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This paper reports findings from a recent study of adult protection case conferences, focusing on how the victim's views may be represented or heard.
Abstract
This paper reports findings from a recent study of adult protection case conferences, focusing on how the victim's views may be represented or heard.
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Tara A. Reis, Jennifer C. Gibbs, Daniel Howard and Emily R. Strohacker
In 2018, the National Human Trafficking hotline received 275 cases of human trafficking in Pennsylvania, a higher than average portion of the 10,949 human trafficking cases…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2018, the National Human Trafficking hotline received 275 cases of human trafficking in Pennsylvania, a higher than average portion of the 10,949 human trafficking cases received for the USA. Whether human trafficking victims receive services or enter the criminal justice system as prostitution offenders depends on how police identify them, as police officers are usually the first to interact with human trafficking victims. Thus, understanding how police identify human trafficking is important. The purpose of the study is to explore Pennsylvania police perceptions of human trafficking.
Design/methodology/approach
Scenarios were presented in a survey to 489 Pennsylvania police officers.
Findings
Police training improved officer identification of human trafficking (vs prostitution) involving older victims. Officers with more tenure were less likely to identify older victims of human trafficking than officers with less tenure. However, older officers were better able to successfully identify older (i.e. age 25 years) victims of human trafficking, but officer age had no effect on identifying younger (i.e. age 15 years) victims of human trafficking. The implications are discussed in the study.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by testing (1) whether training affects police ability to identify human trafficking victims in a scenario, controlling for other factors and (2) whether victim age affects officer identification of human trafficking victims. More officers correctly identified younger victims of human trafficking when force was explicitly stated, but more officers misidentified younger victims when force was not explicitly stated and older victims when force was explicitly stated.
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Sarah Bothamley and Ruth J. Tully
The disclosure of private images with the intent of causing distress is often described as “revenge pornography”. In the UK, this newly legislated crime has received a high level…
Abstract
Purpose
The disclosure of private images with the intent of causing distress is often described as “revenge pornography”. In the UK, this newly legislated crime has received a high level of media attention following several high profile cases, however, there is a paucity of research in this area. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 168 adults (UK general public) completed an online survey using a vignette approach. Views of the influence of perpetrator-victim relationship length and reason for termination were considered alongside perception of an offence, the necessity of police intervention, what extent revenge pornography creates psychological harm in victims, and victim blaming.
Findings
Perpetrator-victim relationship length and reason for relationship breakdown did not influence perceptions of victim blame. Participants believed that the situation described in the vignettes was likely to be an offence, and that police intervention is somewhat necessary. Participants believed that the scenario was “very likely” to create fear, and “moderately likely” to create psychological/mental harm in victims. In line with the literature relating to stalking and sexual assault, men blamed the victim significantly more than women. Furthermore, women rated police intervention as significantly more necessary than men.
Research limitations/implications
The public are recognising that revenge pornography is an offence, with consequences being fear and psychological harm, showing an awareness of the impact on victims. However, there are sex differences in the perceptions of revenge pornography and victim blaming, and this could be addressed by raising awareness of this crime. This research, which highlights that the public are aware of some of the harm caused, may encourage victims in coming forward to report such a crime.
Originality/value
There is a paucity of research into revenge pornography, and this study is one of the first in this area.
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The police have been given the responsibility of the first response to domestic violence. Their performance in this role has been inconsistent and often inadequate. While many…
Abstract
The police have been given the responsibility of the first response to domestic violence. Their performance in this role has been inconsistent and often inadequate. While many departments have the capacity to improve their response, the police acting alone are often poorly staffed and ill equipped to provide purposeful, proactive change. This study examines the efficacy of a domestic violence coordinated response team pilot project. In an effort to improve the police response and to reduce repeat incidents among intimate partners, this project teamed uniformed police officers and victim advocates as first responders/follow‐up investigators, and augmented them with personnel from probation, parole and corrections services. The pilot project concentrated exclusively on violence between intimate partners. Over 18,000 domestic violence calls for service were reviewed. Evaluators identified and extracted over 4,000 bona fide intimate partner domestic violence cases. The study found the specialized domestic violence unit performed significantly better than the control district. Higher arrest, prosecution and conviction rates resulted from cases initiated by the specialized unit. Factors impacting performance of the unit are explored and observations made concerning evaluation difficulties and strategies.
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the complex interplay between the media, school shootings and society from the perspective of mediatization of the victim. In…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the complex interplay between the media, school shootings and society from the perspective of mediatization of the victim. In mediatization of the victim, the media, in a crisis, plays a key role in connecting people, disseminating information, compiling a security-related picture and providing for potential new emergencies.
Design/approach – The chapter draws on Winfried Schulz's (2004) typology for the analysis of mediatization of the victim in the multidimensional manner. It examines how mediatization works in practice by applying Schulz's typology in the analysis of the two school shootings in Finland in Jokela in 2007 and in Kauhajoki in 2008. The empirical material consists of interviews with police, state and municipal officials and people from non-governmental organizations. Media materials (electronic and print) were collected from the major Finnish media houses and several state and community official web sites.
Findings – The chapter argues that the media shapes the construction of the victim in the process of mediatization and makes the role of victim and witness both central and ambiguous. The chapter concludes by drawing upon the work of French sociologist Luc Boltanski (1999) on morality, media and politics as it identifies the ways in which mediatization engages the affective potential of the spectator and evokes a specific disposition to act upon the suffering, thus, creating a moralizing effect on the spectator.
Originality/value – The chapter produces new theoretical and empirical knowledge on the complex interplay between the media, school shootings and society by discussing it from the perspective of the victim. Consequently, it contributes in deepening our understanding of the process of mediatization and the place of the victim in it in the case of violent crisis such as school shootings.
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Sarah E. Hennelly, Sofia Hussain, Tristan Hale, Martha Cadle, Joanne Brooke and Emma Davies
Half of British university students experience assault and harassment behaviours; few report them. Bystander intervention training has been recommended as a means of reducing…
Abstract
Purpose
Half of British university students experience assault and harassment behaviours; few report them. Bystander intervention training has been recommended as a means of reducing these behaviours, but there is little evidence about their potential effectiveness in UK contexts. The purpose of this paper is to understand UK students’ attitudes towards reporting and intervening in sexual assault, harassment and hate crimes.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods cross-sectional survey (n=201; 75.6 per cent women) was conducted in one British university. Open text data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Students considered harassment and assault unacceptable, and were confident to intervene in and likely to report incidents. However, fear of backlash was a barrier to intervening and reporting, and they felt that victims should decide whether to report incidents. Students perceived perpetrators as being ignorant about what constitutes consent, harassment and assault. They identified a need for university community education about this and how to report incidents and support peers.
Research limitations/implications
This cross-sectional survey was conducted at one UK University. The data might not reflect other students’ attitudes, and may be subject to response bias. University community bystander training should be acceptable, report and support systems might be utilised by students. This may have potential to reduce prevalence and increase reporting.
Practical implications
University community bystander training should be acceptable, report and support systems might be utilised by students. This may have potential to reduce prevalence and increase reporting.
Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate UK student attitudes to prosocial bystander behaviours.
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On 20 March 2020, the four adult convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case were executed after a long debate regarding the punishment for their crime. The Delhi rape case, unlike…
Abstract
On 20 March 2020, the four adult convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case were executed after a long debate regarding the punishment for their crime. The Delhi rape case, unlike others, was also given to the fast track court because of the worldwide outrage India received in its aftermath. Otherwise, most rape survivors rarely speak out and if they do, their lives are often endangered and threatened, depending on the severity of the case itself and the perpetrator's rank in the society. Through the analysis of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's, 2016 film Pink, and Ajay Bahl's film Section 375 (2019), this chapter explores the different ways in which mainstream Hindi cinema deals with such questions, especially in its depictions of courts. Both these films foreground India's contemporary cultural systems of fear that silence the rape survivors. They also imply that in the court cases, unless the specific court case faces intense global publicity, as was the case of the Delhi gang rape, rape survivors will never want to speak out. Moreover, the rape survivors will also hesitate to file a First Information Report (FIR) – a document that records crimes by the police against their perpetrators – limiting any possibility for justice for them. The laws surrounding rape cases are obscure and complex and finding justice for a rape victim (unless it is on a global level) is not an easy venture in India. At the time of the #metoo movement, the rape laws in India are not designed in such a way to arguably encourage victim-survivors to speak up. Instead, if rape survivors do decide to confront their perpetrators, they not only face ostracisation from society but also the danger of losing loved ones and endanger their lives as well.
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