Prelims

Through the use of 28 in-depth interviews with victims, activists, and criminal justice staff, this research details the emotional, physical, and social impact of image based sexual abuse (IBSA) on women’s everyday lives, and identifies some of the key policing and legislative issues which prevent women from achieving justice within the criminal justice system. In doing so, this study is the first and one of the largest pieces of research to examine IBSA through the use of in-depth interviews with victims in the UK. Therefore, it is able to significantly contribute to our understanding of victims’ experiences. By taking a radical feminist and victimological approach, this research also highlights the gendered nature of IBSA, including the motivations behind perpetration, the normalisation of sexual violence against women in online environments, and the link between IBSA and domestic abuse. Importantly, by examining IBSA as part of a victimisation process rather than as an event, this research identifies IBSA as being interlinked with coercion, control, blackmail, harassment, and verbal and physical abuse. Thus, the research places IBSA on Kelly’s (1988) continuum of violence. The research also identifies continued problematic responses within policing and legislation, demonstrating a failure of the state to account for gendered violence and the silencing of women’s experiences. The findings raise fundamental concerns; they call for greater recognition of IBSA as a serious form of sexual violence against women, and for a radical overhaul of criminal justice responses in order to aid women in their pursuit of justice.

Domestic Violence and Abuse Is Our Issue.

Interpersonal Violence: Global Impact and Paths to Prevention

Children Witnessing Domestic and Family Violence: A Widespread Occurrence during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Global understandings of domestic violence

This summarizes proceedings of a Scientific Research Planning Meeting on Sexual Violence and HIV transmission, convened by the Social Science Research Council on 19–20 March 2012 at the Greentree Foundation in New York. The Meeting brought together an interdisciplinary group of basic, clinical, epidemiological and social science researchers and policy makers with the aim of: (1) examining what is known about the physiology of sexual violence and its role in HIV transmission, acquisition and pathogenesis; (2) specifying factors that distinguish risks throughout the maturation of the female genital tract, the reproductive cycle and among post-menopausal women; and (3) developing a research agenda to explore unanswered questions. The Meeting resulted in a consensus Research Agenda and White Paper that identify priorities for HIV research, policy and practice as it pertains to the role of sexual violence and genital injury in HIV transmission, acquisition and pathogenesis, particularly among women and girls.

Marital rape is a concept that many find difficult to comprehend. Until the Oregon trial of John Rideout, who was accused of rape by his wife Greta, there was little discussion of marital rape by the general public or by researchers and counselors skilled in dealing with other types of rape cases. However, the extensive media coverage given the Rideout case has raised a number of questions about this subject. For example, what actions should be defined as rape when the acts involve husband and wife? When women are forced to have sexual relations with their husbands, do they accept this as part of their marital duties or does the use of force have long-term negative consequences for the marriage? And finally, in what types of marriages does forced sex or marital rape occur? This paper attempts to answer some of these questions based upon interview data gathered from nearly 300 women.

Violence against women and girls or gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that constitutes ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately’. Violence against women has carelessly become a significant global public health problem affecting one-third of women in the world in 2013. Killings of women and girls by their male partners or ex-partners are not isolated incidents, but constitute ‘the ultimate act of violence that is experienced in a continuum of violence’. Gender-based domestic violence remains the most prevalent form of violence against women and girls that affects women of all social strata across the world. Violence against women, in the private sphere and in its different manifestations, is tantamount to violations of the rights to life, equality, dignity and non-discrimination, the right not to be subjected to torture and to other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to liberty and security of person, the right to equal protection under the law, and the right to equality in the family, among other human rights. In addition, children who are victims and witnesses of that gender-based domestic violence suffer adverse effects on their health and in other ways also are ‘severely negatively impacted by [that] violence’. However gender-based domestic violence measures to protect child victims and witnesses of gender-related domestic violence remain weak in spite of the undeniable consensus among States on rights applicable to child victims and witnesses of crime. This article provides an overview of the issue of gender-based domestic violence and analyses the consideration given to the woman and child (of that woman) – both victims of intimate-partner domestic violence under international law and regional European law, and, in addition, under Spanish domestic legislation. The article highlights the latest developments in those three legal settings, including the forthcoming entry into force of the challenging and most comprehensive legal instrument on violence against women in the world today, the Istanbul Convention. The Convention provides at last formal (through judicial practice and legal instruments) recognition of children who witness gender-based domestic violence as victims of that gender-based violence. Also reviewed are recent jurisprudence/judicial practice, legal developments and challenges on this important subject in Spain. Final recommendations based on the aforementioned international, regional and domestic analysis are made to the State of Spain, recommendations applicable indeed to the practice in any country seeking international human rights compliance, good practices and redress, in an effective fight against gender-based domestic violence.

About the Contributors

The recent reconceptualization of the phenomenon of sexting between consensual and nonconsensual represents a relevant turning point in identifying and addressing nonconsensual sexting behaviors as online sexual violence. These practices of nonconsensual sexting, therefore, represent forms of technology-facilitated sexual violence, incorporating the terms image-based sexual harassment (IBSH) and image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) to describe the distribution of self-produced sexualized images in the online sphere by adolescents, who use the online environment as their main socialization space. The objective of this investigation is dual. First, we analyzed the experiences of adolescents who have been victims and/or aggressors of image-based harassment and/or sexual abuse, and second, we identified the motivations for engaging in IBSH and/or abuse among adolescents. This qualitative study analyzed the results of 19 focus groups with 223 adolescents (107 girls and 116 boys) aged 14 to 18. The main results of our qualitative study show that most adolescent boys perpetuate IBSH behaviors by sending unwanted sexual requests and images, and also carry out behaviors of IBSA such as producing, sending, forwarding, exchanging, and/or disseminating sexual images without the other person's consent. Girls are the main victims. In addition, the results of our study show that male and female adolescents do not identify IBSH and IBSA as a form of sexual cyber violence, and, consequently, as a sexual crime. The adolescent collective considers these practices social, normal, harmless, and amusing. Therefore, sex education programs, from a comprehensive model, are the best co-educational tool to prevent, raise awareness of, and eradicate these behaviors of sexual and gender-based cyber violence in adolescents.

Technology-facilitated sexual abuse and mental health: What mental health nurses and mental health professionals need to know.

Petition for a Comprehensive Law against Gender-Based Violence in Cuba

This Campbell systematic review assesses the effects of advocacy interventions on intimate partner violence and women's wellbeing. The review summarizes findings from 13 studies. Physical abuse: After one year, brief advocacy had no effect in two healthcare studies and one community study, but it reduced minor abuse in one antenatal care study. Another antenatal study showed reduced abuse immediately after brief advocacy, but women were also treated for depression, which may have affected results. Two studies provided weak evidence that intensive advocacy reduces physical abuse up to two years after the intervention. Sexual abuse was reported in four studies that found no effects. Emotional abuse: One antenatal care study reported reduced emotional abuse at 12 months after advocacy. Depression: Brief advocacy prevented depression in abused women attending healthcare services and pregnant women immediately after advocacy. Intensive advocacy did not reduce depression in shelter women followed up at 12 and 24 months. The moderate‐to‐low quality evidence came mostly from studies with a low risk of bias. Quality of life: Three trials of brief advocacy trials no benefit on quality of life. Intensive advocacy showed a weak benefit in two studies in domestic violence shelters/refuges, and a primary care study showed improved motivation to do daily tasks immediately after advocacy. Abstract BACKGROUND Intimate partner abuse is common worldwide, damaging the short‐ and long‐term physical, mental, and emotional health of survivors and children. Advocacy may contribute to reducing abuse, empowering women to improve their situation by providing informal counselling and support for safety planning and increasing access to different services. Advocacy may be a stand‐alone service, accepting referrals from healthcare providers, or part of a multi‐component (and possibly multi‐agency) intervention provided by service staff or others. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of advocacy interventions within or outside healthcare settings in women who have experienced intimate partner abuse. SEARCH METHODS In April 2015, we searched CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and 10 other databases. We also searched WHO ICTRP, mRCT, and UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN), and examined relevant websites and reference lists with forward citation tracking of included studies. For the original review we handsearched six key journals. We also contacted first authors of eligible papers and experts in the field. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised or quasi‐randomised controlled trials comparing advocacy interventions for women with experience of intimate partner abuse versus no intervention or usual care (if advocacy was minimal and fewer than 20% of women received it). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two review authors independently assessed risk of bias and undertook data extraction. We contacted authors for missing information needed to calculate statistics for the review and looked for adverse events. MAIN RESULTS We included 13 trials involving 2141 participants aged 15 to 65 years, frequently having low socioeconomic status. The studies were quite heterogeneous in terms of methodology, study processes and design, including with regard to the duration of follow‐up (postintervention to three years), although this was not associated with differences in effect. The studies also had considerable clinical heterogeneity in relation to staff delivering advocacy; setting (community, shelter, antenatal, healthcare); advocacy intensity (from 30 minutes to 80 hours); and abuse severity. Three trials evaluated advocacy within multi‐component interventions. Eleven measured some form of abuse (eight scales), six assessed quality of life (three scales), and six measured depression (three scales). Countries and ethnic groups varied (one or more minority ethnic groups in the USA or UK, and local populations in Hong Kong and Peru). Setting was associated with intensity and duration of advocacy. Risk of bias was high in five studies, moderate in five, and low in three. The quality of evidence (considering multiple factors such as risk of bias, study size, missing data) was moderate to low for brief advocacy and very low for intensive advocacy. Incidence of abuse Physical abuse Moderate quality pooled data from two healthcare studies (moderate risk of bias) and one community study (low risk of bias), all with 12‐month follow‐up data, showed no effect on physical abuse for brief (< 12 hours) advocacy interventions (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) ‐ 0.17 to 0.16; n = 558). One antenatal study (low risk of bias) showed an association between brief advocacy and reduced minor physical abuse at one year (mean difference (MD) change ‐ 1.00, 95% CI ‐ 1.82 to ‐ 0.18; n = 110). An antenatal, multi‐component study showed a greater likelihood of physical abuse ending (odds ratio (OR) 0.42, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.75) immediately after advocacy (number needed to treat (NNT) = 8); we cannot exclude impact from other components. Low to very low quality evidence from two intensive advocacy trials (12 hours plus duration) showed reduced severe physical abuse in women leaving a shelter at 24 months (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.77; NNT = 8), but not at 12 or 36 months. Sexual abuse Meta‐analysis of two studies (n = 239) showed no effect of advocacy on sexual abuse (SMD ‐ 0.12, 95% CI ‐ 0.37 to 0.14), agreeing with the change score (MD ‐ 0.07, 95% CI ‐ 0.30 to 0.16) from a third study and the OR (0.96, 95% CI 0.44 to 2.12) from a fourth antenatal, multi‐component study. Emotional abuse One study in antenatal care, rated at low risk of bias, showed reduced emotional abuse at ≤ 12‐month follow‐up (MD (change score) ‐ 4.24, 95% CI ‐ 6.42 to ‐ 2.06; n = 110). Psychosocial health Quality of life Meta‐analysis of two studies (high risk of bias) showed intensive advocacy slightly improved overall quality of life of women recruited from shelters (MD 0.23, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.46; n = 343) at 12‐month follow‐up, with greater improvement in perceived physical quality of life from a primary care study (high risk of bias; MD 4.90, 95% CI 0.98 to 8.82) immediately postintervention. Depression Meta‐analysis of two studies in healthcare settings, one at high risk of bias and one at moderate risk, showed that fewer women developed depression (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.65; n = 149; NNT = 4) with brief advocacy. One study at high risk of bias reported a slight reduction in depression in pregnant women immediately after the intervention (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.29; n = 103; NNT = 8). There was no evidence that intensive advocacy reduced depression at ≤ 12‐month follow‐up (MD ‐ 0.14, 95% CI ‐ 0.33 to 0.05; 3 studies; n = 446) or at two years (SMD – 0.12, 95% CI – 0.36 to 0.12; 1 study; n = 265). Adverse effects Two women died, one who was murdered by her partner and one who committed suicide. No evidence links either death to study participation. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Results suggest some benefits from advocacy. However, most studies were underpowered. Clinical and methodological heterogeneity largely precluded pooling of trials. Therefore, there is uncertainty about the magnitude of benefit, the impact of abuse severity, and the setting. Based on the evidence reviewed, intensive advocacy may improve short‐term quality of life and reduce physical abuse one to two years after the intervention for women recruited from domestic violence shelters or refuges. Brief advocacy may provide small short‐term mental health benefits and reduce abuse, particularly in pregnant women and for less severe abuse. Plain language summary LIMITED EVIDENCE AND LIMITED EFFECTS OF ADVOCACY TO REDUCE INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE The Campbell review in brief Intensive advocacy may improve everyday life for women in domestic violence shelters/refuges and reduce physical abuse. There is no clear evidence that intensive advocacy reduces sexual, emotional, or overall abuse, or that it benefits women's mental health. It is unclear whether brief advocacy is effective. What is this review about? Partner abuse or domestic violence is common worldwide. It includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; threats; withholding money; causing injury; and long lasting physical and emotional health problems. Active support by trained people, which is called ‘advocacy‘, may help women make safety plans, deal with abuse, and access community resources. Advocacy may be a stand‐alone service, accepting referrals from healthcare providers, or part of a multi‐component, and possibly multi‐agency, intervention. It may take place in the com

Background: The question of violence perpetrated against women and girls in Ukraine has been raised by the public for decades. In the context of an ongoing and active war, the issue of violence is very sensitive. On the one hand, we can see that people are primarily concerned about basic needs. On the other hand, trauma, silence, and ignoring violence and fear have complex implications. Purpose: To present specialised support services that provide social and psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence in Ukraine. Methods: The theoretical method of the research was to analyse the documents used to study the works of scholars who created, adapted and researched specialised support services for victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence. To better understand the activities of various specialised support services for survivors, an empirical method was used, namely, a qualitative sociological study was conducted to analyse personal experiences of creating specialised support services for working with victims of domestic and gender-based violence. Results: The analysis of legal and regulatory documents in Ukraine provided a complete picture of the work in the field of preventing and combating domestic and gender-based violence, compliance with international standards and innovative approaches. Conclusion: The results of the study show that innovative approaches to working with victims of domestic and gender-based violence are being implemented in Ukraine and meet international standards. Their implementation is based on adherence to European values. In the context of war, there are certain challenges and problems, but the expansion and implementation of such specialised support services continues. Keywords: domestic violence, gender-based violence, gender-based violence, specialised support services for victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence, mobile teams of social and psychological assistance, call centres, counselling service, shelters, day centres, crisis rooms, social and psychological assistance to victims of domestic and gender-based violence.

Domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are global health issues impacting both civilian and military populations. This chapter explored the impact of DV and IPV in the military. Definitions of DV and IVP along with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were clarified. Prevalence rates among military populations were highlighted and include reported incidents of spousal, intimate partner, and adult sexual abuse. The context of violence and the numerous factors associated with military service were discussed along with its impact on victims’ mental and physical health. Many of these factors also contribute to increased prevalence rates in areas including spouse abuse, intimate partner abuse, adult sexual abuse, and domestic abuse fatalities, and future directions of DV and IVP will be illuminated in the last chapter of the brief.