Victims of Crime

This article provides the first comprehensive examination of the phenomenon of unequal access to procedural justice for older victims of crime. It analyses quantitative and qualitative data exploring the interactions of older people with the criminal justice system of Northern Ireland. It identifies that older victims of crime are less likely to have a successful crime outcome (known as ‘detection’ or ‘clear‐up’ in other jurisdictions) to their case when compared to other adults. The results provide evidence of a system failing to adequately take into account additional vulnerabilities that disproportionately impact on older victims’ ability to engage with the justice process. There is an analysis of the relationships between vulnerability, resilience and access to justice. The current conceptual understanding of vulnerability as applied to older people within the justice system is challenged. The findings are relevant for researchers and policy‐makers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and further afield concerned with the treatment of older and vulnerable victims by the justice system.

This Commissioned report examines how to improve access to justice for older victims of crime. It explores crime against older people and responses to it by the criminal justice system. An older person is defined for the purposes of this study as anyone aged 60 or over.

Older people have been neglected in research-based studies on victims of crime. The interviews and focus groups with older people, including those who have experienced victimisation first-hand, provide key and unique insights into older peoples’ experiences of crime and the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. It finds that the impact of crime on older people can include heightened fear of future victimisation; heightened fear amongst other older people in that community about victimisation; fear of loss of independence; altered lifestyle patterns; deterioration in mental or physical health; reduced resilience to deal with other traumatic events; fear of participating in the justice system (secondary victimisation).

The study also examines police outcome (detection) rate statistics finding that for the most common categories of crime the likelihood of a case having a sanction outcome is lower for older victims of crime than for other adult age categories. This has been a trend over the last decade.The report explores why this is the case finding that there a number of contributory factors including heightened vulnerability in the older population; failures amongst agencies to identify vulnerability amongst this population and put in place appropriate supportive measures; and the impact of delay in the justice system on older victims.

The report sets out a number of recommendations for improving access to justice for older victims of crime including the creation of a presumption in favour of special measures for older victims, creating a victim vulnerability matrix for older agencies to use when engaging with older victims and the establishment of an older people’s victim advocate.

Authors: Sylvia Walby (Lancaster University, UK), Philippa Olive (Lancaster University), Jude Towers (Lancaster University), Brian Francis (Lancaster University), Sofia Strid (Örebro University, Sweden), Andrea Krizsán (Central European University, Budapest, Hungary), Emanuela Lombardo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), Corinne May-Chahal (Lancaster University), Suzanne Franzway (University of South Australia), David Sugarman (Lancaster University), Bina Agarwal (University of Delhi and University of Manchester).  (Brussels: The European Parliament). pp.212. ISBN: 978-92-823-4865-9

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.

The need to stop rape is pressing and, since it is the outcome of a wide range of practices and institutions in society, so too must the policies be to stop it This important book offers a comprehensive guide to the international policies developed to stop rape , together with case study examples on how they work. The book engages with the law and criminal justice system, health services, specialised services for victim-survivors, educational and cultural interventions, as well as how they can best be coordinated. It is informed by theory and evidence drawn from scholarship and practice from around the world.

The book will be of interest to a global readership of students, practitioners and policy makers as well as anyone who wants to know how rape can be stopped.

Concern for crime victims has been a growing political issue in improving the legitimacy and success of the criminal justice system through the rhetoric of rights. Since the 1970s there have been numerous reforms and policy documents produced to enhance victims' satisfaction in the criminal justice system. The Republic of Ireland has seen a sea-change in more recent years from a focus on services for victims to a greater emphasis on procedural rights. The purpose of this book is to chart these reforms against the backdrop of wider political and regional changes emanating from the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, and to critically examine whether the position of crime victims has actually ameliorated. The book discusses the historical and theoretical concern for crime victims in the criminal justice system, examins the variety of forms of legal and service provision inclusion, amd concludes by analysing the various needs of victims which continue to be unmet.

The topic of sexual offending is a deeply complex and challenging one. In the past number of years, there has been a growing interest in sexual crime with a proliferation of cases provoking controversy surrounding sentencing and continuing questions about the adequacy of the current law.

Sexual Offending in Ireland: Laws, Procedures and Punishment offers an accessible and comprehensive account of the relevant law in relation to sexual offending in Ireland. It incorporates an examination of developments in domestic legislation and case law, detailing the substantive and evidentiary rules, as well as sentencing practice and supervision of sexual offenders. Part 1 of the book provides a comprehensive account of the substantive law on sexual offences, covering the primary sexual offences against adult victims, as well as those relating to victims who are under the age of consent or who have limited decision-making capacity. Part 2 looks at procedural issues surrounding trial and evidence. It incorporates a critical analysis of recent developments in evidence-related issues that have arisen in recent years. This part covers the special rules of evidence which apply in sexual offence trials, as well as describing the special procedures which may apply in sexual offence trials to protect victims from secondary victimisation. Part 3 provides a comprehensive examination of how those convicted of sexual offending are sentenced in the Irish courts, and explains the post-release orders and requirements a convicted sex offender may be subject to in the aftermath of imprisonment.

Sexual Offending in Ireland: Laws, Procedures and Punishment also discusses the recent reforms introduced under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016, examining the implications these reforms will have upon the trial and punishment of sexual offences. It is a timely addition to commentary on the law in this unique area.

Susan Leahy
University of Limerick
Eimear Spain
University of Limerick
Keywords: victims, services, crime, Victims’ Directive, service rights, information, support, protection
Abstract
The article considers the impact which the Victims’ Directive will have on service provision for victims in Ireland and the challenges which will be faced in seeking to make the objectives of the Directive a reality. The primary focus of the Directive is the provision of effective services to victims of crime ‘to ensure that [they] receive appropriate information, support and protection and are able to participate in criminal proceedings’. Unlike proposals to give participatory or procedural rights to victims, providing services such as court accompaniment or similar supports is uncontroversial. However, while these rights are not controversial in principle, ensuring that victims receive consistent and effective services throughout their engagement with the criminal justice process is not necessarily easily achieved. The article begins by discussing the expectations which the Directive creates for victims under each of its three themes; that is, information, support and protection. Within the discussion of each theme, the article will highlight shortcomings which have been experienced by Irish victims in that area in the past and consider the initial attempts which have been made to meet the Directive’s objectives with regard to that specific theme. The authors argue that although clear efforts have been made to ensure the expectations created by the Directive become a reality, Ireland still has some way to go before full compliance is achieved. The article concludes by considering some of the general, practical challenges posed when seeking to implement the level of service provision envisaged by the Directive and outlining the commitments which the state will need to make to ensure that appropriate, Directive-compliant services are provided to victims.

There appears to have been a diminution in both the quantum and commitment to protect the essence of the 1985 UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. Packages of services have replaced compensation and there are arbitrary restrictions on access to payments for victims of family violence in particular. The systemic refusal to fairly compensate women for the impact of male violence would appear to reflect the patriarchy at work.

"The protection of whistleblowers has been analysed from different perspectives such as disclosure, accountability, good governance and so on. However, there is a vacuum with respect to analysis of whistleblowers in terms of access to justice. This article aims to fill that gap by offering a new perspective for examining the issues involving the protection and encouragement of whistleblowers. Taking a victim-centric approach, this article asks, ‘How does Indian law respond to the legal needs and legal problems of whistleblowers?’ For this purpose, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 and the Whistle Blowers Protection Amendment Bill, 2015 are examined and recommendations made as to how access to justice can be made a reality for whistleblowers".
The main focus of this paper is the Indian law, but wherever necessary examples from other jurisdictions (Including Australia) are given. The article is also helpful for people across different countries, who want to explore a new perspective i.e. 'access to justice' perspective for the protection and encouragement of whistleblowers. This paper supports a victim-centric approach, accordingly it is also useful for those interested in the disciplines like: victimology, criminology and human rights. Right to information users are a new type of private whistleblowers, therefore, this article is also useful for users of right to information or freedom of information laws.
The full download of the article is available at:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3396355

When women from sub-Saharan Africa arrive with their children to the Andalusian coasts (southern Spain) after a long and troubled migratory journey through several African countries, the Spanish administration does not realize that many of them are victims of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and mistakes them for irregular immigrants. the aim of this paper is to describe the difficult migratory experiences of African women, including the violence that they suffer, as well as Spanish and international regulations of human trafficking.

MISE EN GARDE ET AVIS D'EXONÉRATION DE RESPONSABILITÉ : Tous droits réservés. Il est interdit de reproduire, de mémoriser sur un système d'extraction de données ou de transmettre, sous quelque forme ou par quelque moyen que ce soit, électronique ou mécanique, photocopie, enregistrement ou autre, tout ou partie de la pré-sente publication, à moins d'en avoir préalablement obtenu l'autorisation écrite de l'éditeur, Éditions Yvon Blais. Ni Éditions Yvon Blais ni aucune des autres personnes ayant participé à la réalisation et à la distribution de la pré-sente publication ne fournissent quelque garantie que ce soit relativement à l'exactitude ou au caractère actuel de celle-ci. Il est entendu que la présente publication est offerte sous la réserve expresse que ni Éditions Yvon Blais, ni l'auteur (ou les auteurs) de cette publication, ni aucune des autres personnes ayant participé à son élaboration n'assument quelque responsabilité que ce soit relativement à l'exactitude ou au caractère actuel de son contenu ou au résultat de toute action prise sur la foi de l'information qu'elle renferme, ou ne peut être tenu responsable de toute erreur qui pourrait s'y être glissée ou de toute omission. La participation d'une personne à la présente publication ne peut en aucun cas être considérée comme constituant la formulation, par celle-ci, d'un avis juridique ou comptable ou de tout autre avis professionnel. Si vous avez besoin d'un avis juridique ou d'un autre avis professionnel, vous devez retenir les services d'un avocat, d'un notaire ou d'un autre professionnel. Les analyses comprises dans les présentes ne doivent être interprétées d'aucune façon comme étant des politiques offcielles ou non offcielles de quelque organisme gouvernemental que ce soit.

Le occasioni di intrusione nella privacy sessuale delle persone si sono, negli ultimi anni, decisamente moltiplicate. Essa risulta invasa e manipolata secondo sempre nuove ed inquietanti declinazioni, tra le quali, la più grave, non
foss’altro per la sua maggiore diffusione, è la divulgazione di immagini intime, che, nel linguaggio comune, è spesso indicata con la controversa espressione “revenge porn”.
Il grave danno subito dalle vittime di “revenge porn” e le dimensioni che il fenomeno sta assumendo hanno già indotto i legislatori dei principali ordinamenti angloamericani ad introdurre una specifica fattispecie incriminatrice, ed impongono di interrogarsi sulla possibilità di disciplinare in via diretta anche nel nostro ordinamento gli effetti penali della divulgazione non consensuale di immagini pornografiche.
Il presente lavoro, quindi, prendendo le mosse da una messa a fuoco del fenomeno sotto diversi punti di vista (“in action”, terminologico, statistico), nonché da un’analisi del quadro di tutela attualmente predisposto dal sistema penale italiano, si propone di maturare alcune prime riflessioni sull’eventuale incriminazione specifica in ossequio ai canoni dell’offensività e della sussidiarietà.

Intrusions in the privacy of people’s sex life have become very common in recent years. Among the various forms of intrusion the most serious one, at least in terms of diffusiveness, is the dissemination of private sexual images, often referred to as “revenge porn”. The harmfulness for the victims of “revenge porn” and the dimensions of such a phenomenon have already induced lawmakers in the main AngloAmerican legal systems to introduce a specific criminal offence, so that it is crucial to assess if in our legal system the criminalisation of disseminating private sexy images would be a viable option. This essay, starting from an analysis of the phenomenon at issue from several standpoints (“in action”, linguistic, statistic) as well as the criminal law legal framework in Italy, aims to present some preliminary reflections on a proper criminal provision in light of the harm principle and the principle of minimal criminalisation.

This study analyses laypersons’ explanations for sexual violence. It focusses on how the responsibility for sexual crimes is constructed and attributed, and moreover, what kind of effect this has on the attribution of blame. The research data consist of 105 opinion pieces published in the leading Finnish newspaper since the beginning of the 21st century. The theory-driven qualitative analysis utilises attribution theory and focusses on laypersons’ interpretations and explanations for unusual acts and events deviating from social norms. Attribution theory is commonly utilised in relation to micro-level actors, the offender and the victim, whereas in this article, it is broadened to include also society as a
macro-level actor. The analysis reveals that the construction of responsibility derives from (I) the chronological presentation and explanation of sexual crimes; especially (II) the causality attached to
chronological phases, which emphasises the victim’s actions prior to the crime; and (III) the construction of active female agency against male passivity or absence of the perpetrator. Moreover, blame is based on a combination of active agency, produced in the analysed explanations, and stereotypical features connected to female gender (e.g. rape myths).

This paper examines coverage of an incident in which police officers allegedly raped a woman in their custody. The way the meaning of the incident is constructed via the framing of the victim is explored. News coverage from the surfacing of the allegation to indictment of the officers is coded to identify categorized descriptions of the victim, types of sources on which the media relies, and depictions of consent. Results indicate that the victim took a central role in constructing the meaning of the incident, ensuring that she was characterized in a balanced manner and driving media coverage by participating as a source. Coverage almost universally depicted the incident as a nonconsensual sexual attack. The factors determining these results include an apparent convergence of interest between the victim and law enforcement, her success at influencing media narratives, and the coincidence of the breaking Harvey Weinstein scandal.