News

Pino, A., Dartnall, E., Shields, L., Flores Guevara, L., Duma, T., Lawrence, T., Majumdar, S., Rizvi, R. (2020).

Violence against women (VAW) remains a globally pervasive human rights violation. According to Care International, one-third of women worldwide will experience physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of men at some point in their lives.i Much of this happens in the workplace, including the factory environments of global supply chains. In India and Bangladesh, for example, research shows that some 60% of garment workers have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.ii To most effectively respond to VAW – and successfully prevent it – both multi-sectoral and broad societal involvement are required. The initiatives of governments and civil society organisations alone are not sufficient for the effective roll-out of the vast number of programmes required to affect the widespread change in social norms and behaviour that is required. Nor are they sufficient to cater for survivors in need of services. Active engagement with the private sector is required. The UN’s 17 Social Development Goals (SDGs) represent a plan of action to promote partnerships with the private sector in order to achieve what the UN calls the 2030 Agenda. The International Labour Organization’s Violence and Harassment Convention of 2019 (or ILO’s C190) additionally draws attention to how workplace violence, which includes sexual harrassment and abuse, is a human rights violation. Global movements such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, #Cuéntalo, #NiUnaMás, and #NiUnaMenos, have further opened the door for millions of women to share their stories, not only of sexual abuse, harassment and rape, but also of everyday sexism, including sexism in the workplace. These conventions and movements are helping to leverage impetus for a wider discussion of the role of the private sector in not only responding to violence against women, but ending it. Private sector engagement in the VAW terrain is not new, but it is also by no means exhaustive.

This Knowledge Exchange is based on a SVRI/BSR joint webinar discussing the role of the private sector in violence against women (VAW) prevention and response. It offers tips and recommendations for effective private sector partnership with due consideration for the ongoing prevalence of violence and harassment of women in the workplace

July 2020

You can check the draft programme of Eurocrim 2020 following this link:

https://e024fbf5-6c7b-4d28-a274-3ea640442f02.filesusr.com/ugd/7a9c76_6f3ddf703ef4492d811bd434dcad65c7.pdf

(in the document, you may click on the name of each working group on page 3 to see their panels).

The final programme will be available in early September.

A virtual conference to bring together OC scholars in the absence of meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When: 24 consecutive hours, beginning November 10, 2020 (Nov. 11 in Asia and Oceania) Topics: Trafficking, smuggling, counterfeiting, corruption, illicit markets, emerging crimes, and policy issues.

Audience and participants: academics, researchers, practitioners, students.

Co-sponsors: CIROC, IASOC, ECPR-SGOC, GI-TOC.

Conference background: i. A 24-hour conference to accommodate a time-bound, non-traveling global audience.

ii. Avoiding webinar "lectures," leaving more space for questions and discussion.

iii. Opportunities for audience interaction maximized. All sessions are 75 minutes in length.

Five Session Formats:

a. Regular panel session (RPS): a moderator and three panelists, limited to 10-minute presentations. Introductions by the moderator, followed by 30 minutes of presentations (3 x 10), then questions from those submitted online via chat. Submit individual submission proposals to Dina Siegel Dina.S@uu.nl or full panel submissions to Jay Albanese jsalbane@vcu.edu

b. Research Note "Catwalk" session (RNC): a moderator and four presenters. Speakers have 5 minutes to summarize their work/idea with any results, and why it is important. Then the online audience asks questions. Lots of interaction, brainstorming encouraged. Individual or full session proposals to: Dina Siegel Dina.S@uu.nl

c. Commentary on OC policy session (CPS): a moderator and up to four presenters, including practitioners or policymakers. Speakers get 5 minutes to state their perspective on a single current or proposed policy or strategy related to organized crime at the local, national, or international levels. Comments from the online audience for the presenters. Individual or full session proposals to: Felia Allum F.S.Allum@bath.ac.uk

d. Virtual library interview (VLI): a moderator will interview a recent (2019-2020) book author with a short summary of the book, followed by a one-on-one interview with the online audience submitting questions. Submissions to: Jay Albanese jsalbane@vcu.edu

Boxall, Hayley

Morgan, Anthony

Brown, Rick

ISSN

2206-7302

ISBN

9781925304718

Published Date

13-07-2020

Subject

Family and domestic violence

Women

Surveys

Series

Statistical Bulletin

28

Australian Institute of Criminology

Abstract

This paper presents the findings from an online survey of 15,000 Australian women about their experience of domestic violence during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the three months prior to the survey, conducted in May 2020, 4.6 percent of women who responded to the survey experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or former cohabiting partner. Almost six percent (5.8%) of women experienced coercive control and 11.6 percent reported experiencing at least one form of emotionally abusive, harassing or controlling behaviour.

For many women, the pandemic coincided with the onset or escalation of violence and abuse. Two-thirds of women who experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former cohabiting partner since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic said the violence had started or escalated in the three months prior to the survey.

Many women, particularly those experiencing more serious or complex forms of violence and abuse, reported safety concerns were a barrier to help-seeking.

Hughes, Caitlin

Hulme, Shann

Ritter, Alison

ISSN

1836-2206

ISBN

9781925304510

Published Date

02-07-2020

Subject

Comparative analysis

Cocaine

Amphetamines

Heroin

Series

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice

598

Australian Institute of Criminology

Abstract

In illicit drug markets, the price and purity of drugs change frequently. While it is well known that purity-adjusted price affects drug use, impacts on other outcomes are less clear. This rapid review examines the relationship between price, purity and seven population level measures of drug-related harm and any differences across three drug types. With a few exceptions, it found an inverse relationship between purity-adjusted price and drug-related harm, with higher purity-adjusted price associated with less drug-related harm, and lower purity-adjusted price associated with increased harm. This shows the value of price and purity data for predicting drug market impacts and the importance of improving price and purity data collection and analyses, particularly in Australia.

Submitted by Edie at ISSUP on 24 July 2020

Created by

UNODC

Format

Websites

The Treatnet Family training package was developed as part of the UNODC Treatnet training strategy to support Member States in their efforts to provide evidence-based drug use disorder treatment and care.

Treatnet Family contributes especially to the part of the UNODC Treatnet training package that covers elements of psychosocial treatment, designed as a training-oftrainers package to provide quality psychosocial support and services to patients/clients suffering from drug use disorders.

Copyright © 2020 The Council of State Governments Justice Center, All rights reserved

New data analyses show that between July 6 and August 2, the total number of COVID-19 cases among incarcerated people in state prison systems increased 12 percent each week. The states with the highest total cases among incarcerated people include Texas, Florida, and California, however, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Delaware have the highest proportion of cases among people incarcerated in their state prisons. 

Our latest data visualizations detail how the outbreak is spreading in state prisons.

Dive deeper >

The Australian Institute of Criminology has today released a Research Report - Review of the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery 2015-19.

The report describes activities undertaken by the Australian government to address human trafficking and slavery. It documents the work of the Commonwealth in preventing human trafficking and slavery; detecting, investigating and prosecuting offenders; and protecting and supporting victims.

The findings show there was strong commitment to proactive identification and reporting of human trafficking and slavery cases, assistance for victims to participate in criminal justice processes, and access to specialist and individualised support services.

There was also a focus on victim support that recognised the rights and needs of trafficked people, was delivered in a timely manner, and was appropriate for a diverse victim cohort.

The review identified a need to more closely monitor the effectiveness of support provided to victims and their experiences of recovery. It also identified a need for greater investment in data collection to support monitoring and evaluation of initiatives.

The paper is available for free download on the AIC website: https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr17

UCL Department of Security and Crime Science
University College London

Summary: This study identified 20 applications of AI and related technologies which could be used for crime now or in the future. Future crimes were ranked as either low, medium or high concern in relation to the harm they could cause, the criminal profit (achieving a financial return, terror, harm or reputational goal), the achievability of the crime and its difficulty to defeat. Six crimes were identified as most concerning: audio and video impersonation, driverless vehicles as weapons, tailored phishing, disrupting AI-controlled systems, large-scale blackmail and AI-authored fake news. Introduction Applications of AI are a growing feature of, and are improving modern life: from ‘personal assistants’ (such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home) and satellite navigation, to ‘behind the scenes’ applications in language translation, biometric identification (such as fingerprint and face recognition) and industrial process management. Emerging AI applications include systems for crime prevention and detection, but the technology also has the potential to be misused. This briefing sets out some of the possible ways in which AI technology could be exploited for criminal purposes. We also provide an assessment of the level of concern associated with each crime. Crime prevention and detection strategies must keep pace with an ever evolving technological landscape. An understanding of how new technologies could be exploited for crime is essential for policy actors, law enforcement agencies and technology developers alike.

You can view the briefing by clicking here.

"You might be hearing the term “restorative justice” more often in conversations about mass incarceration and other challenges facing criminal justice systems around the world. But what exactly does it mean?

Prison Fellowship International (PFI) has been involved in the field of restorative justice since we launched the Centre for Justice & Reconciliation in 1996. We have implemented programs in more than 40 countries that are focused on restoration, resulting in a transformation that brings healing to prisoners, their families, and victims. With your support we can continue our work and restore even more lives. 

We’d now like to share some of what we’ve learned over the course of more than two decades of work transforming lives through restorative justice. This month on Instagram, we are exploring "The Four Pillars of Restorative Justice" through a series of infographics. Each day features new content. But don't worry if you happen to miss one, they are all archived in our highlights section. We hope that you will find this series helpful and informative and that it will encourage you to explore additional resources"

A special SPACE I report was published. It analyses trends in European prison populations from 1st January to 15th April. This period includes roughly the first month in which the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in Europe and led most countries to impose lockdowns to their populations. Even if it is a short period of time (from mid-March to mid-April), the spread of the pandemic had a direct effect on imprisonment: The vast majority of prison administrations showed decreasing or stable prison population rates.

The registration is open for the First Virtual Conference on Drug Demand Reduction in Africa: Prevention, Treatment and Epidemiology. The conference will convene online through a series of six webinars running from September 16, 2020 to November 10, 2020.