Sexual exploitation of young men: Background characteristics and needs from a life-course perspective.

BACKGROUND: Sexually exploited young men are prevalent, yet underrepresented in clinical practice, policy and research. There are multiple barriers that often prevent young men to disclose and to seek or receive support, such as gender norms, limited awareness of victimization and feelings of guilt and shame. OBJECTIVE: By gaining more insight into the background characteristics of young men who experienced sexual exploitation and their needs, this study aims to raise awareness and to better inform policymakers, care- and educational professionals on adequate prevention and intervention efforts. METHODS: Twenty-six young men (age 14-32) who experienced sexual exploitation or other forms of sexual violence in their youth or were at high-risk, participated in this qualitative study that was conducted in The Netherlands. By means of semi-structured interviews and case-file analyses, data was collected to identify risk and protective factors in their life-course and support needs. RESULTS: Several vulnerabilities (e.g. previous experiences of abuse and neglect, household dysfunction, social rejection, running away, substance use) and a lack of positive and supportive relationships led young men into high-risk situations. Among these were involvement in pay dates, criminality and having to survive from day to day, which contributed to victimization. Prevailing gender norms and experiences of stigmatization were often a barrier to express vulnerabilities and to disclose victimization. There was a wide variety in support needs, including peer-to-peer support, therapy, support with day-to-day practices and anonymous support. CONCLUSIONS: These results will contribute to adequate prevention and trauma-informed intervention strategies that meet the unique needs of young men at risk for, or victim of sexual exploitation.

Introducing a multi-variate classification method: Risky driving acceptance among different heterogeneous driver sub-cultures.

INTRODUCTION: Heterogeneous driving populations with many different origins are likely to have various sub-cultures that comprise of drivers with shared driver characteristics, most likely with dissimilar traffic safety cultures. An innovative methodology in traffic safety research is introduced which is beneficial for large datasets with multiple variables, making it useful for the multi-variate classification of drivers, driving attitudes and/or (risky) driving behaviours. METHOD: With the application of multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS), this study explores traffic safety culture in the State of Qatar using a questionnaire and investigates the similarity patterns between the questionnaire items, aiming to classify attitudes towards risky driving behaviours into themes. MDS is subsequently applied to classify drivers within a heterogeneous driving sample into sub-cultures with shared driver characteristics and different risky driving attitudes. RESULTS: Results show that acceptance of speeding is highest among the young Arabic students and acceptance of distraction and drivers' negligence such as phone use and not wearing a seatbelt is highest among male Arab drivers. Acceptance of extreme risk-taking like intoxicated driving and red-light running is highest among South-Asian business drivers. CONCLUSION: It is important and practical to understand risky behavioural habits among sub-cultures and thereby focussing on groups of drivers instead of individuals, because groups are easier to approach and drivers within sub-cultures are found to influence each other. By indicating which groups of drivers are most likely to perform specific risky driving themes, it is possible to target these groups and effectively emphasise certain subsets of risky driving behaviours during training or traffic safety education. Practical Applications: This study provides guidance for the improvement of driver education and targeted traffic safety awareness campaigns, intending to make changes to attitudes and habits within specific driver sub-cultures with the aim to improve traffic safety on the longer term.

Analysis of road traffic crashes in the State of Qatar.

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are globally acknowledged as increasing threat to society, because they can affect many lives when they result in severe injury or fatality. In the State of Qatar RTCs are getting more awareness and attention, aiming to improve the traffic safety in the country. This study is an exploratory research providing different analyses of the crash data for seven consecutive years, ranging from 2010 to 2016, which is obtained from the Traffic Department in the Ministry of Interior for the State of Qatar. The objectives aim to evaluate the trend of RTC rate over time and create understanding of the influencing factors related to RTC frequency. Time series analyses show an increasing trend of RTCs leading to severe injury and a slight decreasing trend for fatal RTCs. Secondly, different RTC severity levels are related to diverse RTC causes. Furthermore, the results revealed that crashes with severe injuries or fatality for drivers as well as pedestrians are found to be significantly affected by seasonal weather variations, with the highest vulnerability in winter and autumn season. This study therefore suggests the implementation of strategies to prioritize the traffic safety of road users during the crash-prone winter and autumn seasons.