Releasing the Tide: How Has a Shock to the Acceptability of Gender-Based Sexual Violence Affected Rape Reporting to Police in India?

National household data suggest that more than four million women in India have experienced nonspousal rape. Fewer than 1.5% of victims of sexual violence in India report their assaults to police, though there is some indication of increased rape reporting to police following a very high-profile fatal gang rape in Delhi in December 2012. This study examines effects of the Delhi gang rape on rape reporting to police in India, and assesses the roles played by geography, media access, and women's status and protection factors in that reporting. Triangulated data from Indian crime, census, and police bureau records were used to assess trends in rape reporting to police at national and district levels from 2005 to 2016, using regressions, spatial mapping, and graphical trend analyses. Nationally, there was a 33% increase in annual rapes reported to police after 2012. Subnationally, there was substantial variation in trends; these district-level changes were particularly affected by distance from Delhi (0.2 fewer rapes reported to police/100,000 women for each 100 km from Delhi), literacy sex ratio (0.6 more rapes for every increase of 0.1 in male: female literacy ratio), and the presence of a women's police station (1.0 fewer rapes reported to police/100,000 women relative to districts with no women's police station). The 2012 Delhi gang rape significantly affected rape reporting to police in India, with greater increases seen closer to Delhi and in districts with compromised gender equity. Further work to support the rights and safety of women is needed, including bolstering an enabling environment for reporting, legal protections, and responsive criminal justice.

Physical activity, park access, and park use among California adolescents.

In California, 2.15 million adolescents (62.9%) do not engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity five or more days per week. Adolescents who visited a park in the past month and those who live in a park service area are more likely to meet this goal. Lower-income California adolescents are less likely to visit local parks and more likely to believe local parks are unsafe. Actions by state and local policymakers to increase park access and attractiveness, especially to underserved populations, may be an effective way to promote physical activity among California's adolescents.

Study of neurontin: titrate to effect, profile of safety (STEPS) trial: a narrative account of a gabapentin seeding trial.

BACKGROUND: Seeding trials, clinical studies conducted by pharmaceutical companies for marketing purposes, have rarely been described in detail. METHODS: We examined all documents relating to the clinical trial Study of Neurontin: Titrate to Effect, Profile of Safety (STEPS) produced during the Neurontin marketing, sales practices, and product liability litigation, including company internal and external correspondence, reports, and presentations, as well as depositions elicited in legal proceedings of Harden Manufacturing vs Pfizer and Franklin vs Warner-Lambert, most which were created between 1990 and 2009. Using a systematic search strategy, we identified and reviewed all documents related to the STEPS trial in order to identify key themes related to the trial's conduct and determine the extent of marketing involvement in its planning and implementation. RESULTS: Documents demonstrated that STEPS was a seeding trial posing as a legitimate scientific study. Documents consistently described the trial itself, not trial results, to be a marketing tactic in the company's marketing plans. Documents demonstrated that at least 2 external sources questioned the validity of the study before execution, and that data quality during the study was often compromised. Furthermore, documents described company analyses examining the impact of participating as a STEPS investigator on rates and dosages of gabapentin prescribing, finding a positive association. None of these findings were reported in 2 published articles. CONCLUSION: The STEPS trial was a seeding trial, used to promote gabapentin and increase prescribing among investigators, and marketing was extensively involved in its planning and implementation.