no word in families and in the country.

Biased traditions remain alarming and worse in remote villages where most girls and women are illiterate. In these areas, these mores are men’s invention and they [traditions] are vigorously protected by the same men for their personal interests. The main reason behind this safeguard is that the DR Congo is a strong paternalistic system that protects by all costs these traditions, making the women to be subjugated to men and remain eternal second class people who must live in total obedience of and dependence on men.

The situation of these victims worsened with the advent of warfare that added more weight on their natural plights of cultures. The women and girls, no matter their age and status, have been raped since 1996 (for more than 20 years today) when the unending wars started. Since the target of the fighters were women and girls, rape has then been used in different contexts, sometimes the victims were raped in the eyes of their relatives, children, husband, friends and neighbors. Through such terror, rape became an easy arm of war used by the rapists. The evil doers have been directing rape toward women and girls of all ages. In this period of cyclic wars has never been discriminatory, as it applied to women, girls, men and boys. With focus on women and girls victims, the aim of the rapists was but to hurt the victim physically and morally by dehumanizing her, cutting her off of her family and her community in order to weaken her properly, and so she can die while alive.

This did cause the victim unbearable shame and moral death. The victims were killed twice while alive. Rape caused the victims moral and physical open wounds and ultimate detachment from families and communities. These women have been raped and some of them contaminated HIV/AIDS and STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases); many others got pregnancies that delivered fatherless children.

The children born of rape never knew their fathers. As earlier stated, the DR Congo is a patriarchal community where women follow blindly all decisions made by the masters of traditions. So, children born of rape become detached from the family of the mother and that of the husband of the mother. Not having a family because one has no father totally isolates and discriminates the innocent child, which sometimes traumatizes them.

It is in this context that COFAPRI initiated some ways that these victims can walk in order to reach the other side of the tunnel. As a way of remaking their lives, these victims are involved in various income generating activities in their different villages. The activities include, among others, sewing, animal rearing, knitting, beading and small business. In addition, they also involve in basic reading and writing in order to better involve in their developmental activities. The women also get hygienic education in order to improve on their life conditions. All these activities are done in teams where participants exchange on different issues regarding their lives in home and in community. In their teams, and in turns, each member is at the same time a learner and a teacher. All in all, this aims to promote the rights of women and children, as well as supporting them along their new life in order to overcome trauma and poverty.

The children born of rape also suffer protracted discrimination in their families since they are wrongly believed to be social cast and burden. COFAPRI helps these children to remake their lives for a harmonious future by facilitating them to get school enrolment. The children are also accompanied by the same organization in their studies; they are paid school fees and equipment. Being fatherless and social cast has often created a negative personal consideration in the minds of these children, which ultimately pushes them to join local militia or other gangs associations in order to revenge, which makes the cycle of wars become repeated and perpetual. This makes more women and girls to be raped, and more fatherless children to be born. Such children, due to the social disrespect they experience, decide to join local militia with the aim of revenging. The above mentioned organization is doing everything they can for the moment in order to hinder children from linking with the militia as this will certainly make them act the same way as their anonymous fathers behaved. It is in this context that the children are getting support from this incredible organization that is operating in the remote and dangerous villages of the DR Congo.

The writer of this book collected information via desk research along with data from the organization. The book is part of details from a video conference that the Co-Founder and Executive Secretary of COFAPRI presented to Red Hila, in their last meeting in Colombia in 2014. In order to support the story, some quotes from the women and the children we work with have been inserted in the story, along with some of their pictures. The women gave us full permission to use their photos and quotes, and we got consent, as well, from the mothers of the children. In the minds of the women and the children, using their pictures and stories will hugely contribute to spreading the word in the world about the quandaries they are living while confined to their remote villages in the eastern DR Congo. They also think this is a way the world can equally learn of the steps they have already walked toward developmental empowerment.

The different wars the country has been plunged in have caused moral harm, as well as physical one to the victims. Basing on this, the organization is also empowering the abusers and the victims to forgive each other in order to reach social harmony. By forgiving, the victims want the reality on how they were raped be told with assurance. This will help both the abuser and the abused as their morals will be stable. If the women victims are forgiving their abusers, harmony can settle in the hearts of the people and so they can work together as a united team that has a common goal.

The organization is also committed to educate the population at large on ways of scaling down the effects of traditional discriminatory rules that have negatively affected women and children in their areas. In the same vein, it focuses on making the victims of rape and domestic violence be confident and remake their lives after the predicament of warfare they have endured within themselves, in their homes and in families, as well as in the wider community. Through education, COFAPRI believes a new horizon can still work for these innocent victims. Education is so powerful that it can generate hope in hopeless minds, it can rebuild broken hearts by making women and children pillars of their families, communities and the nation in the future. This is eventually supported by Sydney J. Harris, as he states “the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows”.

LAP Lambert Academic Publishing 2016

By: Leslie Tutty, Jennifer Koshan, Deborah Jesso, Cindy Ogden, Jacqueline G. Warrell

The serious nature of intimate partner violence and the harm to women and their children has been acknowledged in numerous documents (Statistics Canada, 2005; Tutty & Goard, 2002). The costs to society for charging abusive partners and providing treatment in the hope of stopping domestic violence are substantial (Bowlus, McKenna, Day & Wright, 2003; Greaves, Hankivsky, & Kingston-Reichers, 1995; Healey, Smith, & O‘Sullivan, 1998).

The criminal justice system is an institution that deals with a high number of cases of domestic assaults yearly. While there is no separate domestic violence offence, abusers are subject to a variety of charges, from common assault to uttering threats to murder, that would apply to anyone regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Nevertheless, the dynamics and the intimate relationship between the accused and the victims in domestic violence cases, has severely challenged the criminal justice response that typically deals with crimes committed by strangers.

Beginning with the development of the court in Winnipeg in 1991, specialized domestic violence courts have become increasingly available across Canada with the goal of more effectively addressing the criminal justice response to domestic violence. The extensive effort involved in creating such specialized justice responses should be acknowledged. To date, however, few evaluations have been published that assess whether these initiatives make a difference, exceptions being the work of Ursel in Winnipeg, the Yukon Domestic Violence Treatment Option (Hornick, Boyes, Tutty & White, 2005: funded by NCPC), some courts in Ontario (Moyer, Rettinger & Hotton (2000), cited in Clarke, 2003; Dawson & Dinovitzer, 2001), and Tutty and Ursel in the Canadian prairie provinces (Ursel, Tutty, & LeMaistre, 2008).

Calgary‘s model developed in early 2000 with the input of key players from not only the criminal justice institutions such as police services, the Crown Prosecutor offices, probation, Legal Aid and the defence bar, but also community agencies that offer batterer intervention programs and support, shelter and advocacy for victims. The model was innovative, with the initial emphasis on a specialized domestic violence docket court with the aim of speeding up the process for those charges with domestic abuse offences to both allow low risk offenders to take responsibility for their actions and speed their entry into treatment.

Such actions were thought to better safeguard victims, both because their partners were mandated to treatment much earlier, and to prevent repercussions to victims who, if the case proceeded to court, might be required to testify. Crisis intervention theory has long posited that the sooner one receives intervention, the more likely the counselling will be effective (Roberts & Everly, 2006). Also, the safety and wishes of the victims are taken into consideration by the court team early on in the process, while the assault is still fresh in their minds and they are not influenced by the accused to the same extent as they might be later on.

RESOLVE Alberta, March 2011

By: Nur Hasyim, Aditya Putra Kurniawan, and Elli Nur Hayati

This reports investigates the issue of violence against women using a different perspective, as opposed to studying women as the victims, the current study presents a perspective from the perpetrators of violence, namely men. The study explores how Indonesian men perceive themselves, and based upon the elaborations from the sources of the study, a strong value of male patriarchy is present among Indonesian males. With patriarchal values strongly embedded within most Indonesia men, it becomes plausible to assume that Indonesian men are susceptible to conduct violence against women. On the other hand, male hegemonic awareness becomes a large problem for men when they observe a situation that contradicts their assumptions, for example when women demonstrate to become more advanced in their education and career. In this context, men that are tied up in patriarchal cultures will view such events as threats or even a disaster.

Jambon IV Kompleks Jatimulyo Indah Yogyakarta 55242. 2011

By: Mugisho Ndabuli Théophile

Domestic violence is a branch of Gender Based Violence (GBV). Domestic violence is directed towards family members, particularly the wife and so it is rampant in the world. This research delves in the beliefs and attitudes towards male domestic violence in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It also provides a comprehensive understanding of some different factors, forms, reasons and consequences of such violence in the province.

This research used qualitative approach with focus group and in-depth interviews with adult men in the mentioned province. There were organised two focus groups and two in-depth interviews. Fourteen men participated to these interviews. The researcher selected them with the help of the provincial authorities.

The dynamism of men’s beliefs and attitudes towards domestic violence in this province is of paramount importance to understand. The research found that South Kivu men believe that asserting power and masculinity in the family in general, particularly to the wife is their right. This connectivity promotes the widespread of GBV in the province. The participants also revealed that society fosters men’s power and masculinity over family members. This actually makes domestic violence become a culture in the area.

In combating domestic violence through means of education, awareness raising and law reinforcement and its fair implementation, families can be harmonious. This is possible if society motivates men to use their power and masculinity in a constructive way, and if the victims are helped to restore their self esteem, regain hope and break the silence.

Mugisho Ndabuli Théophile 2011

By: Nisha Prichard

This study set out to examine the decision-making process in care proceedings brought before the Children’s Court involving allegations of domestic violence as a child maltreatment concern in accordance with NSW Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act, 1998. The growth in understanding of domestic violence as a specific category of child maltreatment has seen increased attention and involvement of an array of professionals in the child protection field including statutory caseworkers, solicitors, and other external services working with children and families. Court decisions encompass risk assessment and immediate and long-term safety planning. They also involve professionals navigating both shared and individual language in the process of assessment. What constitutes the specific risk of domestic violence, and decision-making in cases involving domestic violence is often contested in care and protection matters. This study utilised qualitative methodology, specifically applying a case study approach involving both a prospective and retrospective review of cases. The retrospective review followed a series of cases from the commencement of the court case, to the finalisation of orders. A parallel retrospective review of archive cases and court files from Community Services was undertaken.

Central to this study was examination of the role of professional stakeholders, their assessments and contribution to court decision-making. The findings in this study highlight that much professional decision-making occurs prior to proceedings. The decisions made in all reviewed matters were found to be the result of the coalescence of professional knowledge, interpretation and interagency collaboration. Professionals developed discourses of risk, compliance, insight and safety in their assessments. Such assessments formed a narrative of domestic violence characterized by an emphasis on summarising patterns within key incidents, evaluating the parent’s ongoing relationship dynamics and parenting capacity. Significantly, in this narrative, an inability to separate from a violent partner was indicative of a lack of maternal protectiveness. Additionally, childrens’ age and gender influenced the assessment of the impact of violence on individual children. These interpretations informed the court’s evaluation of evidence of domestic violence and its impact on children as well as the proposed interventions and care plans necessary to ensure children’s safety.

The University of New South Wales, 31 August 2015

By: Tracey Michelle Pyscher

As a society, we do not openly discuss domestic violence and yet its reality is front and center for children and youth whose lives are deeply shaped by it. At best, the school landscape is bleak for many, if not all, HDV youth (i.e. youth with histories of domestic violence and youth currently living with domestic violence). We know little to nothing about how HDV youth navigate school from their perspectives—how they engage with and resist educational discourses and practices and thus take up subject positions. What we do know from popular, psychological literature is that HDV youth are often objectified as troubled and deficient and this shapes their identities and experiences in school.

In this study, I discuss the challenges HDV youth face when they navigate normative and hegemonic interactions in school. I also analyze the resistive identities and performances HDV youth take up in response to interactions perceived as violating. The study is situated in a public, urban middle school and outlines how HDV youth make sense of their daily interactions with school peers and staff. The study is told through the subjective voices of three female middle school HDV youth—Jen, Mac, and Shanna. Their stories along with the voices of their caregivers offer a counter-narrative to the dominant discourses often shaping the representations of HDV youth.

Data analysis is grounded in the theoretical conceptions of critical sociocultural theory (Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007), resistive ambivalence (Pyscher, 2015; Pyscher & Lozenski, 2014), and Scott’s (1990) conceptualization of hidden and public transcripts. I seek to better understand and theorize the intersections of actions, identities, practices, and discourses that HDV youth use in educational interactions. The methodological foundation of this study is fourfold: critical discourse studies (Gee, 2014), critical ethnography (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995), geosemiotics (Scollon & Scollon, 2003), and mediated discourse analysis (Jones & Norris, 2005). Implications include the possibility of creating more liberating educational practices for youth with histories of domestic violence and marginalized youth in general. I conclude by suggesting that we consider creating more transgressive and humane school cultures that embody carnivallike practices.

University of Minnesota, March 2016

By: Gilberta Pavão Nunes Rocha, Piedade Lalanda, Suzana Nunes Caldeira, Áurea Sousa. Ana Cristina Palos, Daniela Soares, Nuno Martins, Sofia Rodrigues, Derrick Mendes

The basic objective of this research study is to understand the phenomenon of conjugal violence, using as a starting point complaints recorded by the Police Forces (PF), which in the Azores consist solely of the Public Security Police (PSP). The study aims to understand one part of the phenomenon of domestic violence, that which occurs between couples and which is reported since, as is well known, it is something often suffered in silence or confined to the privacy of the home.

In this study, we have preferred the term “conjugal violence” instead of “domestic violence”, as initially requested by the Directorate-General of the Ministry of the Interior (DGAI). This decision was motivated, firstly, by the significance of conjugal violence within domestic violence as a whole in the Azores, accounting for around 70% (DGAI). Secondly because, despite the importance of conducting a study of domestic violence, attempting to cover all its aspects (violence between couples, against children, the elderly or the disabled) was not consistent with the time available for the study.

While not dismissing the relevance of an evaluation of complaints of violence against children or the elderly, given that these situations represent a growing phenomenon in Portuguese society, such cases involve theoretical explanations and, mainly, representations and practices that are relatively distinct from those of conjugal violence, particularly in the case of Portugal. This situation is the third reason for restricting this study to violence reported in conjugal relationships.

Occasional Papers of the Ministry of the Interior, November 2010

By: JALESI NAKARAWA

This thesis investigates the influence of legal fiction over the philosophy behind family law in New Zealand and our subsequent responses to domestic violence. As a feature of common law reasoning, legal fiction, asserting something to be true when it is not true, persists as an important mechanism in judicial fact-finding. In family law, the convenient and crucially unrecognised fiction of the “ideal family” which may never have existed continues to drive the family justice system. The failure to be aware of the fiction may undo the justifications for its existence and undermine its utility.

Treating this fiction as true rather than treating it as “if true” drives a wedge between the normative intent of the law and the behavioural issues that underlie human interpersonal relationships. The resulting gap between the realities of the family experience we live with and the “ideal family” we live by underwrites the vague and imprecise objectives of our responses to domestic violence. Apart from the uncertainty of what we are trying to achieve, the fiction assumes that deception and aggression are pathologies in human behaviour. The law’s reliance on these legal fictions to pursue just ends requires careful consideration to avoid causing real-world pathologies.

Despite New Zealand’s reputation for innovative responses to domestic violence, the Family Justice System as a whole has failed to produce the anticipated result. The expansion of the continuum of conduct classified as domestic violence has criminalised instances of ordinary human negotiating behaviour. This expansion under the Domestic Violence Act was intended to provide victims greater protection from domestic violence, but it has not had the desired effect. While success in police management terms may be evaluated in higher rates of reported incidents, arrests and convictions, success for victims ought to be assessed regarding the reduction in incidences of violence over time. This has not happened. For this reason, the application of statistical data to support a specific agenda can distort our assessment of domestic violence.

The thesis proposes a holistic approach based on domestic violence as fundamentally a behavioural issue. It is important first to ascertain the nature of violence in the world and our lives and to unpack human behaviour for a better understanding of why we do the things we do. Secondly, statistical data should be properly analysed to provide an accurate picture of human behaviour and domestic violence as it is on the ground, the reality of family life as we live it daily. This and only this can provide a sound bases for developing explicit goals to guide our legal responses or interventions, bridging the divide between the aspirational objectives of the law and the human reality we live with.

The University of Waikato, 2016

By Storm Ervin, Erica Henderson

The Urban Institute received funding from the George Kaiser Family Foundation to conduct an 11-month mixed-methods assessment of adult domestic violence (DV) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. * The purpose of Urban’s study was to understand major programs, policies, services, and funding sources geared toward preventing and responding to adult DV survivors and recommend ways Tulsa could improve its response to domestic violence. The first part of the mixed-method assessment focused primarily on the largest service provider in Tulsa, Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS). The second part of the assessment focused on qualitative data collection with criminal legal and human services agencies and stakeholders to provide insight into the larger domestic violence landscape in Tulsa. Based on the assessment findings, we identified seven overarching recommendations for how Tulsa could improve its response to domestic violence. Overarching Findings Tulsa’s largest DV service provider, DVIS, and Tulsa’s family justice center, the Family Safety Center (FSC), offer a multitude of evidence-based practices for adult and child survivors. In addition, DVIS is successful in reaching and serving people with low educational attainment and unemployment, which are major risk factors for experiencing DV. Law enforcement has implemented evidenced-based screening tools—such as the Lethality Assessment Program and the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement—to screen for lethality and strangulation among victims at the scene of DV incidents. Further, organizations engage in several interagency efforts to respond to DV through Tulsa’s Rapid Intervention Team, the FSC, Tulsa’s response to strangulation, and the Integrated DV Court. Finally, not without some challenges, federal and philanthropic funding sources have demonstrated commitment to supporting Tulsa’s response to DV. Our assessment also yielded notable areas for improvement. For example, Black and Indigenous survivors are vastly underserved by DVIS, though they are most likely to experience intimate partner homicide (Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board 2021). In addition, Tulsa has few programs aimed at intervening on behalf of children who experience or are at risk of DV. For both adults and children, stakeholders reported few programs for preventing DV. Moreover, stakeholders reported policy and practice constraints as negatively impacting survivors and intervention in DV. For example, failure-to-protect legislation was described as a method for criminalizing survivors. Stakeholders also reported that Battering Intervention Programs (BIPs) involve burdensome amounts of money and time for those who are mandated to participate. Moreover, policy constraints limit stakeholders’ ability to provide wraparound services to people who cause harm. Another notable challenge is the McGirt Decision, which established that state courts no longer have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Oklahomans who are also tribal members, and in turn, complicated Tulsa’s ability to respond to people who cause harm and also belong to Indigenous communities. Other challenges include those related to specific agencies, such as law enforcement’s faithful administration of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) screens, the role that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services plays in separating children listed in protective orders, and service providers’ limited ability to provide more evidence-based services. Other notable challenges are agencies’ limited capacity and staff and a lack of sustainable funding sources.    

Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2023. 110p.

By: Dr. Hilal Özcebe, Dr. Sutay Yavuz, Hacer Taşcene, and Dr. Sinan Türkyılmaz

Around the world, women and girls are victims of countless acts of violence. The range of gender-based violence is devastatingly endless, occurring quite literally from womb to tomb. Violence against women and girls occurs in every segment of society – regardless of class, ethnicity, culture, or country.

While you are reading this text, many millions of women around the world will experience the trauma of violence and abuse. It is estimated that 1 in 3 women throughout the world suffer this violence during her lifetime. The same figure for EU countries is 1 in 5. Women in Turkey face violence like women in many other countries; the latest survey shows that 2 in 5 women have been exposed to physical violence. In the same research, 42 percent of women have been exposed to physical and sexual violence, and 44 percent of women have been exposed to emotional violence or abuse. All of these were caused by their husbands or partners.

Over the past 30 years, increasingly gender-based violence has been recognized both in Turkey and worldwide. One of the newest and most comprehensive international instruments to combat violence against women is “Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention)” which was built on the 4P principle of ‘Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Policy’. For many years all the interventions to combat VAW have been mostly built around the protection and prosecution. However policy development and prevention are the weakest links of the combating interventions. Among the prevention interventions the most excluded groups have been the youth and children. As it is indicated in some research, children and the youth are the two groups who have been the silent victims of violence within the family even they are not the subject of direct violence. However it is also known that violence is an act that is learnt and to prevent violence against women, the interventions should be started in the early childhood.

Increased rates of violence worldwide have heightened the need to understand what children think about their experiences as victims or witnesses of violence. Much has been written about children and violence, but less has been written from the viewpoint of the children themselves. Without knowing their experience and perception it is impossible to develop any intervention to prevent violence against women regarding to early ages of youth.

This research which is the first in its area had been conducted to understand the perception of school age youth (ages between 11-17) on violence against women and gender inequality which is the root cause of the act. Upon the results of this research UNFPA with the relevant partners will develop prevention interventions for the school age children.

As UNFPA we would like to thank to the researchers, Prof. Dr. Hilal Özcebe, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Türkyılmaz, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sutay Yavuz and Hacer Taşçene and the interview team for conducting this special qualitative research. We would also convey our gratitude to all the government officials, school principals and teachers who supported us in Ankara, Aydın and Erzurum.

Population Association (Turkey) and United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA November 2013

By: Jeffrey L. Edleson, Taryn Lindhorst, Gita Mehrotra, William Vesneski, Luz Lopez, and Sudha Shetty

Mothers who flee with their children because of domestic violence may have few other options to ensure their safety and that of their children in the face of their partner’s violence. Yet when their flight takes them across international boundaries, they become vulnerable to being legally treated as an “abducting” parent by the courts. This report focuses on the situations of women who experienced abuse in another country and came to the United States in an effort to protect themselves and their children, but who then faced civil actions in U.S. state or federal courts for child abduction under international legal agreements. We interviewed battered mothers around the world, their attorneys, their husbands’ attorneys and examined published judicial decisions in cases involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction where there were also allegations of domestic violence by one parent against the other. The research team interviewed 22 mothers who responded to Hague petitions in U.S. courts, 23 attorneys representing both mothers and fathers in these cases and five specialists, such as expert witnesses. The research team also analyzed 47 published U.S. Hague Convention court decisions involving allegations of domestic violence.

Battered mothers who fled across borders to the U.S. to receive help from their families were often victims of life-threatening violence, and their children were frequently directly or indirectly exposed to the father’s violence. The women sought but received little help from foreign authorities or social service agencies and received little help from U.S. authorities once they came to the U.S. In fact, these mothers – most of whom were U.S. citizens – often faced U.S. courts that were unsympathetic to their safety concerns and subsequently sent their children back to the custody of the abusive fathers in the other country, creating potential serious risks for the children and mothers.

US Department of Justice, November 2010

By Sarah Projansky

Looking at popular culture from 1980 to the present, feminism appears to be "over": that is, according to popular critics we are in an era of "postfeminism" in which feminism has supposedly already achieved equality for women. Not so, says Sarah Projansky. In Watching Rape, Projansky undermines this complacent view in her fascinating and thorough analysis of depictions of rape in U.S. film, television, and independent video. Through a cultural studies analysis of such films as Thelma and Louise, Daughters of the Dust, and She's Gotta Have It, and television shows like ER, Ally McBeal, Beverly Hills 90210, and various made-for-tv movies, Projansky challenges us to see popular culture as a part of our everyday lives and practices, and to view that culture critically. How have media defined rape and feminism differently over time? How do popular narratives about rape also communicate ideas about gender, race, class, nationality, and sexuality? And, what is the future of feminist politics, theory, and criticism with regard to issues of sexual violence, postfeminism, and popular media? The first study to address the relationship between rape and postfeminism, and one of the most detailed and thorough analyses of rape in 25 years, Watching Rape is a crucial contribution to contemporary feminism.

New York: NYU Press, 2001.

By Scottish Government. Safer Communities Directorate

This research reports on 22 victims' and witnesses' experiences of court since the introduction of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (DASA) in April 2019. The Act aimed to expand understandings of domestic abuse, improve the criminal justice system's ability to tackle domestic abuse effectively and increase courts' capacity to protect victims, witnesses and associated children. This in-depth qualitative study contributes to a programme of work to meet the Ministerial 3-year reporting requirement of DASA (S14(2) (f)) to provide: 'information about the experience of witnesses (including witnesses who are children) at court'. Early implementation of the Act (2019-22) coincided with the advent of COVID-19, which had an unprecedented impact on those experiencing domestic abuse and the operation of the justice system; these findings should be considered in that context.

Key findings

According to the 22 adult and child victims/witnesses involved in the research:

The new law better reflects how adult victims experience domestic abuse: participants reported a range of psychological, physical and, for some, sexual harm over time. However, there was limited awareness of what constitutes criminal behaviour under DASA amongst the public (including victims/witnesses) and the professionals that participants encountered.

Many participants felt DASA and/or its provisions were under-utilised. Most reported a continued focus on single/severe incidents of physical violence rather than ongoing abuse. Many felt the justice system struggled with prosecution of psychological abuse, particularly regarding verbal, telephone and online abusive behaviour.

Most parents/child witnesses reported that harm to children was insufficiently recognised; they felt perpetrators were not held accountable for the impact that domestic abuse had on children and that children's safety and specific needs/vulnerabilities were inadequately addressed. Many victims felt that abuse of a third party – for example, family and friends – had not been taken account of adequately throughout the process.

Although there were some positive examples of reporting to the police, this was not the experience of the majority of participants. The immediate aftermath of reporting domestic abuse was a time of particular vulnerability for victims and witnesses. Most participants felt an onus was on them to keep themselves safe during this time.

Participants had inadequate knowledge of decision-making processes and the rationale for decisions made throughout the investigation and court proceedings. They cited a lack of communication, collaboration and involvement/transparency in decision-making. Far from being at the centre of the justice process, they felt on the periphery and marginalised by it.

Participants reported that going to court was difficult and, for many, frightening and traumatic. Feeling uninformed, giving evidence in an adversarial process, court adjournments and delays significantly impacted on their mental health.

Participants raised the potential for court to empower and provide a sense of closure to victims and witnesses, particularly when support and advocacy was provided.

Participants had significant concerns that the investigation, prosecution and sentencing for domestic abuse offences did not adequately reflect the sustained level, severity or impact of abuse experienced.

Safety was not consistently ensured for all participants before, during or post proceedings. This was contrary to their expectations that reporting would stop abuse and provide safety for themselves, family and friends. Non-harassment orders (NHOs) offered some protection and reassurance for victims.

Advocacy and support were reported as the most significant mechanisms for minimising trauma and enhancing feelings of safety; however, participants identified gaps in provision, particularly earlier in the process and post court.

94p.

By Susan A. Batchelor and Caitlin Gormley

Interpersonal repeat violent victimisation

The definition and conceptualisation of interpersonal repeat violent victimisation (RVV) is contested. Interpersonal violence refers to violence between individuals, often subdivided into community violence and violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse. These two forms of interpersonal violence are often studied separately, using divergent theoretical and methodological approaches (Batchelor et al. 2019). Mainstream research on RVV is largely quantitative in orientation, counting recurrent incidences of the same type of violent offence against the same target and identifying risk factors that make some people more prone to victimisation than others. Feminist research on men's violence against women and girls more often draws on qualitative methods to explore experiences of overlapping and intersecting forms of violence, conceptualising repeat physical violence as part of a process of coercive control located within a context of gendered inequality and norms.

Building on these insights, the current research adopts a qualitative approach to unpack patterns of RVV evident in official statistics on non-sexual violence in Scotland. Unlike survey research, which asks respondents to self-report the number of incidents they have experienced over a specified period, typically the previous 12 months, the present study acknowledges the impact of repeat violence and associated trauma on memory, imposing no time limit on participants' experiences. As a result, whilst we invited participants to reflect on recent experiences of physical violence, they also often related experiences of other forms of violence, experienced across the life course.

Edinburgh: Scottish Government, Safer Communities Directorate, 2023. 147p

By Scottish Government, Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Justice Directorate

The former Minister for Community Safety, Ash Regan MSP, asked the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) and the Scottish Government to undertake a review of antisocial behaviour (ASB). This report presents the findings from work undertaken to gather views on the current approach to antisocial behaviour in Scotland. It is based on discussions with key stakeholders across Scotland including those who have experienced antisocial behaviour, frontline staff seeking to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour and community and equality groups including those representing minority communities in Scotland. The discussions included people from both urban and rural settings across different areas of Scotland.

The findings do not amount to a definitive statement on what people feel needs to be done to change the way we view, prevent and address antisocial behaviour. However, they do provide a qualitative evidence base given the size and breadth of engagement. It is clear from these sessions that there are no quick fixes or easy solutions here. Therefore, we need to look at how we set the path to begin the journey and identify future work activity and milestones.

Overall, 25 engagement discussions involving close to 250 people, representing a wide range of interests (Annex B - methodology summary) were held by the Scottish Community Safety Network and the Scottish Government. We are indebted to all who shared their time and their expertise. This report reflects the views, opinions and experiences from those discussions, and additional written feedback received.

The Scottish Government and its partners believe that everyone has the right to be, and feel, safe in their community and homes. Embedding change which will have a positive sustainable impact, requires a process of innovating, evaluating and building on success. We can also learn from challenging issues and sharing best practice.

What has come across very clearly during this engagement, is that prevention is better than cure and that working collaboratively in partnership is essential to finding long term solutions to address antisocial behaviour and make all of our communities safer and more welcoming places to live.

We all have a role to play in preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour and hope that this report will be used as the starting point of a much broader and deeper discussion of these issues, leading to a long-term road map of how we can work collectively to prevent and address antisocial behaviour in effective ways.

We can, and should, come together to address the mutual problems we face in our communities, but we will achieve little if we approach this in a way that is not properly considered, including the potential for unintended consequences, and therefore we need to develop structures which we can work within to achieve change and incrementally build on approaches which are proven to be successful.

As such, two recommendations arise from our assessment of the qualitative evidence:

Recommendation one

That Scottish Ministers, and statutory, non-statutory and voluntary sector service providers and communities themselves recognise that our approach to preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour needs to be a long-term approach (that recognises societal changes and evolves) and that we need to make a commitment to a programme of activity which will provide a framework that will guide us in taking forward this agenda in alignment with other linked national policies.

Recommendation two

An independently chaired group of experts, potentially including statutory, non-statutory and voluntary service providers, community representatives and other key interests should be brought together to develop a long-term framework for addressing antisocial behaviour.

This should have a strong focus on steps that can be taken to prevent antisocial behaviour from occurring as well as considering the effectiveness of current approaches to tackling the antisocial behaviour which occurs.

The findings in this and other relevant, existing reports should form the foundations of the group’s work and they should not be restricted in identifying what areas are most important to move this agenda forward, which could include considerations of the effectiveness of current legislation.

The group should be able to commission and gather evidence to support their work and have a free hand to engage with anyone who can support this agenda. Central to this work should be building broad support for any long-term work that the group proposes.

Edinburgh:

2023. 63p.

Download here: The former Minister for Community Safety, Ash Regan MSP, asked the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) and the Scottish Government to undertake a review of antisocial behaviour (ASB). This report presents the findings from work undertaken to gather views on the current approach to antisocial behaviour in Scotland. It is based on discussions with key stakeholders across Scotland including those who have experienced antisocial behaviour, frontline staff seeking to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour and community and equality groups including those representing minority communities in Scotland. The discussions included people from both urban and rural settings across different areas of Scotland.

The findings do not amount to a definitive statement on what people feel needs to be done to change the way we view, prevent and address antisocial behaviour. However, they do provide a qualitative evidence base given the size and breadth of engagement. It is clear from these sessions that there are no quick fixes or easy solutions here. Therefore, we need to look at how we set the path to begin the journey and identify future work activity and milestones.

Overall, 25 engagement discussions involving close to 250 people, representing a wide range of interests (Annex B - methodology summary) were held by the Scottish Community Safety Network and the Scottish Government. We are indebted to all who shared their time and their expertise. This report reflects the views, opinions and experiences from those discussions, and additional written feedback received.

The Scottish Government and its partners believe that everyone has the right to be, and feel, safe in their community and homes. Embedding change which will have a positive sustainable impact, requires a process of innovating, evaluating and building on success. We can also learn from challenging issues and sharing best practice.

What has come across very clearly during this engagement, is that prevention is better than cure and that working collaboratively in partnership is essential to finding long term solutions to address antisocial behaviour and make all of our communities safer and more welcoming places to live.

We all have a role to play in preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour and hope that this report will be used as the starting point of a much broader and deeper discussion of these issues, leading to a long-term road map of how we can work collectively to prevent and address antisocial behaviour in effective ways.

We can, and should, come together to address the mutual problems we face in our communities, but we will achieve little if we approach this in a way that is not properly considered, including the potential for unintended consequences, and therefore we need to develop structures which we can work within to achieve change and incrementally build on approaches which are proven to be successful.

As such, two recommendations arise from our assessment of the qualitative evidence:

Recommendation one

That Scottish Ministers, and statutory, non-statutory and voluntary sector service providers and communities themselves recognise that our approach to preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour needs to be a long-term approach (that recognises societal changes and evolves) and that we need to make a commitment to a programme of activity which will provide a framework that will guide us in taking forward this agenda in alignment with other linked national policies.

Recommendation two

An independently chaired group of experts, potentially including statutory, non-statutory and voluntary service providers, community representatives and other key interests should be brought together to develop a long-term framework for addressing antisocial behaviour.

This should have a strong focus on steps that can be taken to prevent antisocial behaviour from occurring as well as considering the effectiveness of current approaches to tackling the antisocial behaviour which occurs.

The findings in this and other relevant, existing reports should form the foundations of the group’s work and they should not be restricted in identifying what areas are most important to move this agenda forward, which could include considerations of the effectiveness of current legislation.

The group should be able to commission and gather evidence to support their work and have a free hand to engage with anyone who can support this agenda. Central to this work should be building broad support for any long-term work that the group proposes.

Edinburgh: Scottish Government, Justice Directorate, 2023. 63p.

By Sophia Ricono-Kaufhold, Marie Czarnietzki, Rajan Darjee, Nathan Brooks, Aleshia Nanev, Michael R. Davis

The present study examined distinctions between child (n = 30) and adult (n = 212) sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) in Australia and New Zealand, contributing to the limited international research on the subject. Data, primarily sourced from judges' sentencing comments on AustLII and New Zealand Legal Information Institute, revealed significant differences. Child SHOs displayed elevated rates of pedophilia, sexual deviance, and adverse childhood experiences, including sexual abuse. They were more likely to be married, cohabitate, and target familial victims. Their crimes were more often committed during daylight and outdoors, involving tactics such as victim conning, restraints, strangulation, and hiding victim's bodies. No significant group differences emerged regarding offenders' psychopathy or sexual sadism scores. Results were interpreted in line with child SHOs' deviant sexual preferences and the routine activity theory. The study, as the first investigating child sexual homicides in Australia and New Zealand, sets the foundation for an evidence-based approach to policy and practice.

Behavioral Sciences & the Law; 2024 Volume 42, Issue 4Jul 2024

By: KARL DODD, PAUL M. SALMON, and COLIN SOLOMON

Background: Sporting organisations and governing bodies are facing increased pressure to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA) in sport. This has led to an increase in investigative reports into CSA that include recommendations on how sporting organisations could improve child safeguarding. Current peer reviewed literature on the prevention of CSA in sport, indicates that the majority of research has been on interventions at the levels of the victim and perpetrator, rather than on broader components of the sports system. However, it is not clear whether this is the case in investigative reports. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse investigative reports into CSA in five Australian sports (Swimming, Cricket, Gymnastics, Football, and Tennis), to evaluate the extent to which a systems thinking approach was adopted to understand the broader systemic factors enabling CSA in sport. Method: Factors enabling CSA detailed in the reports, as well as their accompanying recommendations, were mapped to a systems thinking-based framework. The identified enabling factors and recommendations were then evaluated to determine the extent to which a whole of systems focus had been adopted in the investigative reports. Results: In total, 30 enabling factors to CSA were identified, with the majority focused at the higher levels of the sports system (e.g., Governance, Policy, Reporting/Handling issues etc.). This contrasts with the peer reviewed literature. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the identified enabling factors to CSA align with a systems thinking approach, whereas the recommendations to safeguarding partially adhere to the tenets of system thinking.

CJRN Correlates of Crime eJournal, Vol. 7 No. 50, 09/11/2024

By Ana M. Contreras-Merino, Naima Z. Farhane-Medina, and Rosario Castillo-Mayén,

Street harassment is a widespread problem that affects women from all backgrounds, often leading to negative psychological consequences such as anxiety, depression, and reduced self-worth. Despite the pioneering development of laws protecting women’s rights, Spanish culture often normalizes this type of violence against women, and research on this context remains limited. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional study with 245 women in Spain to investigate the occurrence and impact of street harassment on psychological well-being. We used the Street Harassment Assessment Scale, a self-report measure designed to evaluate the prevalence and frequency of street harassment, and explored its asso ciation with anxiety, fear of rape, avoidance behavior, self-esteem, and adherence to sexist beliefs. The results showed that 98% of women experienced street harassment, with 80% reporting monthly occurrences. The frequency of street harass ment was correlated with increased anxiety, fear of rape and avoidance behavior, and lower self-esteem. Additionally, the results supported the link between the endorsement of sexist ideology and lower identification of events. Collectively, the results underscore the negative impact of street harassment on women’s well-being and freedom, highlighting its role as a patriarchal tool that perpetuates female objectification and subordination. An integrative feminist perspective involving various fields, including psychology, public policy, and education, among others, is necessary to create safer environments for women

Sex Roles (2024) 90:1136–1153

By John K. Roman,  Anthony Washburn,  Sofia Rodriguez; Caterina G. Roman, .; Elena I. Navarro; Jesse T. Brey; Benjamin M. Reist

The HAVEN Project (Harms After Victimization: Experience and Needs) was launched in 2020 by researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago and Temple University with support from the National Institute of Justice1 to address three gaps in the violence literature. First, the project was designed to update the pioneering 1996 NIJ study, Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look using data, measurement and analytic tools that were not available thirty years ago, and that is the subject of this report2. In the same spirit, the project developed an expanded taxonomy of harms from victimization and develops a survey instrument and methodology to facilitate the collection of self-reported data on the harms from violent victimization across multiple dimensions that are commonly excluded from violent crime harms measurement. Finally, advances in criminology have included a growing reliance on causal models to estimate the effectiveness of crime and justice interventions and reforms: the HAVEN project introduced a regression-based cost-benefit model that can be integrated into causal models3  

Chicago: NORC, 2023. 37p.

By: Basnama Ayaz, Graham Dozois, Andrea L. Baumann, Adam Fuseini, and Sioban Nelson

In healthcare settings worldwide, workplace violence (WPV) has been extensively studied. However, significantly less is known about gender-based WPV and the characteristics of perpetrators. We conducted a comprehensive scoping review on Type II (directed by consumers) and Type III (perpetuated by healthcare workers) gender based-WPV among nurses and physicians globally. For the review, we followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta Analyses extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR). The protocol for the comprehensive review was registered on the Open Science Framework on January 14, 2022, at https://osf.io/t4pfb/. A systematic search in five health and social science databases yielded 178 relevant studies that indicated types of perpetrators, with only 34 providing descriptive data for perpetrators’ gender. Across both types of WPV, men (65.1%) were more frequently responsible for perpetuating WPV compared to women (28.2%) and both genders (6.7%). Type II WPV, demonstrated a higher incidence of violence against women; linked to the gendered roles, stereotypes, and societal expectations that allocate specific responsibilities based on gender. Type III WPV was further categorized into Type III-A (horizontal) and Type III-B (vertical). With Type III WPV, gendered power structures and stereotypes contributed to a permissive environment for violence by men and women that victimized more women. These revelations emphasize the pressing need for gender-sensitive strategies for addressing WPV within the healthcare sector. Policymakers must prioritize the security of healthcare workers, especially women, through reforms and zero-tolerance policies. Promoting gender equality and empowerment within the workforce and leadership is pivotal. Additionally, creating a culture of inclusivity, support, and respect, led by senior leadership, acknowledging WPV as a structural issue and enabling an open dialogue across all levels are essential for combating this pervasive problem.

PLOS Global Public Health, Sept. 2024.