Collective Sexual Violence in Bosnia and Sierra Leone: A Comparative Case Study Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 1075-1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tusty ten Bensel ◽  
Lisa L. Sample
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Sexually Violent ◽  
Conflict Framing

Social scientists have long studied the patterns, motivations, and recidivism rates of sexual offenders; however, the majority of prior research has examined rape, where victims are assaulted by a single offender in isolated events. Often overlooked are sexually violent assaults committed during armed conflicts, which often exhibit group-level sexual offending. This oversight could be a result of perceived notions that sexual violence during conflict is a rare or regrettable event; however, it has been documented consistently throughout history. The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of sexual violence during war by comparing and contrasting preconflict characteristics, conflict framing, and justifications for sexual violence in the Bosnian and Sierra Leone armed conflicts. This greater understanding can then be used to identify factors that may contribute to the collectivization of sexual violence during war.

Marriage: A Get Out of Jail Free Card?

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-190
Author(s):  
Siane Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human

Abstract Marital rape is a particularly heinous form of sexual violence that occurs within intimate relationships. However, throughout much of the world, the marriage contract affords legal immunity to marital partners who would otherwise be convicted as sexual offenders. By reviewing the laws of the Commonwealth jurisdictions, this research highlights the necessity for reform in many jurisdictions that continue to allow for marital exemptions to sexual offending. This review identified three main forms of marital exemption, that is the general marital exemption to the primary sexual offence, the creation of spousal-specific sexual offences, and the use of marital exemptions to remove or reduce liability for sexual offences involving minors. The operation of these marital exemptions is then considered in the context of international human rights law and its prohibition on sexual violence within intimate relationships. An analysis of the jurisprudence surrounding Article 2 of CEDAW, Article 19 of the CRC and the prohibition of torture informs the argument that international human rights law requires the prohibition of marital exemptions to sexual offending throughout the Commonwealth nations. Marital exemptions continue to afford sexual offending with impunity across many Commonwealth jurisdictions in breach of the international human rights obligations of those nations and reform should occur in order to uphold the rights of sexual violence survivors.

Child molesters and other sex offenders

2012 ◽  
pp. 1960-1965
Author(s):  
Stephen Hucker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Child Molesters ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Sexually Violent ◽  
Risk Treatment ◽  
Offender Assessment

In most Western societies sexual offenders are more reviled than almost any other type of offender. On both sides of the Atlantic this is reflected in the sanctions that specifically address this group such as Sexually Violent Predator laws in the United States, Dangerous and Long-Term Offender legislation in Canada, and Sex Offender Orders in the UK. Related approaches include the introduction of sex offender registries and the widespread requirement that children at risk from sexual predators be reported by professionals and others. Although prone to find reasons to delegate the assessment and management of sex offenders to specialized forensic services, the general psychiatrist will find it impossible to avoid them entirely. It is important, therefore, for the general psychiatrist to have some understanding of this area in order to make appropriate decisions and recommendations. This chapter looks at definitions of sexual offending, types of sexual offender, assessment of sex offenders, assessment of risk, treatment issues, and ethical issues.

scholarly journals What clinicians need to know before assessing risk in sexual offenders

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajan Darjee ◽  
Katharine Russell
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
General Information ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Risk Assessment Tools

SummaryThis article covers what clinicians need to know before undertaking a risk assessment of a sexual offender. It discusses general information about sexual offenders (characteristics, aetiological models, recidivism rates and legal responses); the association between mental disorders and sexual offending; risk and protective factors; and risk assessment tools.

Motivations for sexual violence in armed conflicts: voices from combatants in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-33
Author(s):  
Ali Bitenga Alexandre ◽  
Kitoka Moke Mutondo ◽  
Juvenal Bazilashe Balegamire ◽  
Amini Emile ◽  
Denis Mukwege
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Republic Of Congo

The 2015 Static-99R: Alternative Recidivism Tables for High-Risk Offenders

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (14) ◽  
pp. 1593-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Elwood ◽  
Sharon M. Kelley ◽  
James C. Mundt
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Sexual Recidivism ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Sexually Violent ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Sexually Violent Person ◽  
Male Sex Offenders

The Static-99R is an actuarial scale that is commonly used to assess the recidivism risk of male sex offenders. Hanson, Thornton, Helmus, and Babchishin recently revised the Static-99R norms based on revised analyses that excluded the large Bridgewater sample. As a result, the sample size of the high risk/high need (HR/HN) group was reduced substantially, which increased the confidence intervals around the predicted recidivism rates. This study provides alternative 5- and 10-year recidivism rates based on logistic regression analyses of the entire 2009 Static-99R HR/HN group that includes the Bridgewater sample. These rates fit the observed 2009 data well and have smaller confidence intervals. We propose that using alternative sexual recidivism rates from the 2009 HR/HN group is a viable option for assessing sexually violent person (SVP) and other high-risk offenders.

scholarly journals Survivors’ Beliefs About the Causes of Sexual Offending: An Australian Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122199877
Author(s):  
Kelly Richards
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Australian Study ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Policy Responses

Policies designed to prevent sexual (re)offending are often proposed on behalf of survivors of sexual violence. However, no research has examined survivors’ beliefs about the causes of sexual offending. This is a critical gap, because how individuals understand the causes of sexual offending has long been thought to inform their support for particular policy responses. This article presents findings from the first study to specifically examine survivors’ views about the causes of sexual offending, based on interviews with 33 survivors from Australia. It demonstrates that survivors’ beliefs are highly complex and multifaceted, and destabilizes the uniform survivor of governmental imagination.

scholarly journals Psychosocial Correlates of Attitudes Toward Male Sexual Violence in a Sample of Financial Crime, Property Crime, General Violent, and Homicide Offenders

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 705-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Debowska ◽  
Daniel Boduszek ◽  
Dominic Willmott
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Property Crime ◽  
Psychopathic Personality ◽  
Financial Crime ◽  
Dating Relationships ◽  
Female Partners ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sexually Violent ◽  
Male Inmates

Although those currently serving prison sentences for sexual violence can be identified and receive treatment, the number of prisoners with a history of sexual violence against female partners is unknown. Methods to identify prisoners with a proclivity for such violence and accurately assess the risk they pose before and after incarceration are therefore required. Here, we aimed to assess the level of sexually violent attitudes within dating relationships and to examine their associations with experiences of child abuse and neglect (CAN), psychopathic personality traits, prisonization, number of incarcerations, age, years of schooling, relationship status, and parenting among different types of offenders (financial crime, property crime, general violent, and homicide offenders). Data were collected among a large systematically selected sample of adult male inmates ( N = 1,123). We demonstrated that sexual violence-supportive attitudes appear to be a function of child sexual abuse and psychopathic personality traits, and may be developed through early socialization experiences as well as incarceration. Practical implications of current findings are discussed.

Sex Offender Registration: Implications and Difficulties for Ireland

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie McAlinden
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Sex Offender Registration ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The Media

This paper explores the implications and difficulties of a system of sex offender registration for the two jurisdictions of Ireland. From the orthodox perspective, registration appears justified. Sexual offending has increase and this is used by the media to generate a ‘moral panic’. However, in terms of Blumer's (1971) developmental perspective, sexual offenders in the community have been socially constructed in Ireland, as a problem requiring specific action. This perspective most adequately explains the formulation of legislation. Arguments expounded in favour of registration include the supposedly high recidivism among sex offenders, the inadequacy of supervision provisions and the resulting need to ‘track’ the offender for public protection. Yet a plethora of obstacles which were not considered at the time the legislation was being formulated, such as cost and inadequate policing resources, may impede its effectiveness in aiding law enforcement and reduce it to symbolic significance only. Given these difficulties, I argue that registration is not an appropriate response to the problem of released sexual offenders in Ireland. Rather, from the social constructionist perspective, I suggest that it is better to ‘treat’ the sex offender through less formal and stringent means in the community, away from the criminal justice process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document