tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/assault-41771/articlesAssault – The Conversation2023-12-07T23:43:16Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2150702023-12-07T23:43:16Z2023-12-07T23:43:16ZAs the temperature rises, so do rates of domestic violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557389/original/file-20231103-17-6s620e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5982%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/heat-wave-extreme-sun-sky-background-2313962169">DStockgraphy/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/06/australia-heatwave-weather-temperatures-nsw-wa-qld-sa-nt">parts of Australia</a> are currently in the grip of a heatwave, and climate change means we’re in for more <a href="https://www.climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/impacts-climate-change/weather-and-oceans/heatwaves">frequent and intense heat events</a> into the future.</p>
<p>We know extreme heat can pose <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health">health risks</a>, especially for vulnerable groups. But increasingly, research is highlighting a relationship between <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1235367">hot temperatures and violence</a>. </p>
<p>Our team analysed <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/12265934.2023.2209544">close to one million</a> reported incidents of domestic, non-domestic and sexual assaults over a 13 year period (2006-2018) in New South Wales. We examined trends related to season, temperature, and where the incidents occurred (inside or outside).</p>
<p>We found violence increased with warmer weather. But the effect of heat was greater on domestic violence than other types of violent crime. The reasons, and solutions, are complex. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/car-accidents-drownings-violence-hotter-temperatures-will-mean-more-deaths-from-injury-129628">Car accidents, drownings, violence: hotter temperatures will mean more deaths from injury</a>
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<h2>Hot weather, hot tempers</h2>
<p>Rates of assault were higher in summer than in winter in most areas, except for a few places with snow tourism. Overall, domestic, non-domestic and sexual violence rose as temperatures increased from cool to warm. </p>
<p>On extreme heat days, non-domestic assaults outdoors declined, potentially because people move indoors seeking respite from the heat. However, domestic violence rates continued to increase with temperature, both inside and outside. </p>
<p>Sexual assaults both indoors and outdoors also increased in warm temperatures, but declined or plateaued in hot weather. </p>
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<h2>Why are violence and hot weather linked?</h2>
<p>You’ve probably experienced the uncomfortable effects of hot weather, such as sweating, dehydration, lethargy and restless sleep. These effects can make people feel irritated, which may increase the likelihood of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-22279-001">acting more aggressively</a>.</p>
<p>Also, behavioural changes associated with hot weather may create more opportunities and motivation to act aggressively. For example, on warm and longer summer days we may be more likely to go out and socialise or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8747501/">drink more alcohol</a>. </p>
<p>In extreme heat, we may retreat inside if we can, where there’s respite from the sun and potentially air conditioning. Given this, we might expect to see less of an association between violence and hot weather indoors. But our research found this wasn’t generally the case.</p>
<p>Domestic violence is more often experienced by women, at the hands of a family member or partner who they <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence#risk">live with</a>. During extreme heat, offenders and victims may not have practical ways to avoid the heat. The house may remain hot without <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4602.0.55.001">access to air conditioning</a>, or it may be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1071/HE11413">too expensive to run</a>. </p>
<p>Violence is also often said to occur “<a href="https://hrcak.srce.hr/237620">behind closed doors</a>”, where there are fewer witnesses to intervene, and potentially more social stressors. As an example, COVID lockdowns were often associated with higher rates of <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/special/special-11">intimate partner abuse</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman looking out a window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557391/original/file-20231103-17-5qmz9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Domestic violence rose in hotter weather.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-woman-trapped-home-violent-man-1727153176">Yannick Martinez/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>One limitation of our study is that we used outdoor ambient air temperature to represent heat exposure, regardless of where the crime occurred. However, heat will vary significantly by location on a given day. For example, an indoor location like a bakery or factory could be hotter than outside at a shady park, and may remain hot regardless of the weather. </p>
<h2>What about online?</h2>
<p>Our team was interested to know whether temperature-related aggression can be seen outside of crime statistics, so we considered how anger is expressed on Twitter (now known as X). </p>
<p>In a previous study, we analysed emotions captured from more than 74 million tweets, looking for words or phrases that expressed <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013916520937455">rage or anger</a>. </p>
<p>We found that generally the number of angry tweets (and in fact, tweets in general) decreased as temperatures moved from cool to warm. This may be partly because we get off our screens and enjoy the weather.</p>
<p>However, in very hot weather that trend plateaued or even reversed, suggesting angry tweets may rise in extreme heat. Similarly, studies have found <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00173-5/fulltext">online hate speech</a> increases in extreme heat.</p>
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<img alt="A man outdoors on his smartphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557392/original/file-20231103-15-alzfdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hotter temperatures are also associated with aggression online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/middle-age-greyhaired-man-using-smartphone-1828847783">Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Reducing inequalities</h2>
<p>Neither heat nor violence affect everyone equally. Both are influenced by social determinants of health.</p>
<p>Domestic violence is more likely to occur in <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/when-violence-hits-home-how-economics-and-neighborhood-play-role-research">disadvantaged areas</a>. Likewise, lower socioeconomic populations tend to have <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3b99/meta">higher heat exposure</a>. This may be due to the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32461547/">urban heat island effect</a> (where a city experiences warmer temperatures than surrounding rural areas), less access to air conditioning or private cars, or working outdoors. </p>
<p>While the drivers behind temperature-related violence are complex, there are things we can do. First, we need to address the big issues <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2784629/">relating to domestic violence</a> such as cultural norms, <a href="https://www.respect.gov.au/">attitudes</a> and legal provisions.</p>
<p>In heatwaves, we can provide inexpensive and accessible cool areas for those who need them. So-called “<a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.20220606068145">heat refuges</a>” offer a safe space for people to linger, like at a library, swimming pool or community centre, and provide air conditioning, cold water and other facilities. </p>
<p>Increasing the amount of green space in cities could have a dual benefit. More urban greening is associated with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717301754">lower urban heat island effect</a>, and studies have also shown a link between more green space and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5119">less violent crime</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-is-landing-more-australians-in-hospital-and-heat-is-the-biggest-culprit-216440">Extreme weather is landing more Australians in hospital – and heat is the biggest culprit</a>
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<p>Our findings add to growing evidence that shows <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7855">extreme weather events</a> are <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abb266;">associated with</a> a range of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021001586">poor health</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-020-03887-z">social outcomes</a>.</p>
<p>The effects of extreme weather in our communities demands more and stronger action on climate change.</p>
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<p><em>The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault. You can also text the service on 0458 737 732.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215070/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Beggs is affiliated with the Lancet Countdown.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather R. Stevens and Petra Graham do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hot temperatures seem to lead to aggression, both in real life and online.Heather R. Stevens, Researcher - Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityPaul Beggs, Associate Professor and Environmental Health Scientist, Macquarie UniversityPetra Graham, Associate Professor, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158742023-10-18T05:17:01Z2023-10-18T05:17:01ZA new bill would bring Victoria’s strangulation laws in line with other states – but consent complicates matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554453/original/file-20231018-21-1ptr0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C60%2C5725%2C3768&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-man-hands-holding-woman-rape-1276184743">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In October 2011, Victorian woman Joy Rowley was strangled to death by her intimate partner. It was not the first time he had strangled her. Over the eight-month period leading up to her death she had called the police multiple times to report <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-23/joy-rowley-james-mulhall-inquest-victoria-police-apology/9790738">strangulation attacks</a>. </p>
<p>In the inquest that followed, the coroner highlighted an incident months before she died that involved strangulation and a knife. Police did not lay charges against the offender James Mulhall until several months after that incident. Rowley’s family and others have tirelessly campaigned since for the introduction of a strangulation <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/could-police-have-saved-joy-from-being-strangled-to-death-20180521-p4zgmu.html">offence</a>. </p>
<p>Today, 12 years later, the Victorian parliament introduced a bill to criminalise <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/non-fatal-strangulation-become-stand-alone-offence">non-fatal strangulation</a> as a standalone offence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-family-violence-young-women-are-too-often-ignored-190547">When it comes to family violence, young women are too often ignored</a>
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<h2>Common and gendered</h2>
<p>Strangulation, also referred to as choking, means stopping or hindering a person’s breath or blood flow through neck compression. </p>
<p>It is a common and gendered form of violence reported by 25–60% of family violence <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748895820949607?journalCode=crjb">victim-survivors</a>. It is recognised as a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093854819843973">form of coercive control</a> – a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviours within a relationship. Through strangulation, abusers can show they literally hold the victim-survivor’s life in their <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/system/files/2023-09/national-principles-to-address-coercive-control-family-and-domestic-violence.PDF">hands</a>. </p>
<p>A person who has experienced strangulation from their abusive partner is <a href="https://www.jem-journal.com/article/S0736-4679(07)00414-3/fulltext">six or seven times more likely</a> than other victim-survivors of family violence to experience death, or very serious harm, in the weeks or months that follow. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/7-red-flags-your-teen-might-be-in-an-abusive-relationship-and-6-signs-its-escalating-212536">7 red flags your teen might be in an abusive relationship – and 6 signs it's escalating</a>
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<h2>Injury and death</h2>
<p>Some 15% of deaths attributed to family violence are caused by <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/174811">strangulation</a>. Death can occur in around a <a href="https://www.familyjusticecenter.org/resources/physiological-consequences-of-strangulation-seconds-to-minute-timeline-2/">minute</a> with a level of pressure required being less than what’s needed to open a <a href="https://www.allianceforhope.com/easy-as-pulling-a-trigger-anchorage-da-spreads-awareness-about-strangulation/#:%7E:text=Stopping%20the%20flow%20of%20blood,pressure%20to%20pull%20the%20trigger.">soft drink can</a>. </p>
<p>Sometimes death can occur weeks or months after strangulation because of <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/698586/review-of-dv-deaths-involving-fatal-and-non-fatal-strangulation-in-queensland.pdf">blood clots, stroke or brain damage</a>. When it is not fatal, injuries can be long-lasting including loss of consciousness, brain injuries resulting in memory loss, and pregnancy miscarriage. </p>
<p>Short-term injuries are common too, and may include bruising and nausea. However, in about 50% of cases victim-survivors have no visible injuries even when they have lost <a href="https://www.kemh.health.wa.gov.au/%7E/media/HSPs/NMHS/Hospitals/WNHS/Documents/Patients-resources/SARC---Non-fatal-strangulation.pdf">consciousness</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/family-violence-can-include-fire-threats-and-burning-we-can-do-more-to-protect-women-195197">Family violence can include fire threats and burning. We can do more to protect women</a>
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<h2>The new bill</h2>
<p>In Victoria, strangulation is commonly charged as an assault, which does not reflect the seriousness of the offence. Victoria’s proposed strangulation legislation includes two forms of the <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/non-fatal-strangulation-become-stand-alone-offence">offence</a>. The most serious form will require the prosecution to prove the offender intended to cause injury. It will attract a maximum ten-year prison sentence. </p>
<p>A second form won’t require proof of injury and could attract a five-year maximum penalty. In such cases, it will be possible for the accused to demonstrate there was affirmative consent and avoid conviction. The government says this will: </p>
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<p>[…] provide protection for people who have engaged in genuinely consensual non-fatal strangulation during sexual activity and no intentional injury has occurred.</p>
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<h2>Choking and sex</h2>
<p>Historically, strangulation has been understood as a risky and edgy form of bondage and domination sexual practices. But despite its dangers, strangulation has become an increasingly common part of sex, especially among younger people. This may be driven by increasing engagement with pornography where depictions of choking are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355594338_Pornography_Consumption_and_Sexual_Choking_An_Evaluation_of_Theoretical_Mechanisms">frequent</a>. </p>
<p>A survey of over 4,000 American undergraduate students found around one quarter of women reported being choked in their <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34242530/">most recent sexual experience</a>. The same study also highlighted the gendered nature of the activity, with women much more likely to be choked by their male partner than the other way around. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C20%2C4573%2C3428&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman sits on bed facing wall to hide face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C20%2C4573%2C3428&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554445/original/file-20231018-23-1cdl7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Other states have already introduced laws to make non-fatal strangulation a crime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/concept-sexual-harassment-against-women-rape-1468255889">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Should consent be a defence?</h2>
<p>There is increasing debate about whether consent should be a defence to any form of strangulation, given the risks and <a href="https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/fac_pubs/704/">dangers associated with it</a>. </p>
<p>Reported cases of rape and sexual assault frequently feature claims by the accused that violent sex, including strangulation, was consensual. This leads to challenges to victim-survivors’ credibility and “he said-she said” <a href="https://www.queenslandjudgments.com.au/caselaw/qca/2020/159">arguments</a>. Some experts are worried this resurrects the “<a href="https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/fac_pubs/704/">she asked for it</a>” defence in rape and sexual assault cases.</p>
<p>In Queensland, where the strangulation offence has been in place since <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/s315a.html#:%7E:text=315A%20Choking%2C%20suffocation%20or%20strangulation%20in%20a%20domestic%20setting,-(1)%20A%20person&text=(ii)%20the%20choking%2C%20suffocation,Family%20Violence%20Protection%.">2016</a>, lawyers report allegations of non-consensual strangulation during sex generally result in sexual offence charges, rather than for strangulation. </p>
<p>Claims strangulation was consensual have been <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13657127211036175">rare</a>. This likely points to low levels of complaint rather than that non-consensual strangulation during sex it is <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4287968/NFS-Services-Report-Sharman-et-al-2022.pdf">not happening</a>. </p>
<p>Queensland court statistics show when a charge of strangulation is lodged, about 23% of charges lead to a conviction of strangulation. The other 75% of matters are withdrawn because victim-survivors do not wish to proceed, there is insufficient evidence or a different charge <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/4096535/Fitzgerald-et-al-ODPP-report.pdf">such as assault proceeds</a>. Conviction of strangulation in Queensland results in imprisonment in over <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/court-users/researchers-and-public/stats">95% of cases</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-women-dont-always-access-health-care-after-head-injuries-from-family-violence-heres-why-206084">First Nations women don't always access health care after head injuries from family violence. Here's why</a>
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<h2>An important step</h2>
<p>Victoria is the final state or territory in Australia to introduce a standalone offence of <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/4083784/Non-fatal-Strangulation-Laws-in-Australia.pdf">strangulation</a>. </p>
<p>Elsewhere the introduction of the offence has significantly improved knowledge among front-line workers about the risks and harms of strangulation. Greater understanding of its risk and harms should lead to more appropriate <a href="https://www.redrosefoundation.com.au/strangulation">referrals and enhanced safety</a>. </p>
<p>The proposed law is an important step in recognising the specific risks and harms associated with this behaviour. Now it’s been introduced to parliament, the text of the bill will likely be debated and potentially adapted before being passed. Hopefully the introduction of the offence will bring with it appropriate training opportunities and greater awareness.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>For information and advice about family and intimate partner violence contact <a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732). If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, contact 000. <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/">Kids Helpline</a> is 1800 55 1800. <a href="https://ntv.org.au/get-help/">Men’s Referral Service</a> (call 1300 766 491) offers advice and counselling to men looking to change their behaviour.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Douglas receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The Victorian parliament has introduced a bill to criminalise non-fatal strangulation – but consent could be a defence.Heather Douglas, Professor of Law, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138462023-10-02T17:47:09Z2023-10-02T17:47:09ZRiskier times on campuses mean we need a tool for prevention and intervention of sexual assaults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550721/original/file-20230927-29-n78pww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C0%2C6048%2C3965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How post-secondary institutions react after a sexual assault incident can impact campus safety.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/riskier-times-on-campuses-mean-we-need-a-tool-for-prevention-and-intervention-of-sexual-assaults" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The excitement of entering a new academic year for university and college students can be palpable and filled with hope. But the start of the school year in post-secondary settings also has a shadow side, known as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221134293">red zone</a>. </p>
<p>The red zone is one of the riskier times for gender-based and sexualized violence to occur — about <a href="https://doi.org/10.3200/JACH.57.3.331-338">50 per cent of sexual assaults on campus</a> happen during this period. The impact on victims can be tremendous and devastating. </p>
<p>Others on campus are left to worry about their personal safety, while families and friends become concerned about their loved ones being on campus grounds or attending campus events. </p>
<p>After an incident of violence occurs, universities and colleges start thinking about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018756121">reputational harm</a> and what impact this might have on enrolment in the long-term.</p>
<h2>Institutional betrayal</h2>
<p>The post-secondary environment is a unique community focused on teaching and learning. Education should be at the heart of these learning environments, but this is affected after on-campus incidents of assault. </p>
<p>Victims have expressed feelings that an assault forces them to the margins of these communities. They experience institutional betrayal when their university or college failed to have policies or measures that would ensure their safety and failed to do what was reasonably expected to prevent further violence. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-sexual-assault-victims-speak-out-their-institutions-often-betray-them-87050">When sexual assault victims speak out, their institutions often betray them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Post-secondary institutions and their communities should be resolutely driven to maintain a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537696.pdf">strong, safe and quality-focused place of learning</a>. </p>
<p>Universities and colleges also need to focus on prevention and intervention in their campus community, in addition to <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/events/responding-to-critical-incidents-of-sexual-violence-at-post-secondary-institutions">effectively responding to victims and the individuals who caused harm</a>. Ensuring campus safety and reducing reputational harm to the institution means assessing every incidence of gender-based and sexualized violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a crowd of people wearing yellow T-shirts" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550722/original/file-20230927-19-l3yvos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The start of the school year in post-secondary settings is when 50 per cent of campus sexual assaults can happen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Identifying areas of risk</h2>
<p>It is important to not only assess the risk presented by perpetrators, but to also proactively identify areas within the institution that may enable future gender-based and sexualized violence to occur on campus. This analysis should be the sole responsibility of the institution — using a risk assessment tool can help meet such objectives. </p>
<p>It can be used to identify those areas that are in need of intervention or areas where prevention work can happen.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/addressing-campus-sexual-violence-new-risk-assessment-tool-can-help-administrators-make-difficult-decisions-199714">Addressing campus sexual violence: New risk assessment tool can help administrators make difficult decisions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In light of the enormous scientific research in the field of risk assessment, it is surprising there has been no tool developed for use in universities and colleges. To address this gap, the <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/knowledgecentre">Gender-Based and Sexualized Violence Community Risk Assessment Tool</a> was launched in September.</p>
<p>We developed the tool to help prevent gender-based and sexualized violence on campus. We reviewed existing risk assessment tools for sexual and intimate partner violence and comprehensively reviewed research literature on campus sexual violence and gender-based violence risk factors. </p>
<p>We also conducted an environmental scan of risk assessment tools in use to ensure there weren’t tools that were unpublished but being used by practitioners. Our research helped us identify over 20 risk factors.</p>
<p>We then convened two advisory groups to help us determine which factors would be included in a final tool. Each group was comprised of sexual violence co-ordinators, student conduct officers, academic administrators, violence risk experts and, most importantly, students. These post-secondary stakeholders were drawn from across the country, from a variety of institutions and represented a number of viewpoints from across the post-secondary community. </p>
<p>The resulting tool includes 16 risk factors clustered into four groups related to the victim, campus community, violence incidence and the person who caused harm. A few of these 16 risk factors included institutional student life culture, sexual preoccupation and participation in hypermasculine culture.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2r71PzhUpwk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">CBC reports on a student who says she experienced assault by a perpetrator who remains on campus.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Risk assessment and decision-making</h2>
<p>When an incident of sexualized and gender-based violence on a campus is reported, an important part of the investigation includes a risk assessment of the person who caused harm. This helps inform decisions and <a href="https://safersocietypress.org/rnr-principles-in-practice/">ensures the level of intervention matches the level of risk</a> to ensure safety.</p>
<p>The current tool goes further by focusing on factors related to the campus community and the victim. These factors provide information that could help identify areas the university or college needs to work on in order to improve safety and better respond to all instances of violence in their campus community.</p>
<p>Campus community risk for sexualized and gender-based violence should be assessed at various stages of a reported incident from initial accusation to investigation, and even after decisions are made about the individual who caused harm. This allows the institution to identify relevant areas where intervention could lower risk, make decisions about the individual who caused harm, and develop programs that would better prevent further incidents.</p>
<h2>Evidence-based decision-making</h2>
<p>Using the Community Risk Assessment Tool allows universities and colleges to make evidence-based decisions about their policies and procedures, <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/elp">learning environments</a> and supports for marginalized students. It also helps address a culture of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X211064321">hypermasculine beliefs</a> among campus groups and changing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016008004">problematic sexual expectations</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0030624">oppressive attitudes</a> on campus.</p>
<p>These decisions can positively influence the entire campus community. More broadly, the use of a risk assessment tool can progressively improve reputational risk by mandating a risk assessment for each incident. This ensures that an institutional audit of campus safety is a fixed and usual course of action. </p>
<p>This ensures a consistent process across all reported incidents may instill some confidence for victims that the university or college’s decisions are reasonably formed based on an objective tool.</p>
<p>Following an incidence of violence, the use of an evidence-based risk assessment tool can only help to promote safety and a sense of accountability by universities and colleges after the fact.</p>
<p>Without such a tool, campuses will be left reacting to incidents of gender-based and sexualized violence as they arise, rather than building a safe and effective learning community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Jung receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She also provides consultation to Possibility Seeds.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jesmen Mendoza provides consultation to Possibility Seeds. </span></em></p>A new community risk assessment tool allows post-secondary institutions to make evidence-based decisions about their policies and procedures.Sandy Jung, Professor, Department of Psychology, MacEwan UniversityJesmen Mendoza, Psychologist and Faculty Member, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060842023-06-14T20:10:13Z2023-06-14T20:10:13ZFirst Nations women don’t always access health care after head injuries from family violence. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531828/original/file-20230614-21-zf11ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C12%2C3989%2C2106&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-woman-sitting-on-bed-beside-1439614217">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Please be advised this article contains details of family violence.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2008/188/10/hospitalisation-head-injury-due-assault-among-indigenous-and-non-indigenous">69 times</a> more likely than non-Indigenous women to be hospitalised with head injuries due to assaults. </p>
<p>But some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2023.2173018">don’t access</a> health care and support services after head injuries from family violence. Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0312407X.2023.2210115?src=">research</a>, published this week, explored some of the reasons why – and how these barriers can be overcome. </p>
<p>We found fear of child removal, poverty, coercive control and low awareness of traumatic brain injury related to <a href="https://www.indigenousmhspc.gov.au/publications/dfv">family violence</a> can all impact on when and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/project/improving-family-violence-legal-and-support-services-for-indigenous-women/">access health care and support services</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-women-are-69-times-more-likely-to-have-a-head-injury-after-being-assaulted-we-show-how-hard-it-is-to-get-help-194249">First Nations women are 69 times more likely to have a head injury after being assaulted. We show how hard it is to get help</a>
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<h2>What is traumatic brain injury?</h2>
<p>Traumatic brain injury is <a href="https://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(10)00650-7/pdf">caused by</a> a blow, jolt or bump to the head. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1591562">Non-fatal strangulation</a> can also lead to brain injury as the brain is deprived of oxygen. </p>
<p>Traumatic brain injuries vary from mild to severe, and can cause a range of behavioural, emotional, physical and psychological symptoms, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12924684/">including</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>poor memory</li>
<li>dizziness</li>
<li>headaches</li>
<li>lack of concentration</li>
<li>slowness to process information or make decisions</li>
<li>emotional dysregulation, such as inability to control anger</li>
<li>anxiety and depression</li>
<li>lack of insight, where the person with the injury does not realise the effect of their injury.</li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541936693799833600"}"></div></p>
<p>The <a href="https://synapse.org.au/understanding-brain-injury/effects-of-brain-injury/">experience of brain injury</a> is unique to each person.</p>
<p>The degree of recovery is largely determined by the nature and extent of the injury as well as the level of engagement in rehabilitation. For <a href="https://www.braininjuryaustralia.org.au/download-bias-report-on-australias-first-research-into-family-violence-and-brain-injury/">moderate to severe</a> traumatic brain injury, recovery is most rapid in the first six months after the injury. </p>
<p>Even mild traumatic brain injury can have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8773525/">long-term impacts</a> on wellbeing, parenting capacity, relationships and day-to-day living. </p>
<p>Recovery can be maximised by providing education about the short- and long-term management of symptoms as well as the involvement of family in the rehabilitation and recovery phase. </p>
<h2>Listening to First Nations women</h2>
<p>To find out why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women don’t always <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2023.2173018">access services</a>, we completed interviews and focus discussion groups with 28 women and 90 service provider professionals in Queensland and the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Our study focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, as their voices are often <a href="https://theconversation.com/she-was-the-most-important-person-to-us-r-rubuntjas-story-shows-society-is-still-failing-first-nations-women-180857">silenced</a> when it comes to women’s safety.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/she-was-the-most-important-person-to-us-r-rubuntjas-story-shows-society-is-still-failing-first-nations-women-180857">'She was the most important person to us' – R. Rubuntja's story shows society is still failing First Nations women</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fear of child removal</h2>
<p>In results similar to those from family violence studies, women told us they avoided health care or minimised the amount of information they shared with health professionals to reduce the risk of contact with child protection authorities. One woman told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We won’t report when there is domestic violence. If there is any words that come from the woman that [her] children were there, children are considered at risk and so they are taken. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some women told us their children had been removed following reporting and seeking support following family violence.</p>
<h2>Risks of further violence</h2>
<p>Sometimes women were prevented from accessing health care by manipulation and coercive control. This included partners preventing them accessing a working phone or transport. </p>
<p>One service provider said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A lot of users of violence I guess employ such a level of control and coercion that sometimes women are prevented from seeking medical treatment, or attempts to seek medical treatment, or disclose violence, including assaults to the head. It might actually make the situation worse. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Women prioritise competing demands</h2>
<p>Community-based service providers recognised the strength and resilience of women in continuing their roles caring for children and other family members after experiencing family violence.</p>
<p>Service providers told us their clients were often also managing financial and housing worries. One service provider told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When a woman arrives here, the most important thing is rest, food, and finding that space to just sit with what’s happened, and then medical attention. I don’t always hear women prioritising medical attention in the first instance. I think that rest definitely, and even hunger, on a real, basic survival level. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-traumatic-brain-injury-75546">Explainer: what is traumatic brain injury?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Awareness of brain injury</h2>
<p>Community members and leaders we spoke to had low levels of awareness, knowledge and recognition of the long-term damage violence can have on the brain. One community member said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We didn’t know about this brain injury. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I didn’t go to the hospital. I had a bit of [a] headache, didn’t think it was serious enough to [go] and get checked, it [headache] went away. It happened many times. One time I black out, wasn’t aware of the lasting harm that can cause.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>So what are the solutions?</h2>
<p>There are a range of opportunities to address several of these barriers. </p>
<p>First, service providers (including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.200">within child protection systems</a>) need to ensure women receive compassionate care, referrals and links to support services for traumatic brain injury in a meaningful, timely and appropriate way.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.familymatters.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/20221123-Family-Matters-Report-2022-1.pdf">strong calls</a> to have community-controlled organisations deliver child protection services – with many potential benefits to families and communities. </p>
<p>We also need to resource communities to design, implement and evaluate traumatic brain injury prevention and early intervention solutions. </p>
<p>Community-wide and school-based education were among some of the recommendations from community members to help people recognise the signs of traumatic brain injury and the importance of seeking help.</p>
<p>Other strategies to improve access to services include placing supports such as social workers outside of acute, hospital settings – for example, in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26408066.2023.2202665?src=">GP clinics</a> and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. </p>
<p>Finally, front-line staff and university students need high-quality training and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6645196/">education about traumatic brain injury and family violence</a>, how it presents in parental behaviour, case management and referral pathways. </p>
<p>Any practical solutions must be implemented through local partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to ensure the measures are community-led, culturally safe and provide an overall benefit, without doing further harm.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-harrowing-stories-of-murdered-indigenous-women-and-the-failure-of-police-to-act-205655">New research reveals harrowing stories of murdered Indigenous women and the failure of police to act</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact <a href="https://1800respect.org.au/">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732) or <a href="https://www.13yarn.org.au/">13YARN</a> (13 92 76). In an emergency, call 000.</em></p>
<p><em>Jody Barney is a co-author on the journal paper on which this article is based. The authors thank the project team, advisory group and participants who shared their time and knowledge.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Fitts receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Cullen receives funding from the Department of Social Services and the NDIS. She is the CEO of Synapse Australia.</span></em></p>Some First Nations women who sustain head injuries from family violence don’t access health care and support. We studied why and found one reason is a fear their children will be taken away.Michelle Fitts, ARC DECRA Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityJennifer Cullen, Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892902022-08-26T12:18:46Z2022-08-26T12:18:46ZSalman Rushdie wasn’t the first novelist to suffer an assassination attempt by someone who hadn’t read their book<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481130/original/file-20220825-26-pyhaxf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C86%2C1758%2C1331&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A still from the film version of Hugo Bettauer's prophetic 1922 novel 'The City Without Jews.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sites.barbican.org.uk/thecitywithoutjews/assets/I8O6TbQPLw/stoj_15-1868x1483.jpeg">Barbican</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hadi Matar, the man charged with the attempted murder of the distinguished novelist Salman Rushdie, admitted that he had only “<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/17/alleged-salman-rushdie-attacker-didnt-think-author-would-survive/">read like two pages</a>” of “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/323746/the-satanic-verses-by-salman-rushdie/">The Satanic Verses</a>,” Rushdie’s 1988 novel that angered fundamentalist Muslims around the world. Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatalloh Ruhollah Khomeini, who announced a fatwa calling on all Muslims to murder Rushdie in 1989, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/ayatollah-khomeini-never-read-salman-rushdies-book">hadn’t read it at all</a>.</p>
<p>“The Satanic Verses” wasn’t the first – and won’t be the last – novel to provoke the rage of a fanatic who has no grasp of literature’s nuances.</p>
<p>In 1922, an Austrian writer named <a href="http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n90644199/">Hugo Bettauer</a> published a novel set in Vienna called “<a href="https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//lookupid?key=olbp91179">The City Without Jews</a>.” It sold a quarter of a million copies and became known internationally, with an <a href="https://archive.org/details/citywithoutjews0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater">English translation</a> issued in London and New York. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcX3VWkXLjA">A silent movie adaptation, which has recently been recovered and restored</a>, appeared in the summer of 1924. The following spring, a young Nazi burst into Bettauer’s office and shot him multiple times. The author died of his wounds two weeks later.</p>
<h2>A novel published in a polarized city</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/">As in the U.S. today</a>, there was a major <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40178867">gap between rich and poor in early 20th-century Vienna</a>. </p>
<p>The impressive architecture of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Vienna/Layout-and-architecture">inner city</a> sheltered immense wealth, while there was desperate poverty in the working-class districts beyond. The opulence of the banks and department stores, the culture of the theaters and opera house – especially in the predominantly Jewish district of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/connecting-past-and-future-on-a-pilgrimage-to-viennas-jewish-quarter/2019/01/24/6804366a-1a7a-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html">Leopoldstadt</a> – inevitably stirred deep resentment. </p>
<p>In the years immediately preceding World War I, populist mayor <a href="https://ww1.habsburger.net/en/chapters/i-decide-who-jew">Karl Lueger</a> saw his opportunity: He could win votes by blaming every problem on the Jews. Many a Jewish refugee would later say that <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/george-clare-memoirist-who-recalled-life-in-nazi-vienna-and-postwar-berlin-1726060.html">the antisemitism in Vienna was worse than Berlin’s</a>. An impoverished painter living in a public dormitory in a poor district to the north of Leopoldstadt was <a href="https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/why-did-hitler-hate-jews/">inspired to build a new ideology</a> following Lueger’s blueprint. His name was Adolf Hitler.</p>
<p>Hugo Bettauer was born Jewish. Though he converted to Christianity, he never lost touch with his roots. He worked as a journalist and became a prolific novelist.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Book cover featuring a drawing of a snaking line of people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481134/original/file-20220825-16-9tfss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hugo Bettauer’s novel ‘The City Without Jews’ sold over 250,000 copies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.filmarchiv.at/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bettauer_roman-510x720.jpg">Austrian Film Archive</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“The City Without Jews” (“Die Stadt ohne Juden”), ominously subtitled “A Novel of Tomorrow,” is a dystopian satire.</p>
<p>“A solid human wall,” it begins, “extending from the University to the Bellaria, surrounded the beautiful and imposing Parliament Building. All Vienna seemed to have assembled on this June morning to witness an historic event of incalculable importance.” </p>
<p>They have come to hear a politician called Dr. Schwertfeger – clearly based on Lueger – proclaim that all Jews are to be expelled from the city. </p>
<p>“Heil Dr. Karl Schwertfeger,” cry the mob, “Heil, heil, heil, the liberator of Austria.”</p>
<p>Names, facial features and ancestry are investigated; even those with mixed blood are put on the list of people to be expelled. Synagogues are desecrated and the entire Jewish population is packed into railway carriages with their suitcases. To watch this scene in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016392/">the 1924 silent movie version</a> of the novel is a chilling experience: It is as if you are witnessing the Holocaust before it happened.</p>
<h2>Nazi wrath</h2>
<p>The ingenious twist in the novel is that once the Jews have been expelled, the economy and culture of Vienna collapse: no bankers, no tailors or hoteliers, no theater, no newspapers. The exiles return to a regal welcome and all ends well. The book is a simple but immensely powerful satire on antisemitism, which holds the reader’s attention by focusing the story on a handful of well-sketched characters.</p>
<p>But the novel and movie stirred the wrath of the incipient Austrian Nazi movement. Bettauer was denounced as a communist and a corrupter of the city’s youth. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/25726/chapter-abstract/193221761?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Otto Rothstock</a>, a 20-year-old dental technician who had imbibed all the antisemitic propaganda of the age, decided to take action and assassinated the author in March 1925. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bird's eye view drawing of the murder scene." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481136/original/file-20220825-22-6dgt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A drawing of the crime scene used during the trial of Otto Rothstock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.filmarchiv.at/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bettauer_tatortskizze-1024x863.jpg">Austrian Film Archive</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In court, Rothstock said that he was saving European culture from “degeneration.” He <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+murder+of+Hugo+Bettauer.-a0268312215">described Bettauer’s journalism</a>, which often celebrated erotic liberation, as pornographic, and gave no indication that he had actually read the novel. His defense lawyer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Riehl">Walter Riehl</a>, was the sometime leader of the Austrian Nazi Party. He got his man off with a plea of insanity and a mere 18 months confinement in a mental institution.</p>
<p>Rothstock lived until the 1970s, <a href="https://kurier.at/kultur/kino-ausstellung-stufenplan-der-ausschliessung/312.543.507">never repenting of his Nazism</a>. Startlingly, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Karl_Breslauer">H.K. Breslauer</a>, the director of the movie adaptation, subsequently became a propagandist on behalf of Hitler’s Nazi party. By contrast, <a href="https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-ida-jenbach/">Ida Jenbach</a>, the Jewish woman who co-wrote the screenplay, was deported to the Minsk ghetto. She was liquidated either there or at the nearby <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/maly-trostenets-concentration-camp">Maly Trostenets</a> concentration camp.</p>
<p>Ironically, given the parallels between the Rushdie attack and the murder of Bettauer, in Vienna today <a href="https://www.filmarchiv.at/program/exhibition/die-stadt-ohne/">it is Muslims who are demonized, as Jews were 100 years ago</a>.</p>
<h2>The blinders of extremism</h2>
<p>Writers seem to be especially vulnerable in polarized times when beliefs harden into dogma and those who hold opposing views are demonized.</p>
<p>Rushdie’s novel is peopled by angels and devils, propelled by dream sequences and fantastical provocations. It celebrates diverse identities while mocking prophets and politicians, the British and their empire, and all manner of divisions and dogma. It is a work of “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI9I2p71ct0">magic realism</a>” that demands to be read playfully, not literally.</p>
<p>But religious and political fundamentalists have no time for play, for questioning, doubt and curiosity. In one passage, Rushdie drew on some ancient heterodox texts to depict the Prophet Muhammad being spoken to by the devil instead of God, and it was enough to stir fury across the Muslim world. By the same logic, Bettauer’s satirical “novel of tomorrow” – a thought experiment intended to make readers think twice about the Jewish contribution to Viennese life – enraged the antisemites.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in headscarf holds newspaper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C3%2C2038%2C1416&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481112/original/file-20220825-1450-gjjprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Iranian woman reads a newspaper in 2000 with a drawing depicting British author Salman Rushdie as a hanged man.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-iranian-woman-reads-a-paper-in-tehran-14-february-2000-news-photo/1242459432?adppopup=true">Henghameh Fahimi/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Fundamentalism,” <a href="https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/anti-liberal">writes the critic Terry Eagleton</a>, “is essentially a mistaken theory of language”: It assumes that every word of a text, whether sacred or secular, must be read as a statement of a literal truth or a proclamation of the unshakable beliefs of the author. It is deaf to irony, metaphor, satire, allegory, provocation, ambiguity, contrariness. </p>
<p>So it likely wouldn’t have made any difference if Otto Rothstock had read “The City Without Jews” or if Hadi Matar and Ayatollah Khomeini had read “The Satanic Verses.” They would have heard only the message they wanted to hear. </p>
<p>It’s a troubling sign of the times that <a href="https://twitter.com/benmschmidt/status/1562212497272279041">the number of college students getting degrees in literature</a> is declining <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alevel-association-of-school-and-college-leaders-english-action-england-b1019028.html">across the world</a>. In our divided age, it is more important than ever for people to continue to learn the art of reading with imagination and empathy – and without the blinders of politics or religion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Bate does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Writers seem to be especially vulnerable in polarized times, when the nuances of works are more likely to be overlooked.Jonathan Bate, Foundation Professor of Environmental Humanities, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593052021-04-26T16:55:47Z2021-04-26T16:55:47ZCanada must change the law that bans sexual assault survivors from revealing their own identities<p>Earlier this month, news broke that a Waterloo, Ont., <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-16-2021-1.5990216/case-of-sex-assault-victim-fined-for-breaking-publication-ban-leaves-legal-community-divided-1.5990570">sexual assault survivor</a> was fined $2,600 after she pleaded guilty to violating a ban on her own identity. The story was met with surprise and outrage from lawyers, academics and advocates familiar with the laws of sexual assault. </p>
<p>While I’m as appalled as anyone at this miscarriage of justice, I’m not remotely surprised. It doesn’t take a deep read of the Criminal Code to see the defect. Our law makes clear that “<a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-107.html#docCont">any person</a>” who violates the ban on the identity of a sexual assault complainant can be charged. Obviously, “any person” includes the complainant themself. So with these two words, the code effectively denies agency and voice to sexual assault survivors.</p>
<p>My research has explored the ways in which the ban effectively silences survivors who would like to speak publicly; it also offers guidance to journalists on how to <a href="http://www.femifesto.ca/media-guide/">ethically report</a> on sexual assault, including how to best ensure that a <a href="https://caj.ca/images/downloads/Ethics/caj_ethics_report_sex_assault_revised_march_5.pdf">survivor who wants to be identified</a> does <em>not</em> face a criminal charge for going public with their story. </p>
<h2>Sexual assault complainants revictimized</h2>
<p>I’ve been told that the risk of a criminal charge following a complainant’s decision to break the ban on their own identity is merely theoretical — after all, surely prosecutorial discretion would <em>never</em> allow a sexual assault survivor to be sanctioned for telling their own story, right?</p>
<p>While it may have seemed unlikely until recently, it is <em>not</em> without precedent. In 2000, Member of Parliament Jack Ramsay was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/full-text-of-jack-ramsay-sentence-1.204386">convicted of the attempted rape</a> of a 14-year-old Indigenous girl in 1969 while he was an RCMP corporal in northern Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>Given Ramsay’s reputation as a “tough-on-crime” politician, and the violation of trust he committed, his sentencing was high-profile. The woman Ramsay attempted to rape told a CBC reporter that she would do an interview <em>only if</em> her identity was revealed, an act she said was part of her “spiritual healing journey.” </p>
<p>After the interview was broadcast in a report that used the complainant’s name and showed her face, a charge of breaching the ban was laid … not against the courageous survivor but against the CBC; <a href="https://j-source.ca/article/know-the-rules-about-publication-ban-before-covering-the-courts/">the broadcaster was found guilty</a> and fined $2,000.</p>
<p>In the case out of Waterloo, there was no media scapegoat for the Crown, because it was the woman herself who <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-16-2021-1.5990216/case-of-sex-assault-victim-fined-for-breaking-publication-ban-leaves-legal-community-divided-1.5990570">shared the unredacted transcript</a> with family and friends. And it was the perpetrator who complained after he learned the transcript was shared. </p>
<p>To be clear, the complaint that gave rise to the woman’s guilty plea was one of unvarnished self-interest on the part of a convicted sex offender taking action against his victim.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-AZT03pGZU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">George Doodnaught was convicted in 2014 of sexually assaulting patients during surgery, this City News interview tells the story of a survivor who fought to remove a ban to tell her story.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who is the ban protecting?</h2>
<p>This isn’t the first time we’ve seen courts exhibit a concern for the reputational interests of sexual assault perpetrators. </p>
<p>A 1998 Ontario case, for example, saw three survivors who were sexually abused as children by their grandfather lose their bid to have the ban on their identities lifted. While the judge acknowledged that speaking publicly was part of the survivors’ “attempt to bring some closure and some healing to this sad and tragic event in their lives,” he <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xnYu0sv9mNNRNqZufJPBiXahi5VpiAuu/view?usp=sharing">upheld the ban</a> because rescinding it might expose “their grandfather and other members of their family … to closer inspection, and possibly ridicule, by the greater community.” </p>
<p>This ban has never <em>really</em> been about protecting the identity of the sexual assault survivor; if it was, it would be in effect from the time of the assault. Instead, the ban on a survivor’s identity isn’t imposed until <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-106.html#docCont">after someone is charged with sexual assault</a>, and makes their first appearance in court. </p>
<p>Given that a court arraignment is the necessary precondition for a ban to be imposed, if no one is charged, then there is no ban on the survivor’s identity. Why are victims of unsolved crimes less worthy of protection than those whose assault leads to a criminal charge?</p>
<h2>Can a sexual assault survivor speak freely to anyone?</h2>
<p>Recently we’ve seen examples of sexual assault complainants who have either refused the ban in the first place or later asked a court to rescind it, including in the high-profile cases of former <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jian-ghomeshi-woman-waves-publication-ban-1.3540206">CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi</a> (who was later <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jian-ghomeshi-sexual-assault-trial-ruling-1.3505446">found not guilty</a>) and former <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2014/03/04/victims_of_dr_george_doodnaught_go_public_with_stories.html">anesthesiologist George Doodnaught</a>.</p>
<p>The woman at the centre of the Waterloo case didn’t reveal her identity to a journalist — she shared with family and friends, people who almost certainly had pre-existing knowledge of the matter. So what does this tell other sexual assault complainants? Can they talk to their friends? Can they share in a group counselling session? </p>
<p>So the alternative is that any sexual assault survivor whose identity is banned should have the ban lifted if they wish to speak publicly, right? </p>
<p>Well, it’s not that easy. Jane Doe is the sexual assault survivor who <a href="https://www.leaf.ca/case_summary/jane-doe-v-metropolitan-toronto-commissioners-of-police-1998/">sued the Toronto police</a> after they failed to warn women that there was a serial rapist in their midst. <a href="https://books.openedition.org/uop/577?lang=en">Doe’s research</a> led her to conclude there’s little consensus on the ban’s purpose and scope, nor is there agreement on how to rescind it … and there’s certainly nothing written into the Criminal Code that sheds light on the problem.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/metoo-in-2021-global-activists-continue-to-build-on-the-movement-against-sexual-violence-152205">#MeToo in 2021: Global activists continue to build on the movement against sexual violence</a>
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<p>Some well-resourced complainants have hired lawyers to fight the ban, while others have reached out directly to Crown prosecutors to seek a resolution; such efforts, however, are not within the means of all survivors. </p>
<h2>A progressive alternative</h2>
<p>The clearest path out of this problem already exists in Canadian law — the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) offers <a href="https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/y-1.5/page-21.html">a straightforward remedy</a> to an unwanted publication ban. Under the YCJA, anyone who was previously accused of a crime can unilaterally lift the ban on their own identity as long as they are not in custody on a YCJA matter and they are at least 18 years old. </p>
<p>There’s no need to hire a lawyer, petition a prosecutor or make their case to a judge. </p>
<p>Sexual assault complainants deserve a similar, statutorily defined process to shed this ban. Instead, they face a choice between flouting the law or engaging in a battle where they will almost certainly face a lack of clarity about the process and paternalism from the other parties involved; they may also be forced to make significant financial and emotional investments just to be able to speak openly about their experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Marie Taylor is a senior fellow with Ryerson University's Centre for Free Expression, chair of the Ethics Advisory Board of the Canadian Association of Journalists, and an associate member of the Canadian Media Lawyers' Association. </span></em></p>The solution to a defective, sexist Criminal Code ban can be found in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.Lisa Taylor, Associate Professor, School of Journalism, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1455802020-09-27T11:47:46Z2020-09-27T11:47:46Z‘No physical injuries’ minimizes the emotional trauma of assault survivors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360045/original/file-20200925-14-1bvt26l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1097%2C745%2C3645%2C2531&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Just because there are no physical injuries, assault victims can suffer profound emotional trauma.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Anthony Tran/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In August 2020, a woman walking along a neighbourhood street in my hometown of London, Ont., was the target of gender-based violence by a man believed to have committed similar violence against another woman six days earlier.</p>
<p>Such incidents are far too common and likely under-reported, but when they do garner media coverage, the stories consistently include a line that I highlight here, <a href="https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/same-attacker-could-be-behind-two-august-sex-assaults/wcm/21d3c60a-5fb4-40da-8368-24d458eb159c/">verbatim from the news report</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The woman did not suffer any physical injuries.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This statement, or one to that effect, appears to be a standard concluding line of reports about assault. While perhaps intended to comfort readers, I suggest it is dismissive of the full impact of the wounds suffered and call on reporters to immediately cease such language.</p>
<h2>Both physical and emotional wounds</h2>
<p>I am a pain, stress and trauma researcher at Western University. I have spent the past 15 years <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-020-03621-7">exploring the long-term impacts of trauma</a>. My focus has largely been on physical trauma — things like car crashes, workplace, home or sports injuries and their physical, emotional and social consequences. </p>
<p>One of the many things I have learned from this work is that those who develop chronic health problems following trauma — whether the problems are persistent pain, depression, disability or post-traumatic stress disorder — <a href="https://doi.org/10.2174/1874325001307010494">can rarely be predicted by the severity of the physical injuries</a>. </p>
<p>While I don’t doubt that police statements regarding survivors’ lack of physical injuries are largely accurate, the inference that the violence was therefore less serious is problematic. In any such experience, there are physical wounds and emotional wounds. </p>
<h2>Assault is trauma</h2>
<p>Assault or gender-based violence is a trauma. The wounds experienced go beyond the visible skin, bone and tissues. They impact directly on the psyche, and they are very real. </p>
<p>It is past time that we acknowledge that the psychological wounds from trauma and violence — whether it’s sexual, emotional, physical, financial, social or otherwise — can manifest themselves in myriad ways on a person’s future. These are challenging to connect and are often hidden to both the survivors themselves and others in their lives. </p>
<p>However, acknowledgement of these connections seems paramount to improving access to compassionate post-trauma care. Dismissing gender-based violence or trauma as less serious because of a lack of visible physical injuries interferes with the survivor’s ability to access adequate supports for current and future mental or physical health challenges. Research also shows that the often invisible nature of post-trauma consequences can result in experiences of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.048">stigma</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(00)00168-9">self-doubt</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.12.001">shame</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman's hand rests against a rain-spattered window pane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360043/original/file-20200925-16-y2c3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even if there are no physical injuries, assault victims can suffer profound emotional trauma that needs to be recognized in police and news reports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kristina Tripkovic/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have heard from survivors who were not encouraged to, or felt they should not, seek medical care when the police dismissed their assault as less problematic owing to the lack of obvious physical injury. </p>
<p>Similarly, many people with chronic post-trauma pain are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.00960.x">afraid to report it</a> because of their lack of visible physical injuries.</p>
<p>I assume the “not physically injured” line is intended to ease the distress of the readers who may feel relieved to read that the victim wasn’t physically injured.</p>
<h2>Harmfully minimized</h2>
<p>The result, I believe, is that the survivor’s experience of trauma is harmfully minimized. I also believe such language has contributed to the broad-based stigma around mental health and removes the ability of survivors to feel, express and seek support during times of distress and vulnerability. </p>
<p>While I have no interest in over-pathologizing the experience, it strikes me that we never hear news stories of these same people 10 years later. We never hear or read a followup, detailing nightmares and sleepless nights, the chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, depressed mood or financial stresses since encountered by survivors.</p>
<p>I suspect these stories would make reports of gender-based violence far more difficult to hear. But they need to be heard.</p>
<p>I call for an ethic of empathy in reports from the media and police. At a time when empathy for one’s neighbour, community, and world seem in short supply, changing a few words in these all-too-common news releases and media reports feels like a good first step. </p>
<h2>Trauma care</h2>
<p>I would personally be more comforted if such reports closed with:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The survivor was cleared of physical injuries by medical personnel and has been offered appropriate emotional and social support.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This of course demands that appropriate emotional supports be available for trauma survivors, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7102404/defund-police-canada-mental-health/">in which much of Canada appears to fall short</a>. Recognition of the long-term consequences and supports needed could be an effective means to pressure governments and other decision-makers to ensure adequate funding of social, emotional and mental health services. </p>
<p>By ignoring these, we too often leave survivors to manage the long-term suffering on their own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Walton receives research grant funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Pain Society, and the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Science.</span></em></p>Police news releases and media reporting of assault incidents sometimes mention victims suffered no physical injuries. Here’s why that’s so dismissive and harmful.David Walton, Associate Professor, School of Physical Therapy, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1440712020-08-11T06:58:25Z2020-08-11T06:58:25ZVictorian emergency departments during COVID-19: overall presentations down but assault, DIY injuries up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352104/original/file-20200811-20-1vymxs6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5627%2C3748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria have had a marked effect on how and where we spend our time. For many people, home has become the workplace, and for most school-aged children, home is also the classroom.</p>
<p>We compared <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2294919/COVID-19-VISU-May-Bulletin-3.pdf">Victorian emergency department presentations</a> in May 2020 to those in May 2019 and found this extra time at home has affected the rates at which people are presenting to hospital with injuries — and the types of injuries they’re presenting with.</p>
<p>Importantly, overall presentations to the emergency department were down. But some categories saw notable increases, including the number of “unintentional home injuries”, which grew by 21%, and the number of injuries caused by “assault in the home”, which was 48% greater than the same time last year.</p>
<p>Although motor vehicle related injuries decreased, there was an increase in bicycle injuries, particularly among children.</p>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>At Monash University’s <a href="https://www.monash.edu/muarc/research/research-areas/home-and-community/visu">Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit</a>, we’ve been tracking injury rates throughout the pandemic.</p>
<p>We get our data from the <a href="https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/hospitals-and-health-services/data-reporting/health-data-standards-systems/data-collections/vemd">Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset</a>, which holds deidentified clinical records of presentations at Victorian public hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments (currently 38 hospitals).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The outside of a hospital with large red " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352109/original/file-20200811-16-1sr22k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fewer Victorians are presenting to emergency departments during the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We’re also tracking emergency department presentations overall, to determine how much more common different types of injuries are becoming as a proportion of usual emergency department presentations. We call this measure “relative to emergency department caseload”.</p>
<p>So for example, in our <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2294919/COVID-19-VISU-May-Bulletin-3.pdf">most recent bulletin</a>, we took the total emergency department presentations during May 2020. But because we’re looking for the proportion of usual emergency department presentations — that is, outside a pandemic — we excluded presentations directly or indirectly related to the pandemic from the total.</p>
<p>To calculate “relative to emergency department caseload”, we worked out the injuries as a proportion of this total.</p>
<h2>Illness</h2>
<p>Emergency presentations in Victoria were 24% lower in May 2020 than in May 2019 (118,793 versus 156,708 respectively). This decrease should be considered in the context of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/myhospitals/sectors/emergency-department-care">steady growth in emergency department presentations</a> in Victoria in recent years. It’s difficult to deny the COVID-19 pandemic is deterring people from presenting to hospital.</p>
<p>Respiratory illness-related presentations (such as asthma or pneumonia) in particular saw a steep reduction. Some 4,748 people presented to Victorian emergency departments with respiratory issues in May — 63% fewer than in May last year, when there were 12,847 such presentations.</p>
<p>Even people with potentially life-threatening conditions were less likely to present to hospital. Heart attack presentations were down 15% compared with the same period one year prior (721 versus 613), and stroke presentations were down 19% (858 versus 693). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-in-a-pandemic-continue-with-routine-health-care-and-dont-ignore-a-medical-emergency-136246">Even in a pandemic, continue with routine health care and don't ignore a medical emergency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Injuries</h2>
<p>The overall number of injury presentations to Victorian emergency departments was actually 26% lower in May 2020 than in May 2019 (26,991 versus 36,293). </p>
<p>But breaking this down by the place where the injury occurred shows a marked reduction in injuries that took place in sporting venues and schools, and an increase in injuries that occurred in the home and on farms. </p>
<p>Unintentional home injuries, including DIY injuries, increased from 10,105 to 12,265 (21%) from May 2019 to May 2020. Relative to emergency department caseload, this was a 56% increase. At both timepoints, falls were the most common cause of unintentional home injuries.</p>
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<p>Self-harm injuries did not increase in May 2020 versus May 2019 in terms of the raw numbers (719 versus 773). But relative to emergency department caseload, self-harm injury presentations increased by 20%. </p>
<p>This can be taken with more recent data outside of our research which showed <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-records-394-new-covid-19-case-17-deaths-20200809-p55jz4.html">a 9.5% rise</a> in the number of overall Victorian hospital admissions for self-harm in the past six weeks.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-only-teenage-girls-and-its-rarely-attention-seeking-debunking-the-myths-around-self-injury-120214">It's not only teenage girls, and it's rarely attention-seeking: debunking the myths around self-injury</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>According to our data, assault in the home increased from 118 presentations in May 2019 to 175 in May 2020: a 48% increase in frequency and a 91% increase relative to emergency department caseload. </p>
<p>Finally, transport injuries overall were not much different in May 2020 compared to May 2019 (1,669 versus 1,766). This was, however, a 22% increase when considered relative to emergency department caseload. While motor vehicle injuries decreased by 30% (833 to 581), bicycle injuries increased 55% from 371 to 576.</p>
<p>For children under 15 years, the rate of transport-related injury presentations to emergency departments increased 78% from May 2019 to May 2020.</p>
<hr>
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<hr>
<h2>Staying safe at home</h2>
<p>The bulletins we previously released for <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2224283/COVID-19-VISU-Bulletin-1-03JUN2020.pdf">March</a> and <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/2246604/COVID-19-VISU-Bulletin-2.pdf">April</a>, and the data we’re now collating for June, reflect similar trends in the rates and types of emergency department presentations, as compared to the same time points last year.</p>
<p>Our findings have a few different implications.</p>
<p>First, we should encourage people who are sick and need hospital care to present to hospital — not to stay home for fear of contracting COVID-19.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young girl riding her bike." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352111/original/file-20200811-17-ow8avo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children were disproportionately represented in transport-related injuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, alongside the messaging we’re receiving to “stay home” and “stay safe” from coronavirus, public health messaging should include advice on staying safe at home. </p>
<p>With reduced face-to-face contact with health practitioners, some injury prevention messaging, such as the information provided through child-maternal health services, general practitioners and nurses, should be made available through other channels. These could include social media, radio, television, and telephone consultations. </p>
<p>Improving awareness of cycling safety, including messaging around <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2186956/Hazard87-FINAL.pdf">cycling road rules</a>, would also be pertinent at this time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-ways-to-reduce-injuries-in-kids-that-dont-involve-wrapping-them-in-cotton-wool-79408">There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don't involve wrapping them in cotton wool</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, trends in self-harm and assault in the home need to be closely monitored, particularly during stage 4 restrictions in Victoria. </p>
<p>The stricter lockdown conditions may result in further increases in violence in the home and compound the effects on mental health, and we need to provide support accordingly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit is funded by the Victorian Government</span></em></p>Comparing presentations to Victorian hospital emergency departments in May 2020 to those in May 2019 reveals some important differences.Janneke Berecki-Gisolf, Associate Professor, Accident Research Centre, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1414622020-07-12T08:33:13Z2020-07-12T08:33:13ZWhy people don’t get emergency medical care in time: a study in South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346975/original/file-20200712-189216-froesn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Queue of seated outpatients, waiting patiently inside Provincial Hospital corridor in Port Elizabeth</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many medical conditions, such as serious injuries, sepsis and heart attacks, need high quality emergency care quickly – or the patient may die. These time-critical conditions cause around <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK333513/">half</a> of all deaths worldwide, it’s been estimated, and they are more common in countries with lower incomes. </p>
<p>Dangerous delays may happen at three points: the patient deciding to seek care, reaching a healthcare facility, or receiving quality care at that facility. The <a href="https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA72/A72_R16-en.pdf?ua=1">World Health Assembly</a> has called for improved care for time-critical conditions, but the necessary development and research hasn’t always received enough funding.</p>
<p>One of the reasons for this lack of attention may be a scarcity of information. It’s difficult to record deaths and their causes accurately in settings where <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)61307-5/fulltext">civil registration systems</a> and health records are poor. But in some countries <a href="https://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/verbalautopsystandards/en/">verbal autopsies</a>, which are interviews with the relative or carer of the deceased, are performed to find out more about the circumstances around a death and what most likely caused it. Also, during a verbal autopsy, information is asked about where and when the patient sought care.</p>
<p>We carried out a study in the <a href="https://www.agincourt.co.za/">Agincourt</a> area of Mpumalanga province, South Africa, to find out more about deaths from time-critical conditions. We wanted to know what prevented people from seeking, reaching and receiving quality care in this rural area of South Africa, where access to multiple healthcare facilities via paved roads is possible. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/4/e002289">study reviewed</a> 15,305 verbal autopsies. We developed a locally appropriate definition of time-critical conditions and looked at the numbers of deaths due to these, how numbers have changed over time, and how the numbers differed by age and sex. We also looked at delays in accessing care for these conditions and where people went for care (if they did try to get any care). </p>
<p>We found that time-critical conditions are responsible for a substantial burden of deaths in this rural South African population. Delays in seeking and receiving quality care were more prominent than delays in reaching care. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We used the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60707-2/fulltext">definition of time-critical conditions</a> as “those requiring prompt medical care within 12 hours from the onset of symptoms recognised by a layperson to prevent death.” Some of the most common conditions we saw in the study were obstetric haemorrhage (bleeding too much in pregnancy or around the time of birth), pneumonia, and assault.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/4/e002289">found</a> that between 1993 and 2015, 38.45% of all deaths in the study population were due to time-critical conditions. The proportion increased and accounted for nearly 50% of all deaths in 2014. Most of those who died were either very young or over 60 years old. About three-quarters of deaths in the first 28 days of life were due to time-critical conditions. About half of all time-critical deaths were due to non-infectious conditions.</p>
<p>Most commonly, delays in accessing care were seen at the stage of making the decision to seek care. In fact, on looking at patterns of seeking care before death, most commonly, patients did not seek any care and died without going to a healthcare facility. The most prominent single issue identified in causing delays was cost. This is despite the fact that public healthcare in the area is free of charge. It may be that people don’t know this, or that they worry about costs such as transport to a facility or loss of income while in hospital. They may also not seek care because they do not trust the ability of the healthcare system to treat them. </p>
<p>Our study also found that for people who did reach a healthcare facility, quality issues were prominent. Relatives reported that patients experienced problems in timely referral, waiting to be seen, and communication.</p>
<p>Our research supports findings from <a href="https://emj.bmj.com/content/33/11/794.long">others</a> that time-critical conditions are problematic in low and middle-income countries. It also shows that these conditions affect all ages, and are increasing, so dealing with them will have a widespread impact.</p>
<p>Patients infected with COVID-19 could also need urgent care, so the findings may help suggest ways to get them the care they need.</p>
<p>Provision of healthcare that is free at the point of use is necessary. But that alone is not enough. Timely access to quality healthcare is essential. This is not only because it can save lives; it’s also because poor quality care influences future decisions of patients or their carers to get help in time.</p>
<p>The type of care available is an issue too. Many of the healthcare services in South Africa have been tailored to infectious diseases or improving maternal and neonatal health. But about half of the urgent conditions in our study were non-infectious. They may not be well provided for in healthcare facilities in South Africa. </p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>To prevent more deaths, research and solutions should focus on patients’ behaviour when seeking healthcare and on quality care provision.</p>
<p>There urgently needs to be investment in interconnected health services that prevent and provide quality care for time-critical conditions.</p>
<p>Our study shows that verbal autopsy is a useful method to explore barriers in access to healthcare.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Ina Davies receives funding from UK NIHR, MRC, and Wellcome Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Fraser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dangerous delays may happen at three points: the patient deciding to seek care, reaching a healthcare facility, or receiving quality care at that facility.Justine Ina Davies, Professor of Global Health, Institute for Applied Research, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1415892020-06-29T04:49:57Z2020-06-29T04:49:57ZAnger is all the rage on Twitter when it’s cold outside (and on Mondays)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344418/original/file-20200629-104516-1eoie2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C0%2C5952%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The link between hot weather and aggressive crime is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-019-01689-y">well established</a>. But can the same be said for online aggression, such as angry tweets? And is online anger a predictor of assaults?</p>
<p>Our study <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0013916520937455">just published</a> suggests the answer is a clear “no”. We found angry tweet counts actually increased in cooler weather. And as daily maximum temperatures rose, angry tweet counts decreased.</p>
<p>We also found the incidence of angry tweets is highest on Mondays, and perhaps unsurprisingly, angry Twitter posts are most prevalent after big news events such as a leadership spill.</p>
<p>This is the first study to compare patterns of assault and social media anger with temperature. Given <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110184">anger spreads</a> through online communities faster than any other emotion, the findings have broad implications – especially under climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344431/original/file-20200629-104484-19vl5a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A caricature of US President Donald Trump, who’s been known to fire off an angry tweet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Algorithms are watching you</h2>
<p>Of Australia’s 24.6 million people, 18 million, or 73%, <a href="https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2019/02/digital-report-australia">are active social media users</a>. Some 4.7 million Australians, or 19%, use Twitter. This widespread social media use provides researchers with valuable opportunities to gather information. </p>
<p>When you publicly post, comment or even <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-can-now-read-emotions-should-it-128988">upload a selfie</a>, an algorithm can scan it to estimate your mood (positive or negative) or your emotion (such as anger, joy, fear or surprise). </p>
<p>This information can be linked with the date, time of day, location or even your age and sex, to determine the “mood” of a city or country in near real time.</p>
<p>Our study involved 74.2 million English-language Twitter posts – or tweets – from 2015 to 2017 in New South Wales.</p>
<p>We analysed them using the publicly available <a href="http://wefeel.csiro.au/#/">We Feel</a> tool, developed by the <a href="https://data61.csiro.au/">CSIRO</a> and the <a href="https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/">Black Dog Institute</a>, to see if social media can accurately map our emotions.</p>
<p>Some 2.87 million tweets (or 3.87%) contained words or phrases considered angry, such as “vicious”, “hated”, “irritated”, “disgusted” and the very popular “f*cked”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1275559505871335424"}"></div></p>
<h2>Hot-headed when it’s cold outside</h2>
<p>On average, the number of angry tweets were highest when the temperature was below 15°C, and lowest in warm temperatures (25-30°C). </p>
<p>The number of angry tweets slightly increased again in very high temperatures (above 35°C), although with fewer days in that range there was less certainty about the trend.</p>
<p>On the ten days with the highest daily maximum temperatures, the average angry tweet count was 2,482 per day. Of the ten coldest days, the average angry tweet count was higher at 3,354 per day. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-sara-sharon-and-mel-why-people-spreading-coronavirus-anxiety-on-twitter-might-actually-be-bots-134802">Meet ‘Sara’, ‘Sharon’ and 'Mel': why people spreading coronavirus anxiety on Twitter might actually be bots</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The pattern of angry tweets was opposite to that of physical assaults, which are more prevalent in hotter weather – with some evidence of a decline in extreme heat.</p>
<p>So why the opposite patterns? We propose two possible explanations.</p>
<p>First, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-rising-temperatures-affect-our-health-123016">hot</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-heatwaves-our-cold-houses-are-much-more-likely-to-kill-us-83030">cold</a> weather triggers a physiological response in humans. Temperature affects our heart rate, the amount of oxygen to our brain, hormone regulation (including testosterone) and our <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-hot-to-sleep-heres-why-11492">ability to sleep</a>. In some people, this in turn affects physical aggression levels.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344439/original/file-20200629-96691-y5qqik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hot weather means more socialising, and potentially less time for tweeting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, weather triggers changes to our routine. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916503255565">Research suggests</a> aggressive crimes increase because warmer weather encourages behaviour that fosters assaults. This includes more time outdoors, increased socialising and drinking alcohol.</p>
<p>Those same factors – time outdoors and more socialising – may reduce the opportunity or motivation to tweet. And the effects of alcohol (such as reduced mental clarity and physical precicion) make composing a tweet harder, and therefore less likely.</p>
<p>This theory is supported by our finding that both angry tweet counts, as well as overall tweet counts, were lowest on weekends, holidays and the hottest days, </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/car-accidents-drownings-violence-hotter-temperatures-will-mean-more-deaths-from-injury-129628">Car accidents, drownings, violence: hotter temperatures will mean more deaths from injury</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s possible that as people vent their frustrations online, they <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-1428-6_573">feel better</a> and are then less inclined to commit an assault. However, this theory <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1575303">isn’t well supported</a>.</p>
<p>The relationship is more likely due to the vastly different demographics of Twitter users and assault offenders.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/A%20statistical%20snapshot%20of%20crime%20and%20justice%20in%20NSW.pdf">Assault offenders</a> are most likely to be young men from low socio-economic backgrounds. In contrast, about half of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/">Twitter users</a> are female, and they’re more likely to be middle-aged and in a higher income bracket compared with other social media users.</p>
<p>Our study did not consider why these two groups differ in response to temperature. However, we are currently researching how age, sex and other social and demographic factors influence the relationships between temperature and aggression.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344436/original/file-20200629-96639-1rvg2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter users are more likely to be middle aged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Monday blues</h2>
<p>Our study primarily set out to see whether temperatures and angry tweet counts were related. But we also uncovered other interesting trends. </p>
<p>Average angry tweet counts were highest on a Monday (2,759 per day) and lowest on weekends (Saturdays, 2,373; Sundays, 2,499). This supports research that found an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2661829.2662090">online mood slump on weekdays</a>.</p>
<p>We determined that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0013916520937455">major news events</a> correlated with the ten days where the angry tweet count was highest. These events included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the federal leadership spill in 2015 when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister</p></li>
<li><p>a severe storm front in NSW in 2015, then a major cold front a few months later</p></li>
<li><p>two mass shootings in the United States: Orlando in 2016 and Las Vegas in 2017</p></li>
<li><p>sporting events including the Cricket World Cup in 2015.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344447/original/file-20200629-155303-137dhdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Days with high angry tweet counts correlated with major news events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Twitter in a warming world</h2>
<p>Our study was limited in that Twitter users are not necessarily representative of the broader population. For example, Twitter is a preferred medium for <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZcVxGdegAJ8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Parmelee+%26+Bichard,+2011&ots=TM3BMSQQiZ&sig=NO-Aj_IEUR-t_da_629TVDt3O7o">politicians</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504701201">academics</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20161-5_34">journalists</a>. These users may express different emotions, or less emotion, in their posts than other social media users.</p>
<p>However, the influence of temperature on social media anger has broad implications. Of all the emotions, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110184">anger spreads</a> through online communities the fastest. So temperature changes and corresponding social media anger can affect the wider population.</p>
<p>We hope our research helps health and justice services develop more targeted measures based on temperature. </p>
<p>And with climate change likely to affect <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w20598">assault rates </a>and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.06.017">mood</a>, more research in this field is needed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nine-things-you-love-that-are-being-wrecked-by-climate-change-127099">Nine things you love that are being wrecked by climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivan Charles Hanigan receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather R. Stevens, Paul Beggs, and Petra Graham do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The study examined patterns of Twitter rage in hot and cold weather. Given anger spreads through online communities faster than any other emotions, the findings are important.Heather R. Stevens, Doctoral student in Environmental Sciences, Macquarie UniversityIvan Charles Hanigan, Data Scientist (Epidemiology), University of SydneyPaul Beggs, Associate Professor and Environmental Health Scientist, Macquarie UniversityPetra Graham, Senior Research Fellow, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1375942020-05-01T05:00:30Z2020-05-01T05:00:30ZRoad crashes, assaults and being spat on: the dangers facing Australian police in the line of duty<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331883/original/file-20200430-42903-1muh8y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Victorian Police Academy is lit up in blue in honour of the four officers killed in last week's road tragedy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Michael Dodge</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The horrific deaths of four Victorian police officers during seemingly routine traffic duties have brought the dangers of policing into sharp relief.</p>
<p>There are many threats to officers while they carry out their duties, some more extreme than others. In a declaration about the seriousness and risk of spitting, and just how common it is, states and territories have introduced <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/public-health-orders.aspx">additional laws</a> (aside from common assault) to deal with people deliberately spitting, sneezing and coughing on police and other essential services personnel. </p>
<p>So, exactly how are our officers sustaining injuries and other medical conditions, and how often are officers dying in the line of duty?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-police-will-be-crucial-players-in-the-battle-against-coronavirus-134392">Explainer: why police will be crucial players in the battle against coronavirus</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://npm.org.au/">National Police Memorial honour roll</a> commemorates Australian police officers who have been killed or died while on duty in recognition of their contribution to the Australian community. An examination of these fatalities from the past two decades provides some revealing insights.</p>
<p>There were 51 officer fatalities in Australia between 2000 and 2019, an average of two to three a year. Until the recent deaths in Victoria, there has not been so many deaths in Australia in a single year since the deaths of five officers in 2005. However, those fatalities were all separate incidents. Sadly, in 2001, four officers died in the <a href="https://npm.org.au/honour-roll/">same plane crash</a>.</p>
<p>Officer fatalities have three main causes: accidents, assaults and health-related incidents. Similar to the recent Victorian fatalities, Australian police officers mostly died due to accidents (65% of all police fatalities), with road accidents being the leading cause.</p>
<p>These deaths tend to occur during seemingly low-risk activities such as general duties patrols. Most of these accidents involve motor vehicles (55%), while 21% involve motorcycles. However, as previously mentioned, there have been plane crashes (21%) and there was one accidental shooting.</p>
<p><iframe id="WsVVF" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WsVVF/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>It is notable that the number of overall officer fatalities decreased substantially after 2007. Before 2008, there was an average of 4.5 police deaths per year. But from 2008 onwards, the average fell to 1.25 deaths per year. This decrease is mostly due to the decrease in accidents, which dropped from an average of 3.25 per year to just 0.58 per year.</p>
<p>So what changed? This decrease might be explained by technological advances and changes to practices. For example, the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2012C00138">Australian Design Rules</a> changed motor vehicle safety standards to increase the safety of airbags in 2006.</p>
<p><iframe id="AbfJi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AbfJi/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Also, police forces adopted more helicopters into their fleets. The use of helicopters for police pursuits may reduce the necessity for officers to engage in high-risk vehicle pursuits, and therefore decrease the number of accidents. </p>
<p>Finally, an <a href="http://www.coroners.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/findings.aspx">inquest</a> into the death of Senior Constable Peter Wilson led to changes to roadside policing practices, which may also have contributed to the decrease in fatalities.</p>
<p>However, officers face not only accidents, but also assaults and homicides – not typically faced in most other occupations. In the past two decades, there were 14 assaults on police. While these were almost always shootings (11 of the 14 cases), in one incident the driver of a stolen vehicle purposefully swerved to hit an officer.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the stressful and physical nature of policing can lead to health-related fatalities. While mental health fatalities, such as suicide, are not included in the data, physical health-related incidents are included. Over the past 20 years, four officers have died due to health-related matters while on duty. Three of these cases involved a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack during training. In the fourth case an officer died from a respiratory illness.</p>
<p>This last fatality highlights current concerns during these coronavirus times. While the cause of this officer’s death is unknown, there are strong concerns for the safety of our officers who we rely upon in times of crisis and to protect our community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-australian-police-officers-are-allowed-to-shoot-to-kill-they-should-be-better-trained-126820">If Australian police officers are allowed to shoot to kill, they should be better trained</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indeed, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10439463.2016.1251430">recent study</a> of significant events in Queensland found almost half (44%) of the officers involved in these events reported sustaining an injury. These mostly involved officers being spat on or bitten (36% of injuries reported). This is concerning because of the risk of viral infections (all these officers required testing for infection) and work-related anxiety. </p>
<p>The study argues these types of attacks are indicative of opportunistic assaults; that is, the offender takes advantage of the situation and attacks an officer. Furthermore, being spat on is often viewed as insulting and disgusting, which may cause negative reactions from police and society.</p>
<p>These figures only include the physical dangers of policing and do not include the mental toll on our officers. Tragic recent events have highlighted the high-risk nature of policing and the need to better understand the dangers involved in order to protect our officers from harm so they can protect us during times of crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137594/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Hine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The recent tragic deaths of four Victorian police officers have highlighted the dangers to those whose job it is to protect the community.Kelly Hine, Lecturer in Criminology, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1308562020-01-30T13:14:25Z2020-01-30T13:14:25ZHarvey Weinstein’s ‘false memory’ defense is not backed by science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312606/original/file-20200129-92977-cddbl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=547%2C37%2C1591%2C799&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harvey Weinstein leaves for the day during his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault, in New York, Jan. 28, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Sexual-Misconduct-Weinstein/69f69c8e09b44f89b99423c010c2c8c6/10/0">AP Photo/Craig Ruttle</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much like the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/three-years-and-60-accusers-later-bill-cosbys-trial-begins-but-only-one-woman-will-decide-his-fate/2017/05/20/a28a2342-3ae5-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html">defense</a> of Bill Cosby, media mogul Harvey Weinstein’s defense team says they’ll <a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/harvey-weinstein-recovered-memories-expert-1203374531/#!">bring up</a> “false memories” during his <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/harvey-weinstein-criminal-trial-lawsuits-settlement/">trial</a> on multiple charges of sexual assault. In short, this line of defense argues that survivors remember sexual assaults that did not happen.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F56BlwnaLvGFQwPevAvYpByUYJeZhm1gq80sVfUkJhNXjaR5_vXlk6FF64GCCIQtf_UcrPsDosJqo9qaeSg-sPCqxR5Ow&user=v5XJzfUAAAAJ">trauma</a> <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/joan_cook/">psychologists</a>, our research and experience show that false memory claims are scientifically inaccurate, damaging to survivors and unhelpful to the public. These assertions not only obscure the truth but also invalidate survivors and keep them from receiving the support they deserve.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312667/original/file-20200129-92977-rj5hi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rosanna Arquette, one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, poses for a portrait Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Weinstein-Hollywood-Accusers/5a7afe18c52d4aaf9dca5b2ba4385e67/18/0">Matt Licari/Invision/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Widespread abuse, deeply buried</h2>
<p>Over <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/judith-l-herman/trauma-and-recovery/9780465061716/">centuries</a>, women who have spoken up about surviving sexual assault have been met with claims by their perpetrators and others that their minds have failed them. They stand accused that they made up the abuse or dreamed it, that someone else implanted memories of assaults in them that never actually happened.</p>
<p>Building on this history, Weinstein’s defense team has prepared to call witnesses to <a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/harvey-weinstein-recovered-memories-expert-1203374531/#!">argue</a> that women who came forward to accuse him suffer from “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-harvey-weinstein/prosecutors-oppose-testimony-on-false-memories-in-weinstein-trial-idUSKBN1XG2OV">the formation of fully false memories for events that never happened</a>.” This is not a suggestion of normal problems with memory or recall, but the unlikely proposition that his accusers somehow developed entire memories of sexual assault that never actually occurred. </p>
<p>The notion of false memories has its roots in the 1990s. At that time, a robust women’s movement had ushered in marches, <a href="http://clotheslineproject.info/project.html">clothesline projects</a> and legislation to make visible the realities of violence against women and girls. Survivors of sexual assault began talking more openly about their experiences and advocating for change. In addition, public allegations of child sexual abuse began to emerge from large institutions, such as the <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126160853">Catholic Church</a>. The <a href="https://time.com/5675029/violence-against-women-act-history-biden/">Violence Against Women Act</a> was passed in 1994 and seemed to signal a new day whence people would start taking women’s stories of sexual assault seriously.</p>
<p>However, out of those seeds sparking a public accounting of sexual violence grew a contentious backlash and so-called <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/judith-l-herman/trauma-and-recovery/9780465061716/">memory war</a> about the nature of memories for traumatic events, particularly sexual abuse. </p>
<p>The strong, adverse reaction made sense in some ways. From the public’s perspective, enormous numbers of survivors, mostly women, were coming forward to say they had been abused and harmed. Revelations that sexual abuse and sexual assault were more common than previously thought would likely have challenged people’s <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-97250-000">assumptions</a> that we live in a just and kind world. Today we know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.12.026">one in four</a> girls in the U.S. is sexually abused. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1295014">One in five</a> young women is sexually assaulted on campus. Society’s aggressive pushback against these realities stemmed from what we psychologists call an “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-23182-001">institutionalization of disbelief</a>.”</p>
<h2>‘She would’ve called the police’</h2>
<p>Early in the memory war, claims of false memories tended to focus on cases where (mostly) women went years without disclosing their sexual assaults. Some women may not have remembered the assault for a period of time, while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797106">others</a> might not have thought or talked about it for years. </p>
<p>A dangerous set of flawed assumptions arose back then that <a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/articles/cf07.pdf">echo today</a>. Things like, if sexual assault really happened, the victims would never forget it. Or, if it was rape, women would have called the police. Therefore, women who did not fully remember or disclose immediately must have false memories, the thinking went.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XIFBts9s56o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jennifer Freyd, pioneer in research on betrayal trauma, explains her research.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1996, pioneering psychologist Jennifer Freyd introduced the concept of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215336.Betrayal_Trauma">betrayal trauma</a>. She made plain how forgetting, not thinking about and even mis-remembering an assault may be necessary and adaptive for some survivors. She argued that the way in which traumatic events, like sexual violence, are processed and remembered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797106">depends on how much betrayal there is</a>. Betrayal happens when the victim depends on the abuser, such as a <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/betrayalbook/">parent, spouse or boss</a>. The victim has to adapt day-to-day because they are (or feel) stuck in that relationship. One way that victims can survive is by thinking or remembering less about the abuse or telling themselves it wasn’t abuse.</p>
<p>Since 1996, compelling scientific evidence has shown a strong relationship <a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/articles/fdz.pdf">between amnesia and victims’ dependence on abusers</a>. Psychologists and other scientists have also learned much about the nature of memory, including memory for traumas like sexual assault. What gets into memory and later remembered is affected by a host of factors, including characteristics of the person and the situation. For example, some individuals dissociate during or after traumatic events. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.08.006">Dissociation</a> offers a way to escape the inescapable, such that people feel as if they have detached from their bodies or the environment. It is not surprising to us that dissociation is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.07.017">linked with incomplete memories</a>.</p>
<p>Memory can also be affected by what other people do and say. For example, researchers recently looked at what happened when they told participants not to think about some words that they had just studied. Following that instruction, those who had histories of trauma <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000461.supp">suppressed more memories than their peers did</a>.</p>
<p>Attempts to create so-called false memories in laboratory studies generally only succeed in getting people to make mistakes about details. That is, people can be easily tricked into thinking that a word was on a list they studied earlier – even if it wasn’t – if they saw similar words. However, people are quite resistant to believing that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797106">whole, implausible</a> events happened when they did not, such as having a childhood enema.</p>
<h2>Memory often misunderstood</h2>
<p>Researchers have also learned that some of people’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000610">instincts about memory</a> warrant examination. For example, judges and juries might worry that alcohol use leads to more memory error or even false memories. However, <a href="https://www.heatherflowe.com/post/rethinking-the-effects-of-alcohol-on-eyewitness-memory-accuracy-a-meta-analysis-of-the-literature">a recent meta-analysis</a> of 10 studies with more than 1,000 participants shows otherwise. More alcohol consumption at the time that participants witnessed an event led to recalling fewer details, but not more memory errors.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00327.x">People have also worried</a> that memories that were unavailable are inaccurate when later remembered. However, going days or months or years without recalling information <a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/articles/bttnebraska2012.pdf">doesn’t mean the memories are false</a> when they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02102893">are finally remembered</a>. In fact, there is much evidence that <a href="http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/case-archive/">long-inaccessible memories are accurate</a>.</p>
<p>As the Weinstein trial continues, it is important to remember that claims of false memory are a demeaning and dangerous distraction that have long been used to deny the realities of violence against women. Science can guide society in general, and a jury in particular, to thoughtfully evaluate survivors’ – and offenders’ – descriptions of their memories for sexual assault.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne P. DePrince has received funding from the Department of Justice, National Institutes of Health, State of Colorado, City of Denver, Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab. She has received honoraria for giving presentations and has been paid as a consultant for some organizations. She is an Advisory Group Member of the National Crime Victim Law Institute and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Institutional Courage.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joan M. Cook Ph.D. has served as the principal investigator on seven federally-funded grants, four from the National Institute of Mental Health, one from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and two (one is current) from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.</span></em></p>As women began to come forward with experiences of rape and abuse, backlash came forward too. The notion of ‘false memory’ developed to explain away assault. Here’s why that notion itself is untrue.Anne P. DePrince, Professor of Psychology, University of DenverJoan M. Cook, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1296282020-01-13T18:56:30Z2020-01-13T18:56:30ZCar accidents, drownings, violence: hotter temperatures will mean more deaths from injury<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309590/original/file-20200113-103979-1561lve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5934%2C3338&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research shows people will be more likely to die from accidents and injuries as the climate gets warmer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What we suspected is now official: 2019 was Australia’s hottest year on record. The country’s average maximum temperature last year (<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-02/2019-was-australias-hottest-and-driest-year-on-record/11837312">30.69°C</a>) was a scorching <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/#tabs=Overview">2.09°C hotter</a> than the 1961-1990 average.</p>
<p>For the whole planet, 2019 is expected to come in second (behind 2016) making the last five years the hottest on record since 1880.</p>
<p>As we brace for increasingly hot summers, we are mindful extreme heat can pose significant health risks for vulnerable groups. But the effects of heat on the incidence of accidents and injury are less clear.</p>
<p>In research published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0721-y">Nature Medicine</a>, researchers in the United States looked at the impact warmer temperatures will have on deaths from injury. They found if average temperatures warmed by 1.5°C, we could expect to see 1,600 more deaths each year across the US.</p>
<p>Given Australia is ahead of the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/7/climate-change-brief-overview-science-and-health-impacts-australia">global temperature curve</a>, we could see an even greater number of deaths from injury per capita as a result of rising temperatures.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-and-bothered-heat-affects-all-of-us-but-older-people-face-the-highest-health-risks-123769">Hot and bothered: heat affects all of us, but older people face the highest health risks</a>
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</em>
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<h2>What the study did and found</h2>
<p>The researchers analysed death and temperature data collected from 1980 to 2017 across mainland United States (so their results excluded the states of Alaska and Hawaii).</p>
<p>They looked at records from more than five million injury deaths from this 38-year period. They also identified temperature anomalies by county and by month, to understand how these deaths could relate to spikes in the weather.</p>
<p>Using a method called Bayesian Spatio-temporal modelling, the authors combined this information to estimate the rates at which injury deaths would rise with a 1.5°C temperature increase.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309594/original/file-20200113-103954-18wsnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hotter temperatures have been associated with spikes in domestic and other violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They categorised injury deaths as either unintentional (transport, falls and drownings) or intentional (assaults and suicides), and stratified results further by gender and age group.</p>
<p>They found deaths from drownings would increase by as much as 13.7% in men aged 15-24 years, whereas assaults and suicides would increase by less than 3% across all groups. Transport deaths would rise by 2% for men aged 25-34 years and 0.5% for women in the same age group.</p>
<p>Overall, these increased risks would account for 1,601 additional deaths per year from injury across the US, an annual rise of 0.75% in overall deaths from injury in the population. They indicate 84% of these deaths would occur in males.</p>
<p>Although the primary focus was on 1.5°C warming, the researchers also looked at a rise of 2°C. The found this would result in 2,135 additional deaths from injury (a 1% increase).</p>
<h2>Why do deaths from injury increase in hot weather?</h2>
<p>Higher temperatures are associated with irritability, and <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6151/1235367.abstract">increases in conflict</a> and interpersonal violence. </p>
<p>Research has shown each degree celsius increase in annual temperatures is linked to nearly a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-015-1566-0">6% average increase in homicides</a>. Another study showed domestic violence rates <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718324446?via%3Dihub">increased by 40%</a> when the daily maximum temperature exceeded 34°C.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-rising-temperatures-affect-our-health-123016">How rising temperatures affect our health</a>
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<p>Hyperthermia (abnormally high body temperature) can also lead to <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/7/8034">symptoms</a> such as loss of concentration and fatigue. These factors can trigger incidents such as car accidents and faults operating mechanical equipment. So we can expect injuries to increase as we face more hot days.</p>
<p>A South Australian study <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24334260">of workers’ compensation claims</a> found for every degree above 14°C, occupational injuries requiring more than three days off work increased modestly (0.2%).</p>
<p>Increases in drowning might occur due the higher proportions of people seeking relief in the water on hot days.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309596/original/file-20200113-103982-ybxap9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being too hot can lead to a loss of concentration or fatigue, which can increase the risk of accidents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, climate change is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1059924X.2019.1656692">heightening anxiety</a> in rural communities, and more broadly <a href="https://theconversation.com/hope-and-mourning-in-the-anthropocene-understanding-ecological-grief-88630">throughout the population</a>. </p>
<p>In Australia, heat is commonly associated with drought. Long droughts are known to be linked to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/109/35/13950">spikes in suicide rates</a>, especially among rural males.</p>
<p>We also know <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1059924X.2019.1581494">suicide rates rise</a> in affected communities following bushfires, in the face of grief and trauma. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-eco-anxiety-climate-change-affects-our-mental-health-too-123002">The rise of 'eco-anxiety': climate change affects our mental health, too</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>The reason for the gender disparity was not tested, but likely relates to the higher prevalence of risk-taking behaviour among males.</p>
<h2>So what does this mean for Australia?</h2>
<p>With global temperatures on course for a <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-climate-statement-past-4-years-warmest-record">3-5°C rise this century</a>, limiting warming to 1.5°C is optimistic. The effects are likely to be even greater than what is forecasted in this study.</p>
<p>This study assessed excess injury deaths with a level of warming Australia witnessed in 2019 alone.</p>
<p>Rising heat is possibly Australia’s number one threat from climate change. It leads to the catastrophic bushfires we’re seeing this summer, and pushes us beyond <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/7/8034">the temperatures our bodies can withstand</a>. </p>
<p>When looking at deaths caused by heat, we need to look beyond those caused by heat-induced illness, and separate the many caused by injury.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-avoid-future-epidemics-of-heat-deaths-22519">How can we avoid future ‘epidemics’ of heat deaths?</a>
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<p>We must strengthen the nation’s climate change and human health research to provide specific details on when, where and how we can best ameliorate heat harm.</p>
<p>We need to ramp up our prevention efforts in this space. All Australians should be made aware of the dangers of a hotter world through a federally funded public education strategy, akin to the successful “<a href="http://www.lifebeinit.org/">Life. Be in it</a>” campaign, which successfully promoted the importance of being active.</p>
<p>Most urgently, we must focus on prevention through climate change mitigation, which will be the best and most far-reaching prevention strategy we can deliver.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Hanna has received research funding from NHMRC to examine Working in the Heat in Australia. She is affiliated with The Australian National University, and currently Chairs the Environmental Health Working Group of the World Federation of Public Health Associations </span></em></p>A new US study has found warmer temperatures will lead to more deaths from injury, for example in transport accidents, drownings, assaults and suicides. But what does this mean for Australia?Liz Hanna, Honorary Senior Fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1036482018-10-02T13:55:25Z2018-10-02T13:55:25ZVictim surveys show that crime in South Africa may be dropping, yet fear is rising<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238981/original/file-20181002-85617-1bwhagw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There’s been a decline in many crimes in South Africa but the murder rate has increased for the sixth year. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africans <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Summary%20of%20results/saf-r6-sor.pdf">consistently rank</a> crime among their top concerns, second only to unemployment. Between 2003 and 2015, <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/research-outputs/ktree-doc/17276">79% of people</a> surveyed annually by the country’s Human Sciences Research Council were dissatisfied with the government’s efforts to reduce crime. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-wont-become-less-violent-until-its-more-equal-103116">latest crime statistics </a>released by the South African Police Service provide reason for both optimism and concern. They show year-on-year declines in many crimes, including aggravated robbery, burglary, and vehicle theft. If these reflect real declines, that may be because of more intelligent policing – and developments in anti-theft technology and residential fortification, among other factors.</p>
<p>But murder rates increased for the sixth consecutive year. The recent rise includes a 14% increase in the murder of women and children. Given that murder rates more than halved between 1994 and 2011, these increases are worrying.</p>
<p>Amid the focus on crime statistics, another set of data is often ignored. South Africa is fortunate to have <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412016.pdf">victim</a> and <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Summary%20of%20results/saf-r6-sor.pdf">perception</a> survey data.</p>
<p>This is valuable because police data alone offer only a partial picture. It also tells us almost nothing about public experiences and perceptions, including how many crimes aren’t reported, whether people trust police, or if they feel safe.</p>
<p>Where trends in police data match trends in victim survey data, they are more likely to be accurate – particularly for certain crime types. Perceptions, on the other hand, are subjective. It can take years for an actual crime decline to result in improved feelings of safety. Where violent crime declines but remains common, or where stories of violence saturate daily media, feelings of safety may not improve, despite real crime declines. </p>
<p>It’s important that governments take these perceptions seriously. Improved feelings of safety and confidence in police should be central to how government evaluates itself.</p>
<h2>Police data</h2>
<p>Fewer crimes were reported to police in 2017/18 than in the preceding year. Although <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412016.pdf">most victims</a> don’t report crime, some crimes are more likely to be reported than others. These include residential burglary, vehicle theft, carjacking as well as home and business robbery. These all showed a decline. Other violent crimes that are most likely to be reported, including murder, bank robbery and cash in transit robbery, increased. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238325/original/file-20180927-48659-2336hy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://issafrica.org/crimehub">ISS Crime Hub</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Common assault and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm also declined. This is perplexing. </p>
<p>With attempted murder remaining flat and murder increasing, it would be surprising if assault had declined. Police analysis suggests that many murders begin with an assault.</p>
<p>However, considering that 41% of murders involved firearms and another 31% knives, it’s possible that most lethal violence takes place under different conditions, or between different people, to that classified as assault. For example, more murders are likely to occur during robberies today than they did in the past. </p>
<p>But, it is at least as likely that the decline in reported assaults is a result of police dissuading victims from opening cases, including domestic and child violence cases, or victims simply not reporting. </p>
<h2>Victim surveys</h2>
<p>National victim surveys are conducted among representative samples of households. Victim surveys explore experiences and perceptions of crime, regardless of whether respondents experienced crime or victims reported crimes to police. They are not perfect, but offer a means to gauge crime trends, reporting rates, and public perceptions. </p>
<p>The 2017/18 police data should be compared with the 2017/18 national victim survey, but this has not yet been released. The 2015/16 and 2016/17 surveys indicate a slight, general decline in reporting in recent years. </p>
<p>Victim surveys estimate the distribution of crime experienced by victims. The <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412016.pdf">latest data</a> suggests that most victims in 2016/17 experienced burglary (53%) and theft outside the home (42%). But, only 10% of crimes reported to police in 2017/18 were classified as burglary, and 14% as other theft. This suggests irregular victim engagement with police. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238625/original/file-20181001-195266-1xtxr85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by author</span></span>
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<h2>Fewer crime victims</h2>
<p>Like police statistics, household victim surveys suggest that increasingly fewer people are falling victim to crime. In 1998, 25% of households reported experiencing a “household” crime (for example burglary, home robbery, car theft) while in 2016/17 just 7% did. </p>
<p>Similarly, 4.7% reported being victims of “individual” crimes (for example theft of personal property, robbery, assault) in 2013/14 compared to 3.5% in 2016/17. This suggests that despite widespread feelings of insecurity, fewer people may be victims of crime each year than is commonly thought. </p>
<p>For example, if burglary is the most common crime and half of burglaries aren’t reported to police, this still means that fewer than 1% of individuals or roughly 3% of households experienced burglary in 2017/18. </p>
<p>Despite what appears from both police and victim survey data to be a decline in general crime, in 2016/17 more people believed crime had increased in their area of residence than those who believed it had decreased or stayed the same. In contrast, in 2011 and 2012 more people believed crime had decreased. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, recent perceptions are better than they were in 2003 and 2007, when most people believed crime was increasing. People are also <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/about">more positive</a> when asked to reflect on long term trends. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238626/original/file-20181001-195263-z8xeqo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by author</span></span>
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<p>How do these beliefs shape lives? </p>
<h2>Fear of crime</h2>
<p>In 2016/17, up to 32% of people reported being unable to carry out basic tasks for fear of crime. Although most people report feeling safe walking in their area of residence during the day, just 29% feel the same at night. This figure has increased consistently since 2011, suggesting that although general crime may be declining, public fear is increasing. </p>
<p>While national victims surveys give some cause for optimism, youth victim surveys – which can register harms not captured by national surveys – offer reason for serious concern. They show that <a href="http://www.cjcp.org.za/uploads/2/7/8/4/27845461/08_cjcp_report_2016_d.pdf">26-35%</a> of young South Africans have experienced sexual abuse; <a href="http://www.cjcp.org.za/uploads/2/7/8/4/27845461/cjcp_ubs_web.pdf">34% have been</a> hit, beaten, kicked or physically hurt by an adult. Children exposed to violence are <a href="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12218">more likely</a> to perpetrate and be victims of violence as adults.</p>
<p>South Africans should be very concerned about this. Without addressing violence against children – which is often coupled with violence against women – the country will struggle to reduce the violent crime that keeps so many gripped by fear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Faull receives funding from the Hanns Seidel Foundation. </span></em></p>Data from victim and crime perception surveys help make sense of South Africa’s crime statistics.Andrew Faull, Research Associate at UCT's Centre of Criminology, Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1010922018-08-07T19:41:44Z2018-08-07T19:41:44ZWest Coast’s Gaff gets eight weeks for punch, but legal ramifications could go further<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230880/original/file-20180807-160647-kjxmy6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C2528%2C1562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West Coast player Andrew Gaff received an eight-week suspension for punching Fremantle's Andrew Brayshaw last weekend.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Luis Ascui</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last night, the AFL Tribunal handed down an <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/andrew-gaff-hit-with-eight-match-ban-20180807-p4zw1h.html">eight-match suspension</a> to West Coast Eagles player Andrew Gaff for his off-the-ball punch during a match against Fremantle on Sunday. The joint-longest AFL suspension of this century means Gaff will not play again in season 2018, and will miss the start of the 2019 season.</p>
<p>It came about after Gaff unleashed a punch with a swinging left fist to the face of Fremantle player Andrew Brayshaw during the third quarter of the game. </p>
<p>Brayshaw immediately fell to the ground and lay there for some time, blood pouring out of his mouth. I was at the game, and it was a horrifying sight.</p>
<p>The 18-year-old was <a href="https://www.triplem.com.au/sport/afl/news/andrew-brayshaw-taken-to-hospital-after-sickening-hit">later taken to hospital</a>, where it was found that his jaw was broken and three teeth displaced, requiring surgery on Monday night. He cannot eat solid foods for four weeks, and will not play again this season.</p>
<p>There has been heated debate about the incident in recent days, with <a href="https://thewest.com.au/sport/west-coast-eagles/western-derby-48-west-coast-coach-adam-simpson-defends-andrew-gaff-after-ugly-hit-on-andrew-brayshaw-ng-b88918490z">some defending</a> Gaff’s good character and clean record, and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/andrew-gaff-punch-fallout-star-midfielder-could-face-criminal-charges/news-story/26c4b8a3abd18248b1d158d6fe02766d">others calling</a> for criminal charges to be laid.</p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/close-case-set-to-present-a-legal-headache-for-the-afl-92418">Close case set to present a legal headache for the AFL</a>
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<p>There is no “double jeopardy” rule that stops Gaff facing legal consequences beyond his AFL suspension, but such action is rarely pursued. Instead, players and clubs generally abide by an unwritten rule to keep the dispute “in-house”.</p>
<p>But what if a player or club wanted to break this unwritten rule? What other legal consequences could there be for Gaff, or others who commit violent on-field acts?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230828/original/file-20180807-191022-854ovf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fremantle Dockers player Andrew Brayshaw’s jaw was broken and three teeth displaced after being punched by West Coast’s Andrew Gaff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/AFL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Battery</h2>
<p>The first area in which Gaff could be liable is tort law, which generally refers to civil wrongs that are not a breach of contract. </p>
<p>One such wrong is battery, which occurs where a person intentionally or negligently applies contact with the body of another person without that person’s consent. </p>
<p>Of course, if this definition applied to all contact on a sporting field, our courts would be inundated with claims from anyone who has been tackled by another person and suffers an injury as a result. The reason this does not happen is that consent is a defence to battery.</p>
<p>Australian courts have held that when a sportsperson decides to step onto a field of play, they give implied consent to various kinds of bodily contact, such as those permitted by the rules of the game - including tackling.</p>
<p>Courts have also found that this consent extends to commonly-encountered violations of rules - such as a push in the back or tripping in the AFL. Because these occur regularly in matches, players are deemed to agree to these risks.</p>
<p>What the concept of consent does not extend to is forceful or intentional acts of violence that cause bodily harm. While it is rare, such cases have been taken to court from time to time in various codes.</p>
<p>One infamous example is former Cronulla captain Steve Rogers <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/legal-minefield-for-coaches-who-tell-players-to-take-out-opponents-20020425-gdf83v.html">successfully suing</a> Canterbury-Bankstown player Mark Bugden, and the Canterbury-Bankstown football club, for a dangerous head-high tackle during a match in 1985.</p>
<p>It is relatively clear that Gaff would be liable for battery if a claim was brought, and would have to compensate Brayshaw for any loss or harm he suffered, including medical costs. West Coast may even have to provide compensation if it is held to be vicariously liable for his actions as his employer.</p>
<p>However, either scenario would require Brayshaw to bring a claim against Gaff in court - which he <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/clearly-it-is-an-assault-case-for-gaff-to-face-the-law-says-galbally-20180806-p4zvpv.html">seems unlikely to do</a>.</p>
<h2>Criminal assault</h2>
<p>The other main area in which Gaff could be liable is criminal law. High-profile lawyers <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/clearly-it-is-an-assault-case-for-gaff-to-face-the-law-says-galbally-20180806-p4zvpv.html">David Galbally QC</a> and <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/top-lawyer-calls-for-eagle-to-face-criminal-charges-ng-b88918485z">Tom Percy QC</a> have flagged the potential for criminal charges to be laid. </p>
<p>Considering the seriousness of criminal law sentences, this usually provides the greatest deterrent to harmful acts. </p>
<p>As this action took place in Perth, the <a href="https://www.slp.wa.gov.au/statutes/swans.nsf/%28DownloadFiles%29/Criminal+Code.pdf/%24file/Criminal+Code.pdf">Western Australian Criminal Code</a> would apply to any such charges.</p>
<p>There is little doubt that breaking someone’s jaw would fit under an offence called assault occasioning bodily harm, which can result in imprisonment for up to five years. There is a strong chance that such an action could be deemed grievous bodily harm, which can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years.</p>
<p>In these circumstances, Gaff would likely not be punished so severely. </p>
<p>His <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/west-coast-eagles/xavier-ellis-andrew-gaff-a-good-person-who-committed-horrible-act-ng-b88919990z">well-noted good record and character</a> would likely reduce his sentence, since it does not appear to be a regular occurrence. However, good character cannot change the outcome of whether an act is an assault or not in the first place.</p>
<p>The other issue is that only state prosecutors can seek a criminal conviction against Gaff. They would likely need the cooperation of WA Police and Brayshaw to do so.</p>
<p>Police and prosecutors have historically been reluctant to pursue criminal charges for on-field sporting actions, except in the most extreme cases. In AFL, there have been two prominent examples of this.</p>
<p>In 1985, then-Hawthorn captain Leigh Matthews <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/matthews-charge-still-mystery-20130729-2quxt.html">was charged</a>, and initially convicted, of grievous bodily harm for breaking the jaw of Geelong’s Neville Bruns in an on-field incident. </p>
<p>And just last year, former AFL diversity manager Ali Fahour <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/ali-fahour-avoids-conviction-over-suburban-match-punch/9449272">was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order</a> and made to pay a $5,000 fine for punching an opposing player unconscious during a suburban football game.</p>
<p>On Monday, WA <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/wa-police-taking-an-interest-in-andrew-gaffs-jaw-breaking-punch-on-andrew-brayshaw-ng-b88919161z">Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said</a> laying charges in such instances was rare. He also noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the central issue here is what should be governed by the sporting code and what falls within the criminal realm. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>WA Police are showing more interest than usual in the Gaff case, despite West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-players-not-outside-the-law-of-the-land-matthews-20180806-p4zvsm.html">labelling the calls</a> for criminal charges to be laid “inflammatory”. </p>
<p>Sports law expert Professor Jack Anderson from the University of Melbourne Law School <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-07/gaff-unlikely-to-face-charges-over-brayshaw-hit-this-time/10080164">believes a criminal prosecution</a> for an on-field violent act is “inevitable” in sport. However, this will probably not be the incident that sparks it. </p>
<h2>Increased pressure for a send-off rule</h2>
<p>This incident has also <a href="http://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/24294942/afl-andrew-gaff-west-coast-how-red-card-send-rule-work">sparked renewed calls</a> for a send-off rule to be implemented in the AFL, to catch up with most other sporting codes. Currently, there is no mechanism to allow umpires to exclude players from the field for disciplinary reasons in the AFL.</p>
<p>Whatever the merits of a send-off rule, the AFL may be playing a risky legal game by continually <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-08-06/red-cards-in-afl-unlikely-mclachlan-says">resisting calls to implement it</a>, particularly when reasons given for rejecting the rule tend to focus on “tradition” or the difficulty in applying it.</p>
<p>Along with battery, another area of tort law that could apply here is negligence - but this time on the part of the AFL, rather than Gaff. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-kick-tackle-the-reality-of-fast-tracking-women-into-elite-afl-91007">Mark! Kick! Tackle! The reality of fast-tracking women into elite AFL</a>
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<p>The law of negligence dictates that the AFL is under a duty to provide a safe environment for its players and to take all reasonable precautions to reduce the risk of harm in AFL matches - beyond the ordinary knocks and injuries that result from tackles and fair bumps.</p>
<p>If they fail to do so, they may have to compensate players who suffer harm because of the AFL’s inaction.</p>
<p>It may not take too long for a player to ask if the AFL is really taking all reasonable precautions against on-field harm by refusing to implement a send-off rule. </p>
<p>Ultimately, whether Gaff or others will face legal consequences depends almost entirely on whether victims, clubs, police and prosecutors decide to pursue further action.</p>
<p>But as Leigh Matthews <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-players-not-outside-the-law-of-the-land-matthews-20180806-p4zvsm.html">has said</a> in recent days: regardless of how infrequently legal action is taken, it is important to recognise that players are “not outside the law of the land”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Elphick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Given the legal issues that could arise from Gaff’s punch on Andrew Brayshaw, it is time the AFL reviewed its policies.Liam Elphick, Lecturer, Law School, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/992322018-07-05T08:31:40Z2018-07-05T08:31:40ZThe real life dangers of learning self-defence from viral videos – martial arts experts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226023/original/file-20180703-116152-8oj3wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C62%2C4579%2C3389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-female-trainer-training-kick-on-1121607773?src=QEfyqw97pbbcZ6rF9uaNcQ-1-21">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every day, women live with the risk of being physically attacked. It’s not one of those dangers that is regularly <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227763756_The_Social_Amplification_of_Risk_A_Conceptual_Framework">blown out of proportion</a> – such as <a href="https://www.economist.com/gulliver/2015/01/29/a-crash-course-in-probability">being in an aeroplane crash</a> or getting <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/odds/compare-risk/death/">bitten by a shark</a>. Attacks on women are common. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights <a href="http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-women-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report">surveyed</a> 42,000 women and concluded that 31% of women have experienced one or more acts of physical violence since the age of 15. </p>
<p>But there is also a long tradition of women learning how to fight back against assault. In Edwardian Britain, suffragettes trained in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34425615">the Japanese martial art, jiu-jitsu</a>, to defend themselves during rallies and protests. And during WWII, the growing number of physical attacks against women performing new roles led to the first of many self-defence manuals: <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Hands_Off.html?id=ar0gGQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Hands Off!: Self-Defence for Women</a>.</p>
<p>Self-defence has recently moved to social media. Videos from sites such as Buzzfeed have gone viral. One video: <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/skycowans/11-self-defense-tips-that-will-make-you-feel-safer-walking?utm_term=.boyZewYoOw#.ulzreKgWXK">11 Self Defense Tips That Will Make You Feel Safer Walking Alone</a> – has had more than 19m hits <a href="https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedfyi/videos/617166092000399/?hc_ref=ARTGQs46SOMNoWU-1KY-JftHO5oAZT5AkbGahBB7Za-4qSl0CsaMLcUNxGvttAUoi4Q">on Facebook alone</a>. But while such displays often come with laudable intentions and good advice, they could actually put women in danger. </p>
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<p>Let’s take the Buzzfeed video, as an example. The instructor and “assailant” is Nelson Nio, founder of martial arts-derived street self-defence system for women – <a href="https://shieldselfdefense.com">SHIELD</a>. The video offers some sound tips – it encourages women to be aware of their surroundings, use their voice or scream as a weapon and run in a zig-zag manner whenever possible.</p>
<p>The emergency self-defence techniques are correctly executed. The “victim” – an athletic young woman – overcomes bear hugs, hair and arm grabs and chokes from behind. She is most likely a SHIELD practitioner who makes the moves look simple, effective and readily applied regardless of size and strength.</p>
<p>But videos like this can imply that it’s possible to learn self-defence online, or that attacks will actually play out as the video depicts. Viewers may also feel more confident after watching such videos and shift their response to attack from “flight” to “fight”. The Buzzfeed piece concludes that if you must defend yourself, “let your adrenaline take over and become the aggressor”. </p>
<h2>The physicality of fighting</h2>
<p>But unless the viewer is prepared to invest plenty of time and training this is probably not the best advice. Simple techniques are difficult to apply under real-life pressure, where there are limited chances to slip, strike or run. And attackers often behave in unpredictable ways. </p>
<p>Even in self-defence classes, demonstrations tend to be given with compliant partners – as is clearly the case in the Buzzfeed video. You can see that the assailant pauses briefly following the attacks and uses singular rather than multiple attacking movements. He pauses and feigns pain when being “struck”, fails to free himself from the restraint techniques and remains silent throughout.</p>
<p>But real assaults are not perfectly choreographed – and attackers won’t be following the script. There is evidence to suggest that determined people can often absorb powerful strikes, even to sensitive areas, and may continue attacks regardless of injury or pain – especially if they have consumed drugs, alcohol or <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238047747_It_hurts_so_it_is_real_Sensing_the_seduction_of_mixed_martial_arts">are experienced fighters themselves</a>. Even strikes to the face or groin might not halt an attack, unless they <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249722460_Producing_Pain_Techniques_and_Technologies_in_No-Holds-Barred_Fighting">inflict considerable pain and damage</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226024/original/file-20180703-116126-g48ve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Don’t get close.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sporty-young-girl-doing-selfdefence-moves-1070594726?src=auUKhYH4kaKp2Wfxj5gdaQ-1-65">Shutterstock.</a></span>
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<p>Striking ineffectually carries a big risk, because it leaves you within range of the attacker – and because striking an aggressor turns the confrontation into a fight. Attacks are usually fast and committed, and attackers do not normally freeze when executing a move. A grab from behind can transition to a takedown, while a hair grasp might be accompanied with strikes, kicks or shoves.</p>
<p>When people are put into locks, they generally resist, struggle, shift their weight to gain leverage, kick out or use a free hand. In a bear hug, when kicked in the groin, attackers will just as likely tighten their grip and drop to the floor with the victim underneath. A heavier attacker will be better able to resist locks and absorb strikes, too. Mass matters – this is why combat sports have weight categories.</p>
<h2>Making techniques work</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-phillips/boards-dont-hit-back-and-_b_5577150.html">Bruce Lee said</a>, “boards don’t hit back”. Training objects, such as compliant training partners and demonstration videos, lack the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810105219735">kinaesthetic feedback</a> (the awareness if the movement of parts of the body by the sensory organs) required to develop skills to cope with real-world situations. Those looking to defend themselves must be able to adapt techniques depending on the circumstances of the attack. They should also be able to transition between techniques and automatically perform powerful and accurate counterattacks. </p>
<p>All this takes lots of time, practice and variation with partners of different sizes, reaches, strengths, personalities and motivations. Progressive scenarios should be used to simulate reality. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274472610_Rebuilding_the_body_through_violence_and_control">Combat systems use such methods</a> to prepare people for potential scenarios through months or even years of regular, intense and interactive physical training, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233719531_Timing_in_Karate_and_the_Body_in_Its_Own_Right">with knowledgeable and competent others</a>, some of whom should possess experiences of violence. </p>
<p>Training involves <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249686473_Habitus_Body_Techniques_and_Body_Callusing_An_Ethnography_of_Mixed_Martial_Arts">conditioning the body</a> and multiple senses including <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Seeking-the-Senses-in-Physical-Culture-Sensuous-scholarship-in-action/Sparkes/p/book/9781138100589">sound smell, taste, and touch</a>. This progressive practice eventually modifies one’s mind and body, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306045165_The_Social_Logic_of_Boxing_in_Black_Chicago_Toward_a_Sociology_of_Pugilism">developing contextually specific intelligence and creativity</a>. </p>
<p>There’s scientific evidence to show that sustained training has the power to improve <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11220203_Reaction_time_and_anticipatory_skills_of_Karate_athletes">combat reaction times</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/martial-arts-can-improve-your-attention-span-and-alertness-long-term-new-study-91798">attention and alertness</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283868723_Comparing_the_effectiveness_of_karate_and_fitness_training_on_cognitive_functioning_in_older_adults-A_randomized_controlled_trial">cognitive function in older adults</a>. </p>
<p>Even then, the ultimate aim of self-defence is to minimise violence and avoid confrontation. Spending so much of one’s life perfecting this goal is indeed the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Warrior-Paradox-Martial-Arts/dp/158567513X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530194464&sr=8-1&keywords=Way-Warrior-Paradox-Martial-Arts">paradox of the martial arts</a> – to <a href="http://lfhv.org">love fighting but hate violence</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Real life attackers won’t follow a carefully choreographed fight sequence – that’s why training is essential.David H K Brown, Reader in the Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityGeorge Jennings, Lecturer in Sport Sociology/Physical Culture, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879132017-11-24T12:27:03Z2017-11-24T12:27:03ZAlmost two million UK adults have experienced domestic abuse in the last year<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196276/original/file-20171124-21801-vfuf5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest Office for National Statistics <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2017">figures on domestic violence</a>, estimate that almost 2m UK adults (1.2m women, 713,000 men) aged between 16 and 59 have experienced some sort domestic abuse in the last year. </p>
<p>This might sound like a lot, but domestic violence is actually one of the most under-reported crimes. In 2016-2017 the police recorded more than 1m domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes. But less than half (488,000) of these were subsequently recorded as crimes – and only half of these led to arrests.</p>
<p>Issues with the way police record domestic abuse have been a major area of concern over the last few years. In 2014, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) – which independently assesses police forces and policing – reported that <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/crime-recording-making-the-victim-count.pdf">police were failing to record</a> a significant number of crimes. This led to a review of all forces, with HMIC concluding there were unacceptable variations in police recording practices and responses to incidents of domestic abuse.</p>
<p>The latest data from the ONS reveals there are still wide variations in the recording practices of police forces. Durham, for example, had the highest number of recorded domestic violence incidents (37 incidents for every 1,000 people). But only around one-third (32.35) of those incidents were subsequently recorded as crimes. The percentage of incidents recorded as crimes is similar in Gloucestershire, Gwent and Greater Manchester. </p>
<h2>Under-reported and unsupported</h2>
<p>But these findings may not provide the whole picture, because <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/crime-recording-making-the-victim-count.pdf">HMIC </a> found that a number of forces are not recording some incidents of domestic abuse at all. </p>
<p>These cases are instead referred on to other agencies – meaning these incidents never appear on the police log. And this may give some forces false “low” rates of domestic violence incidents, when in reality the picture is quite different.</p>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/?cat=crime-recording-2">reviews conducted by the HMIC to date</a> have found most forces are still under-recording domestic and sexual violence cases. And have also highlighted poor understandings of national policy, as well as poor recording processes across police forces. Concerns were also raised that <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-fail-domestic-abuse-victims-watchdog-finds-w7xrcwnn6">some police forces were downgrading</a> the “risk” in cases to justify a slower, or different, response.</p>
<h2>Coercive control</h2>
<p>A further concern is around police understandings and reporting of coercive control – which was introduced in the Serious Crime Act 2015. <a href="http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/a_to_c/controlling_or_coercive_behaviour/#a03">Coercive control</a> is defined as ongoing psychological behaviour, which occurs over a period of time with the aim of removing a victim’s freedom. </p>
<p>The ONS figures published yesterday do not capture incidents of coercive control recorded by the police. However, <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-11-24/coercive-control-concerns">new data collected by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism</a> obtained from police forces using Freedom of Information requests (FOI) indicates the number of charges is low.</p>
<p>Their report shows that, of the 29 forces who responded to the FOI, at least 22 forces across England had seen fewer than two charges for every 100,000 people since the law was introduced in 2015. And recent <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748895817728381">research</a> has also reported inconsistency in criminal justice practitioners’ understandings of coercive control.</p>
<h2>Falling through the cracks</h2>
<p>These latest statistics raise important questions about the way forces continue to record domestic violence. They also demonstrate the inconsistent way with which these cases are dealt with by different police forces across the country. And it suggests there may well be a postcode lottery for victims – both in terms of their report being recorded as a crime and the subsequent level of support offered. </p>
<p>Sadly, it is already the case that many victims are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-forgotten-victims-of-emotional-abuse-are-building-new-support-networks-online-45905">not being offered adequate support</a>, as it is often only offered once an incident is recorded as a crime. And as many of the incidents do not lead to a criminal investigation or prosecution, perpetrators are not being held accountable – nor are victims being protected from further violence. This means that repeat victimisation is not being adequately captured by existing police recording practices. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the demands on services which provide support to female victims of domestic violence has seen <a href="https://www.comicrelief.com/sites/default/files/downloads/domesticabusecallsatalltimehigh.pdf">huge increases</a> but resources have not increased with this demand. Local authorities have had their funding for domestic violence services cut by <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-10-16/a-system-at-breaking-point">24% since 2010</a>.</p>
<p>Given that the latest data from the ONS also confirms there are fewer refuge services offering support to victims of domestic violence – 274 in 2017, which is 20 less than in 2012 – it is easy to see how the system lets so many victims fall through the cracks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Bows has previously received funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>Around 10% of women aged 16 to 24 say they have experienced domestic violence in the last year.Hannah Bows, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/827682017-08-22T08:19:51Z2017-08-22T08:19:51ZExplainer: Grace Mugabe and the intricacies of diplomatic immunity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182749/original/file-20170821-27160-146vdoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe
has been granted immunity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Khaled el-Fiqi </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, has been <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-08-20-dirco-confirms-grace-mugabe-has-been-granted-diplomatic-immunity/">granted diplomatic immunity</a> and allowed to leave South Africa after allegedly attacking and injuring a young South African woman, Gabriella Engels (20), in Sandton, Johannesburg. Politics and Society Editor, Thabo Leshilo, asked international law expert, Professor Hennie Strydom to unpack the issues.</em></p>
<p><strong>Was Grace Mugabe entitled to diplomatic immunity?</strong></p>
<p>Broadly speaking, there are three scenarios in which immunity as a form of procedural protection against criminal proceedings in the courts of a foreign country can arise. </p>
<p>Firstly, in the case of immunity granted to foreign heads of state and government; secondly in the case of immunity enjoyed by diplomatic and other special envoys, their families and staff; and thirdly in the case of an ad hoc granting of immunity to a person to perform an official function in another state. </p>
<p>Grace Mugabe doesn’t qualify under the first two categories. </p>
<p>South Africa is, by law, entitled to extend immunity to people in the third ad hoc category. But I am of the view that doing so to cover an incident retrospectively is an unlawful and fraudulent use of immunity. </p>
<p>According to the department of international relations, she didn’t <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/zimbabwe/no-diplomatic-immunity-for-grace-mugabe-10792922">have immunity</a> when she entered the country and she was apparently not on the department’s list of persons entitled to immunity. Whether or not she was on an official visit is also in dispute.</p>
<p><strong>What is diplomatic immunity and how does it work?</strong></p>
<p>The granting of diplomatic and other immunities is one of the oldest practices in international law. It’s intended to make it possible for special envoys to perform their official functions without hindrance when they’re visiting another country on official international relations business. </p>
<p>But immunity comes with responsibilities too. Under international law, envoys have a duty to respect the laws of the country that they’re in. </p>
<p>The rules and principles regulating the granting and use of diplomatic immunities are well-established. The main sources are the <a href="http://www.international.gc.ca/protocol-protocole/vienna_convention-convention_vienne.aspx?lang=eng">Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961</a>, the <a href="https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=III-6&chapter=3&lang=en">Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963)</a> and national legislation. In the case of South Africa, the <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/38310_gon1009.pdf">Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act </a> and the Foreign States Immunities <a href="http://www.gov.za/documents/foreign-states-immunities-act-24-mar-2015-1355">Act of 1981</a> set out who can get immunity and under what conditions.</p>
<p><strong>Can immunity be used to deny a victim justice?</strong></p>
<p>Yes it can. Where immunity applies, the remedies are limited to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the receiving state declaring the perpetrator of the unlawful act a <em>persona non grata</em> and sending them back to their country of origin; </p></li>
<li><p>the sending state waiving the immunity in which case the perpetrator can be prosecuted; and,</p></li>
<li><p>the perpetrator being prosecuted in the country of origin. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In the case of Grace Mugabe there is no realistic prospect that immunity will be waived nor that she’ll be prosecuted in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p><strong>How else can victims get justice?</strong></p>
<p>In certain cases, civil action against the perpetrator is possible, including the attachment of property owned by them in the country where the abuse has taken place. In the case of the Grace Mugabe incident, the alleged victim of the assault, Gabriella Engels, has a constitutional right to a remedy. If this right is infringed by the granting of immunity, there is a heavy onus on the South African government to justify why it did so. Failure to justify it in review proceedings may render the South African government liable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hennie Strydom receives funding from the National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>According to South Africa’s department of international relations, Grace Mugabe didn’t have immunity when she entered the country.Hennie Strydom, Professor in International Law, NRF Research Chair in International Law, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/827212017-08-21T12:13:20Z2017-08-21T12:13:20ZGrace Mugabe: why diplomatic immunity isn’t always an ‘out of jail’ ticket<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182751/original/file-20170821-27163-jy38xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe with her husband, President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Khaled el-Fiqi </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Grace Mugabe, the wife of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, is accused of <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/grace-fury-20170819">assaulting a young woman</a> while on a visit to South Africa. A week after the incident in a hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg’s upmarket central business district, a South African government minister announced that she had been <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-08-20-dirco-confirms-grace-mugabe-has-been-granted-diplomatic-immunity/">granted diplomatic immunity</a>. She has subsequently <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/breaking-grace-mugabe-returns-to-zimbabwe-despite-assault-claim-20170820">returned to Zimbabwe</a> without any attempt by the South African Police Service to arrest her.</p>
<p>The incident has sparked a <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2017/08/grace-mugabe-no-right-diplomatic-immunity-must-arrested/">furious debate</a> about whether she should have been granted immunity, and what this means for the victim of the alleged assault. </p>
<p>At the time of the alleged assault Grace Mugabe was on a private, not official, visit to South Africa. She wasn’t <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-08-15-grace-mugabe-to-appear-in-court-over-johannesburg-assault-charge/">granted immunity before her visit</a> and it’s not clear on what basis she’s now been granted it. Normally diplomatic immunity is granted to an individual envoy by prior agreement, or by the Minister of International Relations if it is in the interests of a country. </p>
<p>Since it is conceivable that Grace Mugabe might visit South Africa again in future it’s worth reviewing the rules, considerations and implications of diplomatic immunity.</p>
<h2>Rules governing diplomatic immunity</h2>
<p>Grace Mugabe was neither a visiting head of state or government, nor a diplomat representing her country – both of which would have qualified her for diplomatic immunity. </p>
<p>There is no basis in customary, conventional international law or domestic law for the spouse of a head of state to claim – as a right or entitlement – some form of immunity when visiting a foreign state. </p>
<p>A foreign state – in this case South Africa – can, of course, grant immunity. But there’s a legal framework that governs this. In her case, as the spouse of a foreign head of state, she could be granted immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the courts in South Africa if, for instance, she was on a visit as an envoy of her country to attend an international conference, or if she was accompanying her husband on an official visit. The fact that she happens to be an important person isn’t a good enough criterium. </p>
<p>In other words, it’s not status that serves as a basis for granting immunity. Rather, it’s the nature of the person’s visit. </p>
<p>South Africa’s <a href="http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/diplomaticimmun.htm">Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act</a> gives the minister of International Relations and Cooperation the power to grant immunity to foreign visitors who represent their countries on official business. The act sets out how this must be done. If there’s no prior agreement that already covers the visit, a notice must be published in the Government Gazette. </p>
<p>What’s clear is that the spouses of foreign heads of states, members of foreign royal families, international celebrities and the like, can’t be granted immunity on a whim. There are laws, protocols, and procedures to be followed. </p>
<p>Formalities aside, it’s also important to keep in mind the underlying rationale of diplomatic immunity in international law and international relations. Diplomatic immunity is a principle with ancient roots and forms an integral part of international relations. At the heart of it is the idea that diplomats – or others representing their countries or international organisations – must be able to pursue their official duties free from interference by the host state. </p>
<p>Foreign envoys who are granted immunity therefore enjoy immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the courts of the host country.</p>
<h2>What about justice for the victim?</h2>
<p>Diplomatic immunity can indeed be seen as a shield against accountability for criminal conduct or civil obligations. The abuse of diplomatic immunity can therefore lead to impunity. </p>
<p>If a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity is accused of a crime, and their immunity isn’t waived, it’s normal practice for the host country to declare the person to be <em>persona non grata</em>. They are then expected to leave the country. But that also means there is no justice for the victim of the crime. </p>
<p>Nevertheless it’s important to remember that the immunity initially granted to the diplomat or envoy does not attach to that person in his or her personal capacity. It would have to have been granted in one or other other official capacity. </p>
<p>The right to institute a prosecution for most crimes (including assault) lapses only after 20 years. There are exceptions. This right never lapses in the case of serious offences such as murder, rape, robbery with aggravated circumstances, and the atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p>
<p>It’s conceivable that a person who once enjoyed diplomatic immunity, but who no longer benefits from it, will face justice at some future date. This assumes that they find themselves back in the country in which the alleged crime took place.</p>
<p>It would be hard to justify continued immunity for someone accused of a crime given that criminal conduct, including assault, is not normally associated with official business between two sovereign states.</p>
<p>That’s not to say that the victim can easily get justice. Diplomatic immunity conferred on visiting envoys and representatives means immunity from prosecution and civil action. This means that a victim will be frustrated in their quest for justice in the courts. </p>
<p>However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Taking into account the rules around the prescription of the right to institute prosecution of crime, and the underlying rationale of diplomatic immunity as a tool to facilitate official political and commercial relations between sovereign states, it can be argued that diplomatic immunity isn’t the impenetrable shield of impunity imagined by some.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerhard Kemp receives funding from the National Research Foundation. He serves on the board of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Views are his own and in his personal capacity.</span></em></p>There is no basis in customary, conventional international law or domestic law for the spouse of a head of state to claim - as a right - some form of immunity when visiting a foreign state.Gerhard Kemp, Professor of Criminal Law and International Criminal Law, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/821152017-08-13T23:15:33Z2017-08-13T23:15:33ZAcid attacks are on the rise and toxic masculinity is the cause<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181443/original/file-20170808-27875-1r11p0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lucia Annibali, victim of an acid attack in Italy, walks in Rome earlier this year. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A spate of acid attacks has earned London the dubious recent distinction of being called “the acid capital of Britain.” There have been more than 100 acid attacks reported in 2017 alone, with at least one a day in the city, and <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/london-acid-attack-capital-uk-10795265">there are suggestions</a> the true figure is much higher. </p>
<p>There’s a common misconception that acid attacks take place only in developing countries. They are, in fact, a worldwide phenomenon. Acid attacks have been reported in the U.K., Canada, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/29/acid-attacks-italy-gessica-notaro">Italy (27 registered assaults in 2016)</a> and other industrialized countries. Approximately 1,500 acid attacks are recorded worldwide annually. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Cambodia and Uganda are countries with the highest reported incidence.</p>
<p>More than two-thirds of recent victims in the U.K. are men. But globally, 80 per cent of acid attack victims <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23631395">are women and girls.</a> Acid violence is categorized as a form of gender-based violence because gendered roles and hierarchies within families and society not only motivate perpetrators to commit the crime, but also provide them with a sense of impunity. </p>
<h2>Attackers aim to disfigure victims</h2>
<p>Perpetrators usually intend to disfigure rather than kill their victims. The patriarchal reasoning that a woman’s appearance is her only asset often drives acid violence. Even in the U.K., where most victims are men, a gang member admits quite easily in a YouTube documentary produced by VICE that although he has attacked both men and women with acid, he would <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/acid-attacker-victims-deserve-it-knife-weapon-gangs-police-documentary-a7846241.html">“prefer to use acid on a girl nine out of 10 times” because “they love their beauty.”</a></p>
<p>Acid attacks are often specifically used to ruin a woman’s future romantic prospects, her career, financial security and social status. This perverse logic for acid attacks appears to hold water everywhere in the world. In 2008, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4696598/Acid-attack-victim-Katie-Piper-describes-life-sentence.html">Katie Piper’s ex-boyfriend</a> hired an attacker in London to specifically throw sulphuric acid on her face to make her unattractive to other men and destroy her modelling career.</p>
<p>Perpetrators of acid violence are almost always men, and toxic masculinity —the desire to permanently victimize someone while demonstrating his own power and brutality —is almost always the underlying cause regardless of whether the victim is a woman, man or transgendered person. </p>
<h2>Boys, men, need strong education programs</h2>
<p>None of the policies and interventions aimed at responding to acid violence have engaged meaningfully with this fact. Proactive prevention strategies must involve sensitizing men and boys to the effects of gender-based violence, including acid attacks, and incorporating them into prevention activities. </p>
<p>Such approaches should be prioritized – or at least simultaneously implemented – as reactive strategies such as policing acid sellers and purchasers, and seeking longer jail sentences for perpetrators, which countries like Great Britain, Italy, Bangladesh and India are currently pursuing.</p>
<p>Perpetrators use acid because it is easy to purchase, easier to use than knives or guns, and because it has devastating consequences upon victims. Perpetrators also use other corrosive substances to disfigure their victims. This is true for recent attacks in the U.K. and in Montreal in 2012, when <a href="http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/as-attacker-released-tanya-st-arnauld-says-acid-assault-still-haunts-her-1.2645331">Tanya St-Arnauld’s</a> ex-boyfriend used a household cleaning liquid to attack her.</p>
<p>This means that in countries where acid is not widely available or expensive, perpetrators will find destructive alternatives (kerosene, for example) that have the same disfiguring effect. Keeping purchase records of such common products will be difficult, if not impossible.</p>
<p>Governments and acid violence prevention NGOs have advocated for social, medical and legal reforms that have assisted in improving health, education and training, human rights, laws and psychosocial services for acid attack survivors. But to date, none of them have developed programs that authentically acknowledge or address the root cause of acid violence. </p>
<p>In some countries, state responsibilities have been supplemented or even replaced by NGOs, even though the latter cannot replace the former’s role in protecting citizens. Stronger state involvement is critical not just in service provision to survivors but also in prevention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was made possible by a research grant from SSHRC (Insight Grant # 435 2014 1847) awarded to Professor Bipasha Baruah. The authors acknowledge that there is no conflict of interest.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aisha Siddika does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Acid attacks, mostly against women, are increasing globally, and toxic masculinity is to blame. It’s time for social, medical and legal reform to stop the scourge.Dr. Bipasha Baruah, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Global Women's Issues , Western UniversityAisha Siddika, Alumni, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.