Criminology > Crime and Society
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Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a rising issue in Bhutan and has pervaded Bhutanese women’s lives silently. The information about Bhutanese women’s help seeking behaviours is scarce. This study aimed to explore the sensitising concepts about how and when Bhutanese women recognised IPV and responded to it. Fifteen women who had experienced IPV and seeking support services at RENEW (Respect, Educate, Nurture, Empower Women) were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to establish the patterns of responses and finalise themes to better understand the phenomenon under enquiry. Six distinct turning points were identified which motivated women’s help-seeking behaviours. These include: 1) Increased threats to self-esteem and dignity, 2) Failure to change his behaviours, 3) Increased severity of violence, 4) Concerns for parents, 5) Gaining positive support, and 6) Reflecting and rewinding the experience of IPV. These novel findings highlight the importance of knowledge, positive response, and individual values in relation to women’s help-seeking behaviours. This article makes recommendations for relevant practice and policy makers in Bhutan to positively influence women’s help-seeking behaviours.
As part of the global agenda to eliminate all forms of violence against women (VAW), there has been significant investments in areas of family and intimate partner violence. Simultaneously, human trafficking has been predominant on the international stage with a focus on labour and migration-related abuse and exploitation of women and girls. Within public policy, law and welfare infrastructures, VAW and migrant labour exploitation have been approached and responded to as distinct and separate issues. Drawing on empirical research across eight Southeast Asian countries, we highlight how women migrant workers experience both VAW and labour exploitation as interconnected. Yet, system responses largely silo VAW and trafficking, particularly in terms of responding to victim survivors. We consider the implications of this for developing meaningful national and transnational strategies to address gendered violence. While we focus on ASEAN countries many national responses to VAW and human trafficking are not founded on the recognition of the significant interconnections between gendered violence in the labour and personal sphere. We argue that in the midst of national and international efforts to respond to gendered exploitation and abuse, there is an opportunity to shift away from the ‘type’ of victimisation towards prioritising the protection and restoration of women’s safety in all aspects of their lives.
This article reports on an independent evaluation (2017–2021) of a domestic violence and abuse (DVA) training intervention delivered in three geographical areas in England. Initially designed as a standalone training day by the Women’s Aid Federation of England (WAFE), Trusted Professional developed into a whole-organisation approach to working with DVA. The intervention aims to create system change by targeting organisations (housing, children’s social care, health and welfare services) likely to be in contact with victims/survivors to embed a needs-led, strengths-based approach within an organisation.
The evaluation examined how the Trusted Professional intervention was used by practitioners and identified changes in knowledge, skills, confidence and attitudes. Methods included pre- and post- training surveys and interviews with participants, trainers and WAFE co-ordinators. Basic descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data; qualitative data was transcribed and analysed thematically.
Trusted Professional was regarded positively. Practitioners reported increased knowledge and understanding of DVA alongside improved confidence and skills to respond to victims/survivors, including using non-victim-blaming language. Practitioners recommended refresher training and additional content regarding other forms of abuse or minoritised groups. Recommendations address how the intervention might be better integrated with existing practice, especially for children’s social care professionals, and extended more widely.
The goal of this study is to identify the extent to which a set of risk factors from the ecological model are associated with intimate partner sexual violence victimisation in Mexico.
To achieve this goal, a structured additive probit model is applied to a dataset of 35,004 observations and 42 correlates.
Findings indicate that age at sexual initiation, women’s sexual and professional autonomy, and social connectedness are associated with their victimisation risks.
The findings provide evidence of factors that were previously unknown in Mexico or were solely based on theory but lacking empirical analysis. There are four key contributions. First, findings indicate that factors closer to the individual, such as personal experiences and interpersonal relationships, are more influential in explaining the women’s risks of IPSV victimisation. Second, significant factors were identified, including age at first sexual intercourse, autonomy in sexual and professional decision-making, and social networks. Third, it was possible to identify high-risk population subgroups that are often overlooked, such as women who had their sexual initiation during childhood. Finally, the introduction of some emerging indicators allowed for the examination of the experiences faced by women in various aspects of life, such as decision-making power and social networks.
In a society pre-occupied with managing risks, individuals are responsibilised to ensure their own safety. In the context of higher education, this might seem useful advice because young university students are at risk of violent victimisation, and they migrate to cities with which they are unfamiliar. However, using Foucauldian discourse analysis, we analysed text about personal safety on all UK universities’ websites to draw out the underlying discourse embedded in the safety advice. We find that students are advised where to walk, when to walk, how to walk or not to walk, and with whom. In seeking to control the movements of potential victims to avoid victimisation, a victim-blaming discourse is evident. The offender is rarely mentioned. Such overt safety advice often impacts upon women more than men. It is argued that given the duplication of such advice across university websites as well as its dated nature, it is likely that universities have given little thought to how they advise their students to keep safe and what the impact of this is. We provide recommendations on how universities can update their personal safety advice to students to be more empowering.
This Open Space piece discusses the implementation of a chatbot for victim-survivors who are subjected to domestic abuse. Being deployed as part of the ISEDA project (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse), a Horizon Europe project involving 15 partners from nine European countries, the chatbot will aim to provide women who are subjected to domestic abuse with information about domestic abuse, local support services, links to emergency services and potentially act as a place to store evidence that can be used in court. We discuss the ethical considerations surrounding the implementation of the chatbot within the project, and use of technology to support women within the domestic abuse sector in general. We highlight some of the positives alongside pitfalls of this way of working, and outline some of the considerations surrounding longevity of the chatbot in light of empowering under-funded women’s services.
Bystander intervention is a method of sexual violence prevention aimed at reducing the serious and pervasive issue of sexual assault on college campuses. The current study utilises the reasoned action approach (RAA) to examine potential differences in bystander intervention engagement between college students with exposure or experience related to sexual assault to students with no such history. Students (n=290) from two mid-sized universities completed a survey examining the RAA constructs (instrumental and experiential attitudes, injunctive and descriptive norms, capacity and autonomy), their sexual assault knowledge, and anticipated regret in reference to bystander intervention. Results showed that participants with exposure or experience related to sexual assault had significantly higher behavioural intentions (p=.018; d=.31), instrumental attitudes (p<.001; d=.55), injunctive norms (p=.026; d=.29), capacity (p=.002; d=.40), autonomy (p=.022; d=.28), anticipated regret (p<.001; d=.56), and sexual assault knowledge (p=.018; d=.31). The RAA constructs also explained a significant amount of the variance of intentions for both groups (with exposure/experience adjust R2 =.501; without exposure/experience adjust R2 =.660). The RAA constructs and anticipated regret appear to be important predictors to consider when planning bystander intervention programmes aimed at reducing sexual assault on college campuses.
The police, campus security, and post-secondary school officials continue to pose challenges to student survivors who require guidance and resources from their institutions after experiencing sexual violence. Recently, the provincial government of Ontario, Canada, mandated that all post-secondary institutions in Ontario adopt some form of a stand-alone sexual violence policy for their campuses. Yet, little is known about how post-secondary schools have implemented this mandate. This article explores the perspectives of individuals responsible for responding to sexual violence on campus through interviews with post-secondary school officials and police officers. We examine how they understood and discussed sexual violence responses on campus. More specifically, we examine whether these understandings draw on carceral or anti-carceral frameworks. Utilising a critical feminist anti-carceral approach, we explore ways that the current responses on campus to sexual violence are problematic.
This article explores the role of materiality in shaping primary school teachers’ understandings of girls’ risk to and experience of gender and sexual violence in a rural setting in South Africa. Drawing from photovoice and semi-structured individual interviews involving nine primary school teachers, the article illustrates the entanglement of space, living conditions, economic deprivation with gender and cultural norms that heighten girls’ vulnerability to sexual violence. The findings point to teachers’ knowledge of the cultural and socio-material realties that produces girls’ sexual risk. Teachers drew attention to the poverty, child-headed households, family distress that increased vulnerability to sexual risk. Furthermore, teachers directed attention to the failure to report rape within families linking it to fear, shame and financial dependency on the perpetrator. The article concludes with reflections on the vital role of teachers in addressing sexual violence in a context where girls’ voices are often silenced.
