Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Almost every country in the world is affected by this scourge, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. On the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the UN is calling on the international community to urgently step up responses to the trafficking of children and young people, who make up one-third of all victims worldwide. [Read More]�

18 July marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela. Honouring his centenary and outstanding contribution to a culture of peace and freedom, UNODC draws attention to the more than 10 million prisoners worldwide as well as to the work of those entrusted with their safe, secure and humane custody. In his statement, UNODC Executive Director said: "The legacy of Nelson Mandela is vast, his life of service encompassing contributions to peace and reconciliation, promotion and protection of human rights, the fight against poverty and the advancement of social justice." [Read More]

The Government of South Africa officially launched the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, named after Nelson Mandela, the late President of the country. In recognition of the United Nations' role in facilitating relevant negotiation process among Member States, the Government of South Africa presented to the Organization, through UNODC, a memorable gift: the replica of Nelson Mandela's shoes that he wore on the day of his release from prison. [Read More]�

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24994.

Paula A. Johnson, Sheila E. Widnall, and Frazier F. Benya, Editors

Description

Over the last few decades, research, activity, and funding has been devoted to improving the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine. In recent years the diversity of those participating in these fields, particularly the participation of women, has improved and there are significantly more women entering careers and studying science, engineering, and medicine than ever before. However, as women increasingly enter these fields they face biases and barriers and it is not surprising that sexual harassment is one of these barriers.

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The Internal Security Fund (ISF) was set up for the period 2014-20, with a total of EUR 3.8 billion for the seven years. The Fund will promote the implementation of the Internal Security Strategy, law enforcement cooperation and the management of the Union's external borders. The ISF is composed of two instruments, ISF Borders and Visa and ISF Police.

Achieving the key objectives

The ISF Police component of the Internal Security Fund will contribute to ensuring a high level of security in the EU. Within this general objective, the Funds' activities will focus on achieving two specific objectives:

• Fight against crime: combating cross-border, serious and organised crime including terrorism, and reinforcing coordination and cooperation between law enforcement authorities and other national authorities of EU States, including with EUROPOL and other relevant EU bodies, and with relevant non-EU and international organisations;
• Managing risk and crisis: enhancing the capacity of EU States and the Union for managing effectively security-related risk and crisis, and preparing for protecting people and critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks and other security related incidents.

For the 2014-20 period, slightly over EUR 1 billion is available for funding actions under the ISF Police instrument, of which EUR 662 million will be channeled through shared management and EUR 342 million through direct management.

Concrete actions to be funded through this instrument can include a wide range of initiatives, such as setting up and running IT systems, acquisition of operational equipment, promoting and developing training schemes and ensuring administrative and operational coordination and cooperation.

The Fund's beneficiaries

All EU States except Denmark and the United Kingdom participate in the implementation of the ISF Police. Examples of beneficiaries of the programmes implemented under this Fund can be state and federal authorities, local public bodies, non-governmental organisations and private and public law companies.

General implementation mechanisms of the ISF Police

National Programmes: the ISP Police fund is mainly implemented by EU participating countries through shared management. Each country implements the fund through national annual programmes on the basis of multiannual programming.

Union Actions : part of the ISF Police fund is managed by the Commission (direct and indirect management) through Union Actions, which include Calls for Proposals, procurement, direct awards, delegation agreements.  For these actions the Commission approves Annual Work Programmes that define the priorities and objectives for each year, including the priorities for the Calls for Proposals.

Crime fiction is now officially the most popular genre in the world. From Sherlock Holmes to CSI, fictional depictions of this good-versus-evil conflict have sought to utilise the latest advances in scientific knowledge. But how closely does crime fiction mirror the realities of police investigation? How far is modern science able to help in the fight to reduce and prevent crime?

This unique, free-to-attend event, held in central London, and jointly organised by one of the world's top crime research departments (UCL Jill Dando Institute) and one of the world's foremost crime writers' organisations (the CWA - Crime Writers Association), brings together bestselling crime authors with leading academics who research crime. Together they will discuss the ways in which crime prevention and detection differs in real life from how it is depicted in our favourite tales of murder and mayhem.

So, if you have ever wondered whether DNA really is the 'magic bullet', or how murder trials really work, or even how an innocent person might end up with a killer's gunshot residue on their hands just by riding in the wrong taxi, then this event is for you.

A must for all those interested in crime prevention and detection, whether in real life or in fiction.

To register for this event please click here

Public health

Research

Recent intimate partner violence against women and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

1. Loraine J Bacchus,
2. Meghna Ranganathan,
3. Charlotte Watts,
4. Karen Devries

Author affiliations

1. Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK

1. Correspondence to Dr Loraine J Bacchus; Loraine.Bacchus@lshtm.ac.uk

Abstract

Objective We reviewed cohort studies to determine the magnitude and temporal direction of the association between recent intimate partner violence (IPV) and a range of adverse health outcomes or health risk behaviours.

Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO were searched from the first record to November 2016. Recent IPV was defined as occurring up to and including the last 12 months; all health outcomes were eligible for inclusion. Results were combined using random-effects meta-analysis.

Results 35 separate cohort studies were retrieved. Eight studies showed evidence of a positive association between recent IPV and subsequent depressive symptoms, with a pooled OR from five estimates of 1.76 (95% CI 1.26 to 2.44, I2=37.5%, p=0.172). Five studies demonstrated a positive, statistically significant relationship between depressive symptoms and subsequent IPV; the pooled OR from two studies was 1.72 (95% CI 1.28 to 2.31, I2=0.0%, p=0.752). Recent IPV was also associated with increased symptoms of subsequent postpartum depression in five studies (OR=2.19, 95% CI 1.39 to 3.45, p=0.000), although there was substantial heterogeneity. There was some evidence of a bidirectional relationship between recent IPV and hard drug use and marijuana use, although studies were limited. There was no evidence of an association between recent IPV and alcohol use or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), although there were few studies and inconsistent measurement of alcohol and STIs.

Conclusions Exposure to violence has significant impacts. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the temporal relationship between recent IPV and different health issues, while considering the differential effects of recent versus past exposure to IPV. Improved measurement will enable an understanding of the immediate and longer term health needs of women exposed to IPV. Healthcare providers and IPV organisations should be aware of the bidirectional relationship between recent IPV and depressive symptoms.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42016033372.

• substance misuse
• public health
• mental health

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019995

An article by Jane Mulcahy, an Irish Research Council funded PhD scholar in Law at University College Cork, co-funded by the Probation Service. Her employment partner is the Cork Alliance Centre, a desistance project in Cork City. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and do not represent those of the Irish Research Council, the Probation Service, or the Cork Alliance Centre. 

Ireland’s prison population increased by 400% between 1970 and 2011.  Between 1997 and 2011 Ireland’s prison population doubled. In its 1997 election manifesto the Fianna Fáil political party declared war on crime, pledging to “adopt a zero tolerance policy on all crime” and to create 2,000 more prison places. On the 22 of July 2011, a total of 5,479 prisoners were in the prison system, with a further 612 on temporary release (TR).

On 16 February 2017, there were 4,142 prisoners in the system, including 263 on TR. Of the number on TR, 43 people were on the Community Support Scheme, 61 were on Community Return under Probation Supervision and 58 were on “Other temporary release including under probation supervision”.

According to the IPS Annual Report 2016, 90.4% of all committals under sentence were for less than twelve months in 2016. Those serving long sentences face greater rupture to their familial and other relationships than short sentence prisoners. On the other hand, more can arguably be done with long sentence prisoners as regards constructive sentence planning and providing opportunities for personal development in prison.

In recent years the Irish Prison Service (IPS), in partnership with the Department of Justice and Equality, third sector organisations and other Criminal Justice Agencies (CJAs), namely the Probation Service and An Garda Síochána, has developed three welcome initiatives to engage with different cohorts of prisoners. All of the initiatives have a post-release supervision or support component, as well as a strong focus on interagency working.

The Community Support Scheme (CSS) provides post-release support to people serving sentences under twelve months. Under the Community Return Scheme (CRS) suitable longer sentence prisoners swap prison time for unpaid Community Service. The Joint Agency Response to Crime, involves the intensive case management of carefully selected prolific offenders by the CJAs, using a carrot and stick approach.

The Community Support Scheme

CSS is an early release program for prisoners serving sentences of less than twelve months in prison. Prior to its development as an IPS pilot project with Cork prison and the Cork Alliance Centre in April 2013 and subsequent roll-out to other prisons, many short sentence prisoners were released with little or no warning on TR, often at the weekend, with no community supports and perhaps no money or safe place to stay.

The third sector plays a crucial role in the operation of CSS. Before release, a support worker from a community based organisation meets with prisoners serving less than a year in prison to see if they may wish to engage with the programme and avail of structured support upon release. Prisoners may, of course, decline the offer of support. For instance, they may view participation in CSS as too onerous on them if they live in the countryside and would be reliant on public transport to sign on daily at a specified police station. If prisoners opt out of CSS, they will stay in prison until their remission date.

Prisoners who avail of the scheme, develop a post-release plan with their support worker. Following a pre-release consultation regarding their suitability, willingness to participate and risks/needs analysis (homelessness, addiction, psychosocial disorder etc.), they can be released at any point in their sentence. The primary aim of CSS is to provide practical support and structure in the difficult days and weeks after release.

The TR conditions specify that CSS participants must attend weekly meetings with their support worker in community for a period of time. CSS participants will be returned to custody if they breach the terms of their TR. When they return to the prison to sign on each week, they may be refused a further period of TR and held at the prison. This could happen if they are no longer welcome at the family home in order to meet the residence requirement in their release conditions or have relapsed on drugs and are considered to be a danger to themselves.

The Community Return Scheme

The Community Return Scheme (CRS) won a runner up award for innovation at the Confederation of European Probation Awards 2016, for outstanding contribution to rehabilitation.

In April 2011, following a commitment in the Government Programme for National Recovery about the planned super prison (the Thornton Hall Prison Project) on a green field site in Dublin, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter set up the Thornton Hall Review Group to review the plans, and to make recommendations on the twin problems of overcrowding and poor physical conditions. In July 2011, the Review Group recommended that “the Minister for Justice and Equality should introduce an incentivised scheme for earned temporary release coupled with a requirement to do community service under supervision.”

A pilot CRS was launched in October 2012 and commenced in November 2012 in line with the recommendations of the Thornton Hall Project Review Group. Prisoners who are serving sentences of between one and eight years’ imprisonment, may be released at the half-way point of their sentence instead of getting normal remission at the three-quarter point.  Under the scheme, people do a week of community service in exchange for extra remission of one month. Essentially, they “swap prison time for time in the community paying back through unpaid work”, such as graffiti removal, landscaping or breaking pallets for kindling. Reportedly, 90% of CRS participants successfully complete the scheme.

The Joint Agency Response to Crime

The Joint Agency Response to Crime (J-ARC) was launched in November 2015 and is the Irish adaptation of IOM. The three Dublin-based J-ARC pilot projects were established to provide for “co-ordinated and enhanced levels of co-operation and co-ordination between An Garda Síochána [the Irish Police Service], the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service”. They work with different groups of prolific offenders, namely:

• STRIVE operates in the Ballymun area of Dublin, focussing on “quality of life” offences, such as issues relating to drugs consumption, public order and criminal damage and in the locality.
• The ACER 3 project works intensively with burglars in certain postal codes who were identified by the police Analyst as being the most prolific burglars in the area.
• The “Change Works” programme run by the Bridge Project intervenes with high risk violent offenders and adopts a strengths-based, integrated case management approach.

In September 2016, several new J-ARC projects targeting prolific offenders in Waterford, Dundalk and Limerick were announced. In June 2017, the Youth Agency Response to Crime (Y-JARC) was launched for problematic young offenders in Cork and Dublin. According to the CJAs, there are palpable benefits to interagency working and swift, systematic data sharing about breach of release conditions, risks relating to drugs relapse or the acquisition of fresh charges in terms of prompt decision-making and immediate consequences.

Conclusion

Prior to 2011, the IPS was constantly in fire-fighting mode, struggling to cope with chronic overcrowding and poor physical conditions. At this time there was no real, sustained effort on the part of the CJAs to adopt either an intelligible, evidence informed penal policy, or a “whole of Justice” approach to dealing with offending behaviour, barriers to successful reentry and recidivism. The three schemes discussed above are, therefore, remarkably innovative if only because the CJAs now place greater emphasis on, and see real value in, working together towards achieving common goals.

Children come into contact with the justice system in many different ways. This can be for family matters such as divorce or adoption, in administrative justice for nationality or immigration issues or in criminal justice as victims, witnesses or perpetrators of crimes. When faced with the justice system, children are thrown into an intimidating adult world which they cannot understand. It is therefore necessary to ensure that both access to and the processes within justice are always friendly towards children.

The Council of Europe has developed many legal standards and practical guidelines in the field of child-friendly justice. The most extensive set of standards are contained in the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice. Child-friendly justice for all children is a key priority area of the Council of Europe’s Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021), which supports member states in strengthening children’s access to, treatment in and participation in civil, administrative and criminal justice proceedings.

Therefore, it is important to ensure that professionals in member states have a comprehensive and professional knowledge of the relevant standards applicable in this area, in particular with respect to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its case-law on child-friendly justice.

The free online course on Child-friendly Justice and Children's Rights was developed as a joint initiative between the Council of Europe Children's Rights Division and the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) with the primary purpose of strengthening and harmonising the knowledge of the ECHR and other relevant European standards on child-friendly justice across the Council of Europe member states.

There are nine modules:

1. Introduction
2. Child-friendly justice
3. Non-judicial proceedings
4. General elements
5. Interactions with children in judicial systems - main challenges
6. Interdisciplinarity
7. Deprivation of liberty
8. Violence against children
9. Migration and asylum

The course is available on the HELP e-learning platform, upon the creation of an account. The course brief can be downloaded here.

Vienna

Austria

AT

4 Dec 2018 to 6 Dec 2018

The theme of the Austrian Presidency

Recent studies concerning public safety have shown that despite a measurable decrease in the occurrence of crime over all, the subjective feeling of safety among the citizens of Austria has declined in recent years. During the Austrian Presidency our main focus will therefore lie on how to strengthen the community and the cooperation with the community to fight crime and organized crime. The Presidency will organize a large-scale international conference in December, which will revolve around this theme and invite national and international experts to present initiatives and projects that enable the improvement of the subjective feeling of safety of our citizens through positive exposure and cooperation with law enforcement.

Events organized by the Austrian Presidency

• Executive Committee (ExCom) Meeting of the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN)

Dates: 06.11.2018 - 07.11.2018

• European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN) Community Policing Conference & Best Practice Conference

Dates: 04.12.2018 - 06.12.2018

Documents regarding the Call for projects

• Presidency letter - Call for projects, ECPA 2017 (link is external)
• Annex I: Template applicable to the ECPA projects (link is external) (Word document)
• Annex II: Evaluation form (link is external)
• Annex III: Rules and procedures for awarding and presenting the European Crime Prevention Award (link is external)
• Annex IV: Guidelines for presenters (link is external)

For more information, please contact the EUCPN Secretariat eucpn@ibz.eu.

Brussels, 22 August 2018

Yesterday, the Commission awarded €9 million in emergency assistance to Italy to help improve access to healthcare in reception facilities for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection. The financial assistance will reach over 42,000 people in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Toscana, and Sicily. Particular attention will be given to the needs of vulnerable persons, including women and children. Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship said: "Italy has been under particular pressure over the past years and the Commission will not relent in supporting the Italian efforts when it comes to managing migration and giving shelter to those in need of protection. The funding will help to address basic healthcare needs by helping to ensure adequate access to medical services when needed. The Commission will continue supporting all Member States under pressure whilst continuing to work towards long-term durable European solutions". With this award, the Commission has mobilised over €200 million in emergency assistance to support migration management in Italy. The emergency funding comes on top of €653.7 million allocated to Italy under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) national programme 2014-2020. (For more information: Tove Ernst – Tel.: +32 229 86764; Markus Lammert – Tel.: +32 229 80423)

Concentrations : la Commission approuve la création d'une entreprise commune par ENGIE et GreenYellow

La Commission Européenne a approuvé, en vertu du règlement sur les concentrations, la création d'une entreprise commune par les sociétés ENGIE et GreenYellow, les deux basées en France. L'entreprise commune sera principalement active sur le marché du développement, de la construction, de l'exploitation et de la maintenance de centrales photovoltaïques. ENGIE est active dans les métiers du gaz, de l'électricité et des services liés à l'énergie. GreenYellow est active dans le secteur des solutions photovoltaïques et d'efficacité énergétique. La Commission a conclu que la concentration envisagée ne soulevait pas de problème de concurrence compte tenu des chevauchements horizontaux et des relations verticales très limités entre les activités des entreprises. La transaction a été examinée en vertu de la procédure simplifiée de contrôle des concentrations. De plus amples informations sont disponibles sur le site internet concurrence de la Commission, dans le registre public des affaires sous le numéro d'affaire M.9020. (Pour plus d'informations: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 229 80100

Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of joint control over Aqualia by IFM and FCC

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of joint control over FCC Aqualia S.A. (“Aqualia”) of Spain by IFM Investors Pty Ltd of Australia and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (“FCC”) of Spain. Aqualia is mainly active in water management and treatment, predominantly in Spain. IFM is an investor-owned global investment manager. FCC has a diversified business portfolio, which includes, among others, environmental services and water management, construction of large infrastructures, cement production and renewable energy production. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns since there are no overlaps between the companies' activities. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.9030.

Highlights - Local Adaptations of Crime Prevention Programs: A Toolkit

This toolkit is a summary of a larger project that consists of a broad literature review reflecting current theory, practice and knowledge on the local adaptation of intervention programs in a variety of disciplines.

‎

Summary - Local Adaptations of Crime Prevention Programs: A Toolkit

This is a summary of the document titled 'Research Highlights – Local Adaptations of Crime Prevention Programs: A Toolkit'.

Information Sheet - Sustainability Study: National Crime Prevention Strategy Programs

The purpose of this Sustainability Study was to determine the extent to which the National Crime Prevention Strategy's funded crime prevention projects were sustained following the five year funding period.

The 2018 Stockholm Criminology Symposium attracted around 200 speakers and featured many interesting sessions. If you were unable to make it to this year’s symposium, fear not – all sessions in the auditorium can be seen at  the webpage and on the Symposium’s YouTube channel. You also have access to some of the Power Point presentations that were used during the Symposium.

The main theme for the Stockholm Criminology Symposium 2018 was Models for successful policing.

Click here to see sessions and presentations

The EU justice scoreboard provides comparable data on the independence, quality, and efficiency of national justice systems.

It is an information tool that helps the EU achieve more effective justice. The scoreboard mainly focusses on civil, commercial and administrative cases to pave the way for a more investment, business and citizen-friendly environment.

The CSG Justice Center recently released a first-of-its-kind, web-based resource that combines extensive data analyses, case studies, and recommended strategies from all 50 states to help policymakers address their state’s specific public safety challenges. View the report.

6-9 September 2018

Marseille, France

ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE

The conference “Brave New Worlds?!” – taking its cue from Aldous Huxley’s famous 1932 dystopia – hinges on three interconnected challenges for democracies and citizenship education in a rapidly transforming world:

• the ongoing crises of Western liberal democracies and the worldwide trend of a ‘democratic recession’ (Larry Diamond), demonstrated by the rise of nationalist and populist forces in Europe and in other parts of the world. How can citizenship education confront these trends –intellectually and practically?
• the (inevitable) and ambivalent role of emotions driving our responses and reactions to a world shaped by uncertainties, fears and ‘out and beyond our control’. How do we get emotions and politics right? How can we reach “a new emotional deal”? How does it affect citizenship education?
• the ongoing technological transformation that digitises our everyday life, giving large technological companies and social media groups the power to manipulate globally. Can citizenship education burst (the) bubbles?

This year’s NECE conference in Marseille will focus on these transnational processes and provide a platform where citizens from more than 40 countries can discuss how to re-invent democratic representation and citizenship education – both in terms of countries and disciplines.

Our goals are:

• enabling citizenship educators and citizenship activist to discuss and find concepts, ideas and tools to deal with crises and complexity
• offering a platform for different political views, perspectives, concepts and approaches to citizenship and education
• contributing to new alignments among citizenship professionals and activists to make advocacy and civic action on the European level more relevant
• building new networks and facilitating joint action with providers of citizenship education in France and the Marseille region.

Download the NECE 2018 Conference Programme (short version)

Promoting an Inclusive Europe:
Supporting the Effective Integration of non-EU Migrants

Central Brussels

Thursday 6th September 2018

KEY SPEAKERS

Theodora Kostakopoulou
Professor of European Union Law, European Integration and and Public Policy
The University of Warwick

Josephine Liebl
Head of International Advocacy
ECRE - European Council on Refugees and Exiles 

Erik Ballhausen
Social Inclusion Call Manager
EACEA - Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, European Commission  

Mads Ted Drud-Jensen
Senior Adviser
The Danish Refugee Council 

Aude Meulemeester
Social Worker
La LDH - La Ligue Des Droits De L'Homme

Aziza Yussupova
Policy Officer
ENSIE - European Network of Social Integration Enterprises 

Heather Roy
Secretary General
Eurodiaconia 

Antonio Fantasia
Policy and Advocacy Officer
Caritas Europa

Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Policy and Campaigns Manager
Migrants Resource Centre

Eszter Somogyi
Project Manager
European Youth Forum

Magdalena Boehm
Programme Manager
ICMC - International Catholic Migration Commission Europe

Event Details  Event Brochure  Website  Register to Attend