Sexual Exploitation Research Articles

Adolescent Relationship Abuse Among Hospitalized Adolescents

ObjectiveWe assessed adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) prevalence and ARA intervention acceptability and perceived benefit among hospitalized adolescents and young adults (AYA). MethodsThis was a planned secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey exploring sexual and reproductive health among a convenience sample of AYA (14–25 years) hospitalized in medical/surgical units at two Midwest children’s hospitals. Survey items assessed history of dating, lifetime prevalence of four types of ARA (physical abuse, sexual abuse, reproductive coercion, sexual exploitation), and demographics. ResultsAmong 324 participants, 72.5% reported dating and, among those with history of dating, 17% reported one or more types of ARA. ARA was more common among those who reported foregone health care in the preceding 12 months. There was no difference in likelihood of dating and ARA between those with and without a chronic health condition. Approximately half felt it is helpful for clinicians to discuss dating relationships with adolescents (58.6%) and acceptable to do this during a hospitalization (50.6%). Conversations with clinicians about dating relationships were more likely to be reported helpful by those who had dated (63.9% reporting dating vs 50.6% not reporting dating, P 0.04) and those who reported prior ARA (79.5% reporting ARA vs 60.4% not reporting ARA, P 0.02). ConclusionsHospitalization may represent a unique opportunity to support healthy AYA dating relationships. Further work is needed to further explore acceptability and feasibility of such interventions.

Risk Factors for Suicide Among Professional Athletes.

Suicide is a major public health concern that affects all demographics. Risk factors for suicide in professional athletes are poorly understood compared with the general population. The goal of this study was (1) to explore the current literature on risk factors for suicide in the population of professional athletes and (2) to formulate a proposed suicide risk identification tool as the first step in the production of a validated screening method specific to this population. A comprehensive literature search for relevant publications was carried out through 7 databases. There is some evidence to suggest that retirement, anabolic androgenic steroid use, sexual abuse victimization, health problems, financial issues, relationship issues, having immigrant parents, having a financially disadvantaged childhood, using self-blame or behavioral disengagement as a coping strategy, changes in appetite or weight, sleep problems, reduced competitiveness, and thinking about a career after retirement are potential risk factors for suicide in this population. There is limited evidence to suggest that having a career in elite or professional sports, participation in contact sports, and participating in specific sports that are not associated with a higher suspected prevalence of performance-enhancing drug use are potential risk factors. This study identified potential risk factors for suicide among elite and professional athletes. These findings were used to help formulate a proposed suicide risk identification tool. Future research is recommended to explore and clarify specific risk factors for suicide in this population and to test the validity of the proposed tool.

Development of a sexual consent intervention for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Tailored sexuality education for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities is a crucial, yet unmet, need as this population is particularly at risk for sexual abuse and victimisation. However, there are no evidence-based interventions to specifically address this need. This paper presents the development of an intervention framework to address equity in sexuality education and support adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities to understand and provide sexual consent, a foundational aspect of sexuality education and sexual health. The Sexual Health Equity Project team used a Community-Based Participatory Research approach to develop a four-module sexual consent intervention for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We leveraged a diverse, interdisciplinary team in a suburban Midwestern school district, and used Backward Design to create objectives and assessments which were rooted in findings from qualitative data by special education teachers. The resulting sexual consent intervention, Ask Me First-Choices, is comprised of four modules covering topics including definition of sexual consent; decision-making strategies and practice; communicating consent and refusal, identifying situations of consent and non-consent; and legal issues surrounding consent. Each module is divided into five components for content delivery: (1) introduction, (2) lecture, (3) supplemental activity, (4) assessment, and (5) conclusion. We detail the intervention's unique aspects, emphasising areas where we used Universal Design for Learning principles to support teachers' instruction and students' learning. Our efforts to create a sexual consent intervention directly address sexuality education equity issues. We offer commentary on our design process and decisions, as well as recommendations for future groups who want to develop sexual health interventions in similar contexts for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Next steps include further testing and validation of the sexual consent intervention to build the evidence-base of sexuality education for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Rise up and tell it”: Go Tell It on the Mountain , #ChurchToo, and James Baldwin’s Christian Witnesses

Abstract: This essay reads James Baldwin’s depiction of women witnessing against a preacher in his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain . It situates him in the company of contemporary #MeToo and #ChurchToo activists and Black theologians who call for accountability and reform in the church through the language of witness. Focusing on Baldwin’s witnessing women, the essay considers how the novel speaks into contemporary conversations about abuses of power and the treatment of sexual assault victims within the church. It argues that Baldwin’s novel urges contemporary readers to bear bold witness to their experiences in church and to listen and act in response to the witness of others.

아동 범죄피해자 진술의 증거능력과 헌법상 반대신문권 - 미국법원 판례의 비교법적 고찰

The defendant's right to cross-examine witnesses is established as a constitutional right under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Our criminal procedure law also provides for the right to cross-examine, and the Constitutional Court has determined that this right forms a core part of the constitutional right to a fair trial. However, when the victim of a crime is a child, the issue arises of how to ensure the defendant's right to cross-examination in such cases. This presents a conflict between guaranteeing the defendant's right to cross-examine and protecting the interests of the child victim. It also touches on the issue of the strict application of the hearsay rule versus the recognition of reasonable exceptions. In the United States, various cases have raised issues concerning the protection of child crime victims and the guarantee of the Confrontation Clause under the Sixth Amendment. U.S. case law has addressed controversies in instances where child victims testified using one-way closed-circuit television, or where teachers testified in court about statements made by the child rather than the child testifying directly. Additionally, a recent case in Virginia brought into question the admissibility of forensic interview recordings of a child victim as evidence. In contrast, the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that a provision of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, which recognized the admissibility of video statements by sexual violence victims under the age of 19, violated the Constitution by infringing on the defendant's right to cross-examination, which is a core component of the constitutional right to a fair trial. Following this decision, the Sexual Violence Punishment Act was amended to harmonize the defendant's right to cross-examination with the protection of child victims. This paper examines U.S. court rulings on the admissibility of child victim statements, the decisions of the Korean Constitutional Court, and recent amendments to the Sexual Violence Punishment Act. It explores the principles and exceptions concerning the application of the hearsay rule and the right to cross-examination in cases where the victim is a child, as well as rational approaches to the operation of these systems.

Ending child marriages through young people’s movement building: the case of community champions in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe

Despite efforts made to promote gender equality in all spheres of life, women, especially young girls below the age of 18 years from marginalised African communities continue to face a plethora of challenges such as harmful practises and negative gender stereotypes which hinder them from realising their full potential. Included in these harmful practises is the abhorrent act of child sexual exploitation in the name of child marriages. There are several initiatives by different actors to end child marriages and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Africa Trust (SAT), Zimbabwe is one Civil Society Organisation (CSO) that has made significant strides in contributing towards ending child sexual exploitation. The organisation works to empower adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to define their needs and undertakes various forms of advocacy including awareness raising and direct advocacy with key decision-makers. Interventions contribute to reducing self-stigma that disempowers adolescents and young people from realising their full potential. This article discusses an intervention that SAT has spearheaded in a bid to contribute to the end of child sexual exploitation and the role social workers can play to work with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as SAT in ending child marriages. How to reference using ASWNet style: Mushunje, M., Ismail-Mauto, H. & Mazhambe R. (2024). Ending child marriages through young people’s movement building: the case of community champions in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Social Work, 14(4), 207-216. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.4 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Uncovering the Hidden: Investigating Influences on Sexual Victimization Among 439 Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals Behind Bars

ABSTRACT Despite repeated reports of sexual victimization by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people who are incarcerated, there remains little literature on the source of this sexual assault and the factors that heightened likelihood of experiencing assault while incarcerated. The current research (n = 439) is the first known study aimed at understanding whether individual and state-level factors influence sexual assault while incarcerated. Utilizing data from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey and Malkin and DeJong’s (2018) PREA compliance study, analyses were conducted to understand whether individual differences and the number of transgender-specific PREA policies were associated with the likelihood of experiencing sexual assault while incarcerated. Whether perpetrated by facility staff or another inmate, People of Color were significantly more likely to experience sexual assault compared to their White counterparts. A preliminary chi-square analysis also found significant differences in the prevalence of sexual assault based on how many transgender-specific PREA policies a state had implemented with states with more policies reporting a less sexual assault. Findings support the need to further understand the experiences and vulnerability of TGD people who are incarcerated in the United States, and potential policies and legislation that can combat sexual violence.

Integrating pastoral care and appreciative inquiry for sex trafficking survivors: A framework for healing

Integrating appreciative inquiry (AI) and pastoral care may help address the complex issues of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. This article explores the benefits of incorporating AI principles into pastoral care for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking involve exploitation, degradation, and violence, making them complex issues. By understanding the sex trade, we can recognise that prostitution is an act of exploitation. Some scholars believe that prostitution and human trafficking are interconnected, with a focus on exploiting the poor, especially women and children. Commercial sexual exploitation can cause mental, emotional, and spiritual distress. Survivors require comprehensive aftercare to address their spiritual, self-esteem, and dignity needs. Organisational development-based AI is constructive and strength-based. Appreciative inquiry promotes positive development, community and individual strength, and resilience by re-contextualizing narratives and envisioning brighter futures. The use of AI could improve pastoral care and holistic rehabilitation. Pastoral caregivers using AI can promote reconciliation, development, and rehabilitation. Using strengths-based strategies, pastoral care practitioners can help survivors regain agency and purpose. Survivors receive spiritual support through the Appreciative Way, which combines contemplative spirituality and inquiry. Narrative exploration can help trauma survivors envision a bright future based on love and resilience. This study suggests that AI principles may benefit pastoral care recipients who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Pastoral caregivers can help survivors regain dignity, calling, and well-being by implementing an appreciative healing approach.Contribution: The article sheds light on the dehumanising consequences of sex trafficking on vulnerable populations in South Africa, particularly women and children. This article aims to explain how AI concepts can be applied to Practical Theology. Specifically, this article will demonstrate how the Appreciative Way can be utilised in pastoral care for healing from sex trafficking trauma.

Screening college athletes for sexual violence: athletes’ experiences and opinions on best practices

ObjectivesCollege athletes are at elevated risk for sexual violence, yet few formally report it and screening for sexual violence is uncommon. This study aimed to evaluate the nature of screening...

Strategies for Implementing GlobalConsent to Prevent Sexual Violence in University Men (SCALE): study protocol for a national implementation trial

BackgroundGlobally, women 15–24 years are at heightened risk of sexual violence victimization, a risk factor for adverse mental, physical, and behavioral health outcomes. Sexual violence is common at universities and most often perpetrated by men, yet few evidence-based prevention strategies targeting men have been tested in low- and middle-income countries. GlobalConsent is a six-module, web-based educational program adapted from an efficacious U.S.-based program. Nine months post-treatment in a randomized trial in Vietnam, GlobalConsent reduced men’s sexually violent behavior (odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, 95%CI 0.50–1.00) and increased prosocial intervening behavior (OR = 1.51, 1.00–2.28) relative to an attention-control. Evidence regarding optimal implementation strategies for scale up is needed.MethodsWe will randomize six medical universities in North, Central, and South Vietnam to deliver GlobalConsent using two different packages of implementation strategies that vary in intensity. Higher-intensity strategies will include greater (1) pre- and post-implementation engagement with university leaders and faculty and (2) greater pre-implementation outreach, follow-up, and incentives for students to promote engagement and completion of GlobalConsent. Higher intensity universities will receive additional training and support for their added activities. We will compare implementation drivers and outcomes, intervention effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness across the two implementation bundles. Our mixed-methods comparative interrupted time series design includes (1) qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with university leaders and implementation teams to assess implementation barriers and facilitators; (2) repeated surveys with leaders and faculty, implementation teams, and male students to assess multilevel implementation drivers and outcomes; (3) repeated surveys with male students to assess behavioral outcomes (sexual violence and intervening behavior) and mediating variables (knowledge, attitudes, affect, and capacities); and (4) time diaries and cost tracking to assess cost-effectiveness of the two implementation-strategies bundles.DiscussionThis project is the first to assess packages of implementation strategies to deliver an efficacious web-based sexual violence prevention program for undergraduate men across all regions of Vietnam and synergizes with a violence-prevention training initiative (D43TW012188). This approach will produce rigorous evidence about how to disseminate GlobalConsent nationally, which holds promise to reduce gender-based health inequities linked to sexual violence as GlobalConsent is brought to scale.Trial registrationNCT06443541. Retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered on June 05, 2024.

The “virtual” child: The unconscious functions of child sexual exploitation material

AbstractThe narratives of individuals using child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) highlight the individual and unconscious functions of this type of sexual offense. Fluid cycles of projection into and identification with the children in the imagery were evident, as were marked differences in the intensity and exclusivity of pedophilic sexual preference. Anger was a common trigger, but conscious awareness of any associated hostilities toward the child in the imagery was vigorously defended against. The Internet, the now dominant context of child sexual abuse, offers a distinct type of environment, on the porous boundary between the internal and the external, that seems to encourage regression to early, varied paraphilic sexuality and part‐object relations. Interactions in online forums facilitated the projection of pedophilic interests and sadistic impulses into other users. Broad empirical findings on the characteristics of those who use CSEM, coupled with this study and clinical experience, suggest that many who engage in this activity have an essentially neurotic structure.

Pauline Lord’s “My Anna Christie” a Century Later

ABSTRACT Pauline Lord’s article “My Anna Christie” (1922) was an important intervention in the discourse regarding Progressive Era brothel dramas. Describing how she researched and originated the title role in “Anna Christie,” Lord’s article was also one of the few pieces about the play written by a woman during this time period. When the piece appeared, contexts for understanding “Anna Christie” had shifted: whereas previous prostitute plays had been censored for obscenity, Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” garnered the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “My Anna Christie” followed in the wake of two pioneering actresses who portrayed courtesans or sex workers and wrote about it: Mrs. Leslie Carter and Mary Shaw. “My Anna Christie” examines sexual exploitation, abandonment, and double standards of sexuality, conjuring sympathy for Anna’s character. More significantly, Lord interviewed prostitutes as part of her research. Rather than sensationalizing or denigrating sex workers as “The Social Evil,” Lord sought to understand them.

Validation of the Social Reactions-Online Questionnaire Among Adults Who Disclosed Online Victimization Via #MeToo.

The #MeToo movement of 2017 ushered in a wave of online disclosure of sexual victimization. The ways in which people respond to the disclosure of sexual victimization can play an important role in a survivor's recovery process. This study conducted an exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) of a questionnaire aimed at characterizing the ways in which others respond to the disclosure of sexual victimization in online spaces. Participants (N = 767) were recruited via social media to participate in a study of disclosure of unwanted sexual experiences, with 25.4% (n = 195) endorsing disclosing an unwanted sexual experience online using the hashtag #MeToo and were included in analyses. Participants completed the Online Social Reactions Questionnaire (OSRQ). The questionnaire included all 16 original items from the Short Version of the Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ). An additional 8 items specific to online disclosure, not covered by the SRQ were added at the end, bringing the proposed OSRQ to a total of 24 items. The updated measure included the 16 original items of the Short Version of the SRQ as well as 8 additional items, for a total of 24 items. ESEM confirmed the OSRQ as a 23-item measure with a four-factor structure: (a) Turning Against+, (b) Unsupportive Acknowledgment, (c) Positive Support+, and (d) Online Sharing; model fit: χ2(186) = 387.125, p < .001, CFI = 0.976, RMSEA = 0.074 (90% CI [0.064, 0.085]), SRMR = 0.034. The OSRQ revealed excellent Cronbach's alpha (α = .93) and McDonald's Omega (ω = .93). The OSRQ represents a new measure that can be used to characterize the way in which others respond to online disclosure of sexual victimization.

Confidence, Training, and Barriers for Canadian Law Enforcement in Cases of Luring, Sexual Abuse, and Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

The exponential growth of Internet access has generated new platforms for child sexual abuse. The Internet serves as a platform for luring children to engage in sexual activity and also for accessing, distributing or producing sexually explicit material featuring children (“child sexual abuse imagery” (CSAI)). Both types of offenses have been criminalized in various jurisdictions around the world, compelling law enforcement professionals to detect, identify, investigate, and refer such offenses for prosecution. This study was conducted to understand law enforcement training, confidence, and barriers to responding to three categories of criminal activity involving the online sexual exploitation of children: (1) luring, (2) creation and distribution of CSAI, and (3) sexual abuse. This study surveyed two separate police units responsible for investigating sex crimes and/or child abuse in two large Canadian cities. More participants reported encountering a suspected or confirmed case of child sexual abuse within the last year than a case of luring or CSAI (57%, 45%, and 35%, respectively). Participants indicated they had received more formal training on investigating sexual abuse than luring or CSAI and felt less confident in their ability to investigate crimes involving technology and online platforms than other types of investigations. Participants were also more likely to encounter barriers relating to the “soft skills” of working with youth and their families relative to the “hard skills” of investigating criminal activity. Due to the exponential growth of online sexual abuse and the need for nimble and technologically savvy investigative responses, law enforcement should receive more formal training in all areas of online child sexual exploitation, including the criminal offenses of luring and CSAI.

Healing strategies of women who experienced sexual assault: A mixed method analysis.

The primary objective of this study was to identify healing strategies directly from women who experienced sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The second objective was to explore secondary themes related to healing from sexual assault. This study included two quantitative objectives. The first was to examine if the frequency of reported sexual assault experienced predicted greater coping strategies and if rape that occurred in juvenile years and during college uniquely predicted reported use of more coping strategies. Using a mix-method design of college women who endorsed experiencing unwanted sexual contact as part of a survey, 283 provided details about healthy healing strategies. Qualitative responses were transcribed verbatim, and thematic classification followed an iterative process. Linear regressions were used to examine the relationships between sexual assault frequency and use of coping strategies. The most frequently endorsed categories as being helpful to one's healing were social support, proactive behavioral strategies, forgetting/ignoring/shifting focus, positive cognitive strategies, and counseling. Other themes related to healing included long-term effects, unsuccessful strategies, and posttraumatic growth. Secondary themes include validation, denial of/modified recognition of sexual assault, and specific campus environmental factors. Individuals who reported more sexual assault reported using more healing strategies. This study underscores the benefits of social support and specific strategies. Results suggest a positive relationship between the number of unwanted sexual experiences and coping strategies utilized. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Spanish Scientific Research Activity on Human Trafficking as Seen Through Bibliometric Indicators

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the research on the trafficking of persons carried out by authors affiliated with Spanish institutions through a review of the scientific literature based on a bibliometric analysis of articles indexed in Scopus (2000–2022). The units of analysis were documents, sources, authors, keywords and terms of the abstracts. From each document were collected: authors, title of the document, year, journal, cited by, affiliations, authors by affiliations, abstract, authors’ keywords, references and language of the original document. The analysis was carried out through unidimensional bibliometric indicators related to scientific production, collaboration and dissemination, and multidimensional bibliometric indicators. The results show an increase in the production of articles, in co-authorship, and with research largely concentrated in the academic sphere and with little cooperation with foreign institutions. Secondary research using qualitative methods predominates. There is a focus on sexual exploitation centered on women as victims. This bibliometric review addresses UN Sustainability Goal 5.2: eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other forms of exploitation and has implications for practice, policy, and continued research.

Tráfico de mulheres para fins de exploração sexual

Trafficking in persons is considered to be the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving payments or benefits to obtain consent for a person to have control over another person, for the purpose of exploration. The choice of this theme is justified because it provides a focus on an invisible crime. The general objective of this work is to present an analysis of the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation, dealing with the concept of this crime, the challenges to identify the people involved and the understanding of this inhumane crime. Specifically, the objective was to investigate the phenomenon of trafficking in persons, identify the profile of the main victims, highlight the means most used by traffickers, in addition to presenting the main measures that must be taken so that national and international authorities can face this type of crime efficiently, in addition to what they can do to prevent and effectively confront it. Human trafficking is the third most profitable illicit business in the world, after drugs and weapons. This practice occurs in all countries, with women, children and adolescents as the main victims. The countries most affected by human trafficking for sexual exploitation are those marked by poverty, political instability, and economic inequalities. The methodology used for the construction of this work was a bibliographical, documentary and descriptive study, with an inductive method where emphasis was placed on authors who have authority and renown on the subject studied. It is concluded that, although there has been an evolution of the Brazilian legislation for trafficking in persons, inserting this practice in the list of crimes against individual freedom, going through a new treatment that reveals the concern with the protection and promotion of human rights, in addition to respect for the principle of human dignity, much still needs to be done in the actions to confront this crime.

EXAMINING POWERS THROUGH SURYANI’S REPRESENTATION AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN WREGAS BHANUTEJA’S PHOTOCOPIER

This study examines the representation of woman against sexual violence in Photocopier, an Indonesian film directed by Wregas Bhanuteja. In film, women as sexual violence victims are often misrepresented through stereotyping as the helpless victims who need men’s help to deal with the situation or showing extreme violence against their perpetrators to exact revenge. If not stereotyped, women as sexual violence victims also tend to be fetishized as their victimized body often sexualized for erotic pleasures. In its protagonist, Sur, Photocopier took different approach by representing the victim as a woman with powers to fight against the sexual violence she experienced. This study focuses in examining how Sur exerts her powers and how those powers impacted the sexual violence case that she experienced. The study is conducted qualitatively using content analysis method which examines the visual aspects as well as dialogues from the film and applying Amy Allen’s theory of feminist power relation. The analysis identifies that Suryani possesses and exercises all three types of feminist power posed by Allen, which are “power-to,” “power-over,” and “power-with,” as a sexual violence victim. The study reveals that while the film tries to represent Sur as a powerful woman, she is also adjacently represented as a stereotypical powerless sexual violence victim who is helpless to fight against her perpetrators even after exercising all her powers both personally and collectively. However, such stereotypical representation may be necessary to show the reality of sexual violence victims and as a form of criticism against the mishandling of sexual violence case.

The Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent, Prostitution and Pornography: The British Black Women’s Movement and Sex Work, 1970s-1980s

In recent years there have been some noteworthy attempts to remedy scholarly silences on the Black women’s movement. The issue of sex work, however, is only mentioned in passing despite the so-called ‘sex wars’ preoccupying the white feminist scene at this time. Grappling with the methodological issue of silence on multiple interconnected levels, this this article attempts to fill this gap by interrogating how, and indeed whether, activists in the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD) approached issues of sex work. It asks why these activists rejected the interpretation of sex work as work taken by their contemporaries in the sex workers’ rights movement. It firstly proposes that Black woman activists made a conscious decision to remain silent on issues of commercial sex, dismissing prostitution, alongside other issues of sexuality, as the ‘luxury’ preserve of white middle-class feminists that were distinct from, rather than integral to, Black women’s ‘survival’. Piecing together activists’ increasing but piecemeal discussions of pornography from the early-mid 1980s, the second section of this article demonstrates how activists analysed pornography and prostitution as part of a historical tradition of the sexual exploitation of Black women. In doing so, it proposes that their approach to commercial sex was fraught with contradiction – they viewed prostitution, an issue with real-life implications, in symbolic terms. Overall, it argues that Black woman activists to turned a blind eye to the tangible implications of prostitution legislation for Black women as they navigated tensions and challenges around post-war British racism, respectability politics and the gendered legacy of colonialism. Together with work on the experiences of lesbian women, it raises questions about which women were welcome in the movement, reminding us of the need to push scholarship on Black women’s history beyond the act of recovery.

The Interplay of Self-Esteem in the Relationship Between Sexual Dating Violence and Self-Silencing in Adolescent Girls

Several repercussions have been linked to teen dating violence, including self-silencing. Self-silencing refers to an excessive worry about the partner’s needs and opinions, which can lead to neglecting one’s well-being. However, the mechanisms by which dating violence, especially sexual victimization, affects self-silencing are understudied. Moreover, studies have identified sexual victimization by an intimate partner as one of the most critical factors affecting youth’s self-esteem development, which may explain this relationship. The present study aimed to explore the possible mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between sexual teen dating violence and self-silencing. Adolescents were recruited from a one-stage stratified cluster sample of 34 high schools inQuebec, Canada. Adolescents completed measures on sexual dating violence and self-esteem at Wave 1 and self-silencing in their relationship at Wave 2, 6 months later. Analyses were conducted on 2,489 adolescent girls (M= 15.48 years,SD= .95) who participated in Wave 2 and reported being in a dating relationship in the last 6 months. Results of the path analysis indicated that self-esteem acted as a mediator in the relationship between sexual teen dating violence and self-silencing. This study helps better understand the processes underlying self-silencing behaviors in adolescent victims of sexual dating violence. The results highlight a potential target for intervention to inhibit the development of self-silencing in adolescent girls experiencing sexual dating violence.