State Abortion Bans Heap Burdens on Already Traumatized Rape Survivors.

The laws exacerbate stigma and impede access to needed health care.

Forty Years of Rape Myth Acceptance Interventions: A Systematic Review of What Works in Naturalistic Institutional Settings and How this can be Applied to Educational Guidance for Jurors.

A systematic review of research assessing rape myth acceptance (RMA) interventions within institutional settings was conducted. The aim of this review was to inform the development of an educational intervention for jurors in rape trials that addresses rape myths, given previous evidence that RMA can affect decision-making and verdicts (Dinos et al., 2015; Gravelin et al., 2019; Leverick, 2020). 12 databases were searched, filtered to return peer-reviewed journals, published from 1980 to 2020, written in English. After removing duplicates from the 5,093 search results returned, 2,676 studies were screened for inclusion. Research studies were included in the review if they assessed the impact of a naturalistic intervention on RMA within an institutional setting. Studies that did not compare an experimental condition to a control condition or did not randomly allocate participants to conditions were excluded. Studies were also excluded if they used a non-validated, or adapted, RMA measure. 20 Research studies were included within the review and were critically appraised according to an author-created critical appraisal tool. It was concluded that RMA interventions can have a short-term impact upon individuals' RMA. Intervention types that were effective in reducing RMA included those that presented RM information; those that contained an empathy component; and bystander programmes. With regards to duration and format, short interventions led to reductions in RMA, and most successful interventions were presented via videos. Implications for policy and practice, and recommendations for future research, are discussed.

An exploration of theory of mind performance among men convicted of rape.

Several of the known risk factors for sexual violence concern a lack of capacity for engaging in mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships. Socio-cognitive deficits may be approached from a theory of mind (ToM) perspective, where lack of ability to attribute mental states to others is seen as the core feature. This study focuses on imprisoned men (n = 26) convicted of rape against an adult. A video-based measure of ToM (MASC) was applied, depicting social interaction in a dynamic real-life setting. The results showed that the rape-convicted men have a markedly inferior ability to infer the mental states of others. Clinical as well as theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Female perpetrators of rape with particular cruelty. / Kobiety jako sprawczynie zgwalcen ze szczególnym okrucienstwem.

The primary objective of the study was an attempt to develop and present the characteristics of women committing rape with particular cruelty, taking into account the manner in which the female perpetrators have committed the acts, their motivations, as well as the circumstances of the crime. The objective of the study was also to provide information on who the aggrieved persons are and what the accountability of women before the court looks like (in particular, whether there are any differences in the reactions of the system to the acts committed by men and women). The first part sets out a brief note about criminality of women (including sexual criminality), whereas the second part presents the results of my research concerning cases of rape with particular cruelty committed by women. The research was conducted on the basis of the empirical data from criminal cases in which the conviction was based on Article 197 §4 of the Criminal Code and in which women were the perpetrators or co-perpetrators. Due to the particular nature of the offences, the research material included court files of cases which ended in a final and binding judgment. The analysis covered criminal cases in which a final and binding judgment was isseued in the years 2005-2012. In the analyzed cases, women took an active, aggressive and often times dominating role in both planning and execution of the act. All acts were committed jointly with men, and the women were under the influence of alcohol during the commission of the offence. The presented results of the study portray a "typical" female perpetrator of rape in a different light than previous studies did, however, it should be stressed that the results of the analysis should be further examined and extended by including cases not only of rape with particular cruelty, but other offences as well.

An alarming rise in rape in Nepal: A 20-year review.

Criminal justice in Nepal is stringent when it deals with cases of sexual offence. The law protects the victims' rights and fast tracks trials. Notwithstanding, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases recently. This study highlights the increasing number of reported rape and attempted rape cases in Nepal over the past 20 years and discusses the public health measures aimed at preventing these crimes.

Community Approaches to Sexual Assault: VAWA's Role and Survivors' Experiences.

This article reviews two types of community-based approaches to addressing sexual assault that survivors may encounter-sexual assault nurse examiners and victim advocates from nonprofit community agencies-and highlights ways that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and its reauthorizations have influenced this work. We also review information on the intersections of the work of these providers with police and prosecutors and include how these relate to survivors' experiences. We conclude with thoughts that look forward to future research on these issues emphasizing authentic engagement of practitioners and survivors in the research process.

Sexual abuse by superintending staff in the nineteenth-century lunatic asylum: medical practice, complaint and risk.

The nineteenth century witnessed a great shift in how insanity was regarded and treated. Well documented is the emergence of psychiatry as a medical specialization and the role of lunatic asylums in the West. Unclear are the relationships between the heads of institutions and the individuals treated within them. This article uses two cases at either end of the nineteenth century to demonstrate sexual misdemeanours in sites of mental health care, and particularly how they were dealt with, both legally and in the press. They illustrate issues around cultures of complaint and the consequences of these for medical careers. Far from being representative, they highlight the need for further research into the doctor-patient relationship within asylums, and what happened when the boundaries were blurred.

Seeking Justice: How VAWA Reduced the Stronghold Over American Indian and Alaska Native Women.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), originally passed in 1994, was successfully reauthorized in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Over time, VAWA altered the environment for many victims who had previously suffered in silence. This article focuses on how VAWA impacted American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) victims of dating and domestic violence. AI and AN women experience these crimes at a rate higher than the national average, yet they are often denied justice due to the interplay of federal and state laws and tribal sovereignty. VAWA affirmed tribes' sovereign authority to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes against AI and AN victims on tribal lands. This article also discusses future steps to enhance justice reforms.

Violence Against Women: Reflecting on 25 Years of the Violence Against Women Act and Directions for the Future.

The year 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the landmark legislation, the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As we reflect on the Act, it is important to examine how the VAWA influenced the response to violence against women. This guest editors' introduction provides a preview of five articles devoted to a special issue of Violence Against Women. The articles highlight key aspects of VAWA. With H.R. 15851 awaiting consideration by the Senate, we suggest that perhaps now is an appropriate time to assess the Act's impact.

A Review of the Effects of the Violence Against Women Act on Law Enforcement.

One of the goals of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was to improve law enforcement responses to sexual and domestic violence by providing funding to expand prevention, enhance investigations, and increase victim services. Since VAWA's enactment, police responses to these crimes have evolved, including officer responses to victims and offenders, and various agency operations. This article highlights some noteworthy changes in law enforcement related to facilitating victim reporting, enhancing victim advocacy and services, crime reduction and investigative tools, supplementing personnel and training, and encouraging multiagency collaborations as a result of VAWA.

The 1994 Violence Against Women Act: A Historic Response to Gender Violence.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is frequently questioned about its success, especially during times of its reauthorization. While federal, state, local, and private organizations have funded a significant amount of research through VAWA since its inception, questions remain as to whether the field has the evidence to make a concrete judgment about its success. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we review the Act and its subsequent reauthorizations. Second, the article addresses issues related to VAWA's success. We consider whether it is possible to answer Moore Parmley's question posed in 2004, p. 1,428: " . . . on the anniversary of the VAWA, will we be able to say with any confidence that the Act helped to prevent violence against women?"

Legalidade e ética entre obstetras do serviço de aborto legal em Alagoas no atendimento às vítimas de estupro / Legality and ethics among obstetricians of the legal abortion service in Alagoas during the care for rape victims

Objetivo: Determinar o perfil ético profissional dos obstetras do serviço de aborto legal no estado de Alagoas (Brasil) e delinear um protocolo e fluxograma para auxiliar no atendimento de mulheres estupradas. Métodos: Realizamos um estudo observacional-transversal, prospectivo e descritivo, incluindo todos os 26 obstetras do serviço de aborto legal. Na fase 1, investigaram-se o conhecimento legal e a posição ética, enquanto na fase 2 foram construídos um protocolo e um fluxograma para guiar o serviço nos casos de aborto legal. Resultados: Na fase 1, identificamos que a maioria dos obstetras não conhecia os aspectos legais sobre o aborto, não se sentiam confortáveis em estar no serviço e apontaram várias limitações no funcionamento dele. Na fase 2, foram desenvolvidos um protocolo e um fluxograma aplicados aos casos em que uma mulher estuprada deseja abortar por métodos legais. Conclusão: O perfil dos obstetras do serviço de aborto legal é insuficiente para lidar com a complexidade do aborto no estado. O protocolo e o fluxograma delineados tiveram o propósito de ajudar o serviço de aborto legal do estado a lidar com esse problema público/social.(AU)

Objective: To determine the professional ethical profile of obstetricians from the legal abortion service in Alagoas state (Brazil) and to design a protocol and flowchart to help the attendance of raped woman. Methods: We performed an observational- -sectional, prospective and descriptive study including all 26 obstetricians from the legal abortion service. Phase 1 investigated the legal knowledge and ethical position, while phase 2 was the construction of a protocol and flowchart to guide the service in cases of legal abortion. Results: In the phase 1 we identified that most obstetrician did not know the legal aspects about abortion; did not few comfortable to be in the service and they pointed out several limitations of how service works. Phase 2 of the study was the development of a protocol and flowchart applied to the cases which a raped woman wants to abort by legal methods. Conclusion: The profile of obstetrician from the legal abortion service is insufficient to deal with the complexity of abort in the state. The protocol designed have the purpose to help the state legal abortion service to deal with this public/social problem.(AU)

Resgate histórico do primeiro programa público de interrupção da gestação por estupro no Brasil / Historical rescue of the first public rape pregnancy program in Brazil

Os autores apresentam a evolução histórica dos caminhos percorridos até a criação do primeiro programa público de interrupção legal da gestação no Brasil. Mencionam o atendimento antes desse programa, que era realizado por poucos, de maneira dissimulada e sem publicidade nem publicações para a preservação das equipes. Mencionam como o Hospital Municipal Dr. Arthur Ribeiro de Saboya foi escolhido para esse desafio. Resgatam a luta das mulheres e dos movimentos feministas, e a criação da portaria que determinava a obrigatoriedade do atendimento para a realização do abortamento legal nos casos de antijuricidade, pela Prefeitura Municipal de São Paulo. Mencionam os difíceis caminhos até a constituição das equipes de atendimento e o desenrolar de uma sequência de fatos históricos, passando pelo início do atendimento imediato às vítimas no sentido de realizar as profilaxias pertinentes, a utilização de aspiração manual intrauterina (AMIU) como técnica principal para atendimento ao abortamento em todas as suas situações, os Fóruns Nacionais de Aborto Legal realizados pelo Cemicamp, Ministério da Saúde e Federação Brasileira das Associações de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia (Febrasgo), entre outros, que culminaram com tudo o que temos hoje em termos de atendimento integral à saúde da mulher, mormente no que tange aos direitos sexuais e reprodutivos, à violência sexual e à interrupção legal da gestação.(AU)

The authors present the historical evolution of the paths traveled until the creation of the First Public Program for Legal Interruption of Pregnancy in Brazil. They mention the care before this program that was carried out by a few, in a covert way and without advertisements or publications for the preservation of the team. Mention as the Municipal Hospital Dr. Arthur Ribeiro de Saboya was chosen for this challenge. They rescued the struggle of women and feminist movements, the creation of the ordinance that determined the mandatory care for the performance of legal abortion in cases of anti-juristy, by the city of São Paulo. They mention the difficult paths to the constitution of care teams and the development of a sequence of historical facts, through the beginning of immediate care to victims in order to perform the relevant prophylaxis, in the use of the AMIU as the main technique for abortion care in all its situations, the National Legal Abortion Forums held by Cemicamp, Ministry of Health and Federação Brasileira das Associações de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia (Febrasgo), among others, which culminated in all that we have today in terms of comprehensive care for women's health, especially with regard to sexual and reproductive rights, sexual violence and legal interruption of pregnancy.(AU)

DNA evidence in sexual assault cases in Pakistan.

Sexual assault is becoming a global epidemic, affecting close to a billion women throughout the world. This paper explores the challenges in the admissibility of DNA evidence in rape cases in Pakistan. Delays in the medical examination of victims, and improper collection and packaging of evidentiary material, compromise the probative biological evidence. In the last few years, existing laws have been amended to increase the utility of DNA evidence during criminal trials. However, various issues - for example lack of proper knowledge of DNA evidence by lawyers and judicial officers, inadequacies in existing laws and conflicting decisions of apex courts - can affect the admissibility of DNA evidence during criminal trials.

Development and validation of the LoVI: the Laws on Violence against women and girls Index.

BACKGROUND: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a human-rights violation with adverse long-term and inter-generational consequences. Redefining VAWG as legally unacceptable is one strategy for social change. The co-occurrence of national laws against VAWG is understudied, and tools to monitor the national legal environment are lacking. We developed the Laws on Violence against Women and Girls Index (LoVI) to measure global progress to develop comprehensive national legislation against child marriage, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and marital rape. METHODS: Using data from 2016 and 2018 for 189 countries from the World Bank Women, Business, and the Law database, we used factor analysis to assess the dimensionality of the LoVI. We examined the distribution of the LoVI across countries and regions, and the relationship of national rankings on the LoVI with those for other indicators from the United Nations, Demographic and Health Surveys, and World Factbook. RESULTS: A single LoVI factor showed good model fit in the factor analysis. National LoVI rankings were positively associated with gender equality in human development and economic rights-related rankings and negatively associated with rates of justifying wife beating and of lifetime and prior-year physical and/or sexual IPV. The LoVI was not associated with national indicators for human development and income inequality. CONCLUSION: The LoVI is a concise, coherent, validated index to monitor the progress of nations on adopting comprehensive legislation to advance 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 5, to eliminate VAWG.

The Effects of Legislation Mandating DNA Testing in Sexual Assault Cases: Results in Texas.

Many cities and states have taken steps to identify and process all untested sexual assault kits (SAKs). Texas was one of the first states to enact such legislation-SB 1636-which created a time line for a statewide audit and mandatory testing of SAKs. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the effects of SB 1636 at both state and local levels. The study did not detect any effect of SB 1636 on reporting, arrests, or convictions. The legislation did have a significant effect on criminal justice workloads, particularly crime laboratories.