Legal Responses to Adolescent Victims of Sexual Violence

2013 ◽  
pp. 469-493
Author(s):  
Roger J.R. Levesque
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Adolescent Victims

scholarly journals Utilising the due diligence standard to interrogate Kenya's accountability efforts with regard to survivors of sexual violence in the 2007-2008 post-election violence

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Buluma Bwire ◽  
Migai Akech ◽  
Agnes Meroka-Mutua
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Election Violence ◽  
Human Rights Violation

SUMMARY Sexual violence is a human rights violation and is addressed under a growing number of international agreements including the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, among others. This article uses the due diligence standard, as elaborated on by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, to interrogate Kenya's domestic accountability efforts with regard to sexual violence in the 2007/2008 post-election violence. It finds that Kenya suffered from a number of structural and systemic shortcomings that resulted in its failure to meet its obligation to prevent, investigate, prosecute and compensate for such acts of sexual violence perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Key among them are a lack of well-coordinated multi-sectoral approaches to address sexual violence; human capacity gaps in the provision of medico-legal services to survivors; and systemic failures in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence cases. The article further highlights the hope for future accountability inherent in the recent ruling in Constitutional Petition 112 of 2013 which held the state accountable for all gaps and shortcomings in responding to sexual violence during the post-election violence. The article concludes by advocating community-based multi-sectoral approaches in prevention and response to sexual violence in the Kenyan context with an emphasis on improving both human and technical capacities for provision of medico-legal services to survivors. Key words: sexual violence; human rights; Kenya 2007-2008 postelection violence; medico-legal responses to sexual violence

Mandating Inclusion: Critical Trans Perspectives on Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocacy

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 531-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sid P. Jordan ◽  
Gita R. Mehrotra ◽  
Kiyomi A. Fujikawa
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Violence Against Women Act ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Contingent Access ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Gender Specific

In 2013, the Violence Against Women Act became one of the first federal laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination against transgender people, yet little is known about its impact in practice. This qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with transgender people working in domestic and sexual violence advocacy organizations. Building on critical and intersectional perspectives, the findings suggest that the persistence of inequities for trans survivors are tied to the reliance on criminal legal responses, contingent access to gender-specific services, compliance-focused approaches to inclusion, operating theories of gender-based violence, and the diversion of responsibility to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) programs. This study highlights the participants’ recommendations for change.

scholarly journals The Impact of Avoidant/Disengagement Coping and Social Support on the Mental Health of Adolescent Victims of Sexual Violence in Eastern Congo

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
An Verelst ◽  
Sarah Bal ◽  
Maarten De Schryver ◽  
Nanc Say Kana ◽  
Eric Broekaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Eastern Congo ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Adolescent Victims

Sanctions for Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: Is the Law on the Books the Law in Action?

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052098548
Author(s):  
Samantha Bielen ◽  
Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl ◽  
Peter Grajzl
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Unique Case ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
The Law ◽  
National Legislatures ◽  
Insight Into

Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is common, yet in many jurisdictions the law still does not adequately recognize it. In those jurisdictions that have formally criminalized IPSV, little is known about the extent to which IPSV-related law on the books is implemented in practice. Especially scarce is systematic quantitative evidence on the processing of IPSV cases by the justice system. We investigate unique case-level court data on the processing and sanctioning of violent sex crime cases in Belgium, a jurisdiction where the law adequately criminalizes IPSV, but where criminal judges are afforded broad sentencing discretion. Our data allow us to observe both the conviction and the sentencing decision. Consequently, we are able to address the endogenous sample selection concerns that arise in the assessment of IPSV-related sentencing disparities by estimating a full-fledged sample selection model. Upon inclusion of a broad range of defendant, victim, and other case controls, we show that defendants who are the victims’ spouses or partners receive statistically significantly shorter prison sentences than defendants who are unrelated to the victims, in the sense that they are neither the victims’ current or former spouses nor family. The documented extralegal disparity is quantitatively noteworthy and survives a series of robustness checks as well as alternative model specifications. Our analysis thus lends empirical credibility to the perspective that while national legislatures have often been slow to address IPSV, the justice systems may be even slower at internalizing the corresponding law. Our evidence-based insight into de facto legal responses to IPSV is of direct relevance to many jurisdictions globally.

Similarity and Differences in Sexual Violence Against Adolescents and Adult Women: The Need to Focus on Adolescent Victims

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Torazzi ◽  
Vera Merelli ◽  
Giussy Barbara ◽  
Alessandra Kustermann ◽  
Laura Marasciuolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Adolescent Victims

Evaluating the assistance to adolescent victims of sexual violence at a reference service in Brazil from 2011–2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Suyapa Becerra Torres ◽  
Caroline Alves Duarte ◽  
Barbara Zantut Wittmann ◽  
Maria Teresa Ferreira Côrtes ◽  
Ândria Cléia Alves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Reference Service ◽  
Adolescent Victims
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