“Bangladesh is not a conflict.” This is what I was recently told by the special representative of the UN secretary-general at the summit on End Sexual Violence in Conflict ESVC. She said the history of…
As was confirmed recently by figures from Police Scotland, there has been a 23% increase in recorded cases of rape north of the border over the past year. In 2013-14, the first year of Police Scotland’s…
Rolf Harris’s conviction on 12 charges of indecent assault came at the end of a long trial. The case put sexual assault victims in the spotlight once again – only the latest high-profile example of a growing…
It’s almost 80 years since Abel Meeropol’s powerfully evocative civil rights poem Strange Fruit was popularised in song by Billie Holiday. But I recalled the lyrics recently, when reading about the high-profile…
The principle that someone accused of an offence is “innocent until proven guilty” is a cornerstone of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. But a new idea of what constitutes “victimhood…
The recent publication of a serious case review into the suicide of Frances Andrade reveals how difficult it is for a sexual assault victim to stand and testify against an accuser in court. Keir Starmer…
The recent decision by the Scottish Parliament to scrap the need for corroboration in criminal trials is designed to solve a longstanding problem: there is a low rate of convictions in rape cases and…
In the space of just over a year, two women in Greater Manchester have killed themselves because of their experiences as complainants in sexual offences cases. The challenge this poses to the criminal…
Many colleagues and friends have asked me about the surge and intensity of sexual harassment in Egypt, which has already received plenty of attention within academia and the international media. They ask…
Hidden amongst the more high-profile reforms in the newly published Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014 is a proposal to extend the law on extreme pornography. This law, first enacted in 2008, criminalises…
Coinciding with yet another brutal gang rape in Delhi is news that Delhi’s women and child welfare minister, Rakhi Birla, is recruiting an all-female commando unit to help respond to Delhi’s rape problem…
Stuart Brown, London School of Economics and Political Science
Hard Evidence is a series of articles that looks at some of the trickiest public policy questions we face. Academic experts delve into available research evidence to provide informed analysis you won’t…
Deaths, arrests, missing passports, hospitalisations, rapes and sexual assaults - it’s holiday season and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has published its annual report on British behaviour…
Jo Adetunji, The Conversation y Emily Lindsay Brown, The Conversation
A third of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner, according to the first comprehensive research of its kind. The report, published today by the London School…
Five years after the government enacted a controversial law criminalising the possession of extreme pornography, it is clear that the legislation is deeply flawed, not least because it fails to cover pornographic…
Sometimes, a matter of domestic law - a murder, a kidnapping, a rape - can be so horrifying that it is keenly felt, and keenly watched, around the world. This was the case with the gang rape of a 23-year-old…
In Syria, rape is being used by armed groups as a means to an end. In this context, reports have emerged detailing the use of sexual violence by Syrian armed forces and paramilitaries loyal to Assad. Last…
Women who are raped, sexually assaulted, bashed by a partner or stalked are much more likely to develop mental health problems than women who do not experience gender-based violence, a study has found…