tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/misconduct-16153/articlesMisconduct – The Conversation2024-02-09T03:48:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230822024-02-09T03:48:21Z2024-02-09T03:48:21ZChoosing a new doctor? Their sexual misconduct may soon be on the record<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574534/original/file-20240208-20-b3n5y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C998%2C666&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/focused-old-woman-home-using-laptop-1449002363">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past decade, reports of sexual misconduct by Australian health practitioners against patients have <a href="https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2023-07-07-blueprint-update.aspx">increased</a>. While <a href="https://www.nhpo.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-08/Chaperone-review-report-WEB.pdf">various reforms</a> have tried to curtail “sexual boundary violations”, none has worked.</p>
<p>Now, Australian health ministers <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-08/reform-could-be-coming-to-let-patients-know-of-doctor-misconduct/103432744">have agreed</a> to consider <a href="https://engage.vic.gov.au/proposed-reforms-to-the-health-practitioner-regulation-national-law">three amendments</a> intended to protect patients in each state and territory. </p>
<p>Where past reforms have tinkered with <a href="https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/bills/2022/3093/Health-Practitioner-Regulation-National-Law-and-Other-Legislation-Amendment-Bill-2022---Explanatory-Notes-8010.pdf">the disciplinary powers</a> regulators have to <a href="https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/bill_en/hprnlaolab2017707/hprnlaolab2017707.html">sanction health professionals</a>, these new proposals take a different tack. </p>
<p>They seek to reorient the “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4835893/pdf/12909_2016_Article_634.pdf">inherent power imbalance</a>” between practitioner and patient, in favour of patients. The aim is to increase public information about previously sanctioned practitioners and to better protect those who complain.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-the-health-regulator-better-protect-patients-from-sexual-misconduct-199173">How can the health regulator better protect patients from sexual misconduct?</a>
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<h2>What are boundary violations?</h2>
<p>In health-care regulation, health practitioners’ boundary violations (or boundary crossings) cover a spectrum of sexual transgressions against patients. </p>
<p>These obviously include serious or criminal sexual assaults and exploitation. However, they also cover innuendo, intrusive questions and inappropriate physical examinations. Then there are sexual relationships with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/mja2.50717">former</a> and current patients – consensual or not.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young woman in therapy session with female therapist, both anonymous" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574548/original/file-20240208-20-bxfda7.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">Boundary violations cover a range of behaviours, including innuendo and intrusive questions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/anonymous-photo-two-women-during-group-1659333334">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The Medical Board of Australia’s <a href="https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-policies/sexual-boundaries-guidelines.aspx">guidelines for sexual boundaries</a> describes how boundary violations breach patient trust, undermine patient safety, and erode public confidence in the medical profession.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17557380221080187">much</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005696">research</a> indicates, patients who are violated while seeking health care may <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-17434-004">endure</a> profound distress and experience lifelong trauma.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-doctors-sexual-advances-towards-a-patient-are-never-ok-even-if-consensual-76154">A doctor's sexual advances towards a patient are never ok, even if 'consensual'</a>
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<h2>How common are boundary violations?</h2>
<p><a href="https://doctors.ajc.com/caught_on_video_but_kept_georgia_medical_license/?ecmp=doctorssexabuse_microsite_stories">Research with patients</a> indicates boundary violations in health care <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8220485/">are</a> <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/3572268/Millbank-441-Advance.pdf">under-reported</a>.</p>
<p>Still, Australia’s national regulator of health practitioners, known as Ahpra,
<a href="https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2023-07-07-blueprint-update.aspx">received</a> 841 notifications about 728 registered practitioners concerning boundary violations in 2022-2023. This is an increase of more than 220% from 2019-2020.</p>
<p>Of these notifications, 359 related to medical practitioners (including psychiatrists), while 215 related to nurses and 120 to psychologists.</p>
<p>Independent analysis of Australian tribunal cases for boundary violations indicates between roughly <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/3572268/Millbank-441-Advance.pdf">65% and 80%</a> of those accused are male.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment-whats-the-difference-93411">Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment: what’s the difference?</a>
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<h2>Why now?</h2>
<p>As reported boundary violations have surged, public interest in the issue and its impacts has sharpened.</p>
<p>Media reports have described practitioners engaged in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-13/psychiatrist-barred-after-relationship-with-patient/101060720">exploitative sexual</a> <a href="https://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=GAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geelongadvertiser.com.au%2Fnews%2Fgeelong%2Fhealth-watchdogs-receive-hundreds-of-geelong-complaints%2Fnews-story%2F2fc5072ada1c6b38cd8a6865615e3b22&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium">relationships</a>, as well as inappropriate <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-06/doctors-sexual-misconduct-complaint-system-investigation/101918606">touching</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-15/settlement-for-52-men-sexually-abused-by-andrew-churchyard/8808828">physical examinations</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, public inquiries have spotlighted the regulator’s role and responsibilities. </p>
<p>For instance, Tasmania’s <a href="https://www.commissionofinquiry.tas.gov.au/home">inquiry</a> into child sexual abuse examined <a href="https://www.commissionofinquiry.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/681393/Statement-of-Matthew-Hardy,-National-Director-Notifications,-Australian-Health-Practitioner-Regulation-Authority,-27-June-2022.pdf">evidence</a> of Ahpra’s response to sexual abuse by a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-17/the-warnings-about-james-geoffrey-griffin-lgh-ignored/101334270">paediatric nurse</a>. The <a href="https://www.nhpo.gov.au/">National Health Practitioner Ombudsman</a>’s <a href="https://www.nhpo.gov.au/safeguarding-confidentiality-review">review</a> found protections for complainants should be strengthened.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/3572268/Millbank-441-Advance.pdf">several</a> <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/213/5/sexual-misconduct-health-professionals-australia-2011-2016-retrospective">rigorous</a> <a href="https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Millbank.pdf">Australian</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0067205X221146334">studies</a> have highlighted regulatory weak spots and proposed options for reform.</p>
<p>Here is what is on the table.</p>
<h2>1. More public information about past violations</h2>
<p>This proposed reform would allow Ahpra to disclose the “full regulatory history” of any health professional found guilty of professional misconduct for sexual violations in a civil tribunal or found guilty of sexual offences in a criminal court.</p>
<p>This would raise “red flags” on the public register about certain practitioners, which a patient could access. </p>
<p>Currently, regulatory impositions – such as practice conditions, reprimands, suspensions or deregistrations – are recorded on the register but usually removed once they lapse or expire.</p>
<h2>2. Consistent reinstatement of deregistered practitioners</h2>
<p>This seeks to harmonise across the country how deregistered health practitioners are reinstated.</p>
<p>Currently, only New South Wales law requires disqualified health practitioners to obtain a “<a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2009-86a#sec.163B">reinstatement order</a>” from a civil tribunal before applying to the relevant health profession council for reinstatement. The tribunal’s deliberations are heard in open hearings, its reasons and decision published to the public, and in turn may be reported by the media and read by patients.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, the state health practitioner boards typically reinstate practitioners without any publicly available decision, or the reasons behind the decision.</p>
<h2>3. Banning non-disclosure agreements</h2>
<p>The 2022 independent investigation into <a href="https://www.ahpra.gov.au/resources/cosmetic-surgery-hub/cosmetic-surgery-review.aspx">cosmetic surgery practitioners</a> in Australia revealed some doctors who resolved disputes privately with aggrieved patients had used non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements, presumably to shield themselves from liability. </p>
<p>While such agreements would <a href="https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Cosmetic-surgery-hub/Cosmetic-surgery-complaints.aspx">likely</a> be <a href="https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/hprnl460/s237.html">unenforceable</a>, they may lead patients to falsely believe they are legally bound to silence. </p>
<p>This proposed reform seeks to prohibit health practitioners using non-disclosure agreements to eliminate any chance they might stop or dissuade patients from reporting misconduct.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man signing paper document with pen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574550/original/file-20240208-18-28f8cw.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">Proposed changes would ban health practitioners from trying to stop patients from reporting them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-man-signing-contract-shallow-focus-106141958">KellySHUTSTOC/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>What would the proposed changes mean?</h2>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-06/doctors-sexual-misconduct-complaint-system-investigation/101918606">publicised</a> boundary violation <a href="https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/574e7719e4b05f2c4f04e9b7">cases</a> involve practitioners who have been reinstated after disqualification for previous misconduct. This includes where they have <a href="https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/178af5af55762dcca1b45df1">changed their names</a>. </p>
<p>Currently, many patients who have been harmed by serial offenders have no way of knowing a practitioner had been previously sanctioned for the same or similar misconduct.</p>
<p>Data on repeat offending are <a href="https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/52810">patchy</a>. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0067205X221146334">analysis</a> of the available Australian data indicates repeat offending is “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2022.2060651">the norm rather than the exception</a>”.</p>
<p>While some health practitioners will see these reforms as oppressive or punitive, only those found guilty in an open tribunal or court of the most serious professional misconduct for boundary-crossing transgressions or sexual crimes would be affected.</p>
<p>While promising, the reforms are not laid in stone. Public consultation is now <a href="https://engage.vic.gov.au/proposed-reforms-to-the-health-practitioner-regulation-national-law">underway</a> until February 19.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Rudge was engaged as a special research officer at the Medical Council of NSW in 2018.</span></em></p>Proposed reforms aim to increase public information about previously sanctioned health professionals and to better protect people who complain.Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201022023-12-19T22:15:04Z2023-12-19T22:15:04ZPeter Bone kicked out of parliament for violence and sexual misconduct: how recall petitions work<p>In the 2019 general election, Conservative Peter Bone held his seat in the Northamptonshire constituency of Wellingborough with more than <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001025">60% of the vote</a>. Four years later, although there hasn’t been another election, he is no longer an MP. Bone, who was found to have <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/mps-lords--offices/standards-and-financial-interests/independent-expert-panel/hc-1904---the-conduct-of-mr-peter-bone-mp.pdf">bullied and exposed himself to a member of his staff</a>, is one of the few examples of a member of parliament being thrown out in a recall. </p>
<p>The recall is a mechanism introduced in 2015 to deal with elected representatives who misbehave in office. While recalls have a longer pedigree in <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Gray_Davis_recall,_Governor_of_California_(2003)">some parts of the world</a>, they are a relatively new phenomenon in the UK. Bone is only the fourth MP to lose their seat via recall and only the fifth MP to face a recall petition (the very first was survived by <a href="https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blog/first-use-of-the-recall-of-mps-act-tough-test-in-north-antrim">Ian Paisley Jnr</a> in 2018).</p>
<p>Bone could still return as a local MP since his recall will be followed by a byelection in which he has the right to stand as an independent. He may believe he has a chance given the strength of his 2019 result. But the reality is that recalls generally end careers. </p>
<p>The most recent recall involved Scottish National Party MP Margaret Ferrier, who <a href="https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/200236/politicians/2157/statutory_notices">lost her seat in July 2023</a>. This followed a lengthy suspension for breaking pandemic lockdown rules by travelling on a train while knowingly infected with COVID. She chose not to stand in the byelection that followed her recall. </p>
<p>Bone’s recall was also triggered by a lengthy suspension, in his case imposed after a <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2023/october-2023/independent-expert-panel-recommends-suspending-peter-bone-mp-for-bullying-and-sexual-misconduct/">parliamentary investigation</a> found that he had hit a member of his staff on multiple occasions and exposed himself to him on another. Bone has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67137918">denied the allegations</a>.</p>
<h2>How a recall happens</h2>
<p>A recall petition is automatically launched when an MP is suspended from the House of Commons for longer than ten days. Any shorter period of suspension carries no further sanction. </p>
<p>The decision to suspend an MP must go through the House of Commons but this is usually a rubber-stamping exercise that comes at the very end of an investigation or even a police probe (as in the case of several other MPs who have been recalled). </p>
<p>Bone’s six-week suspension was agreed without debate in <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-10-25/debates/7C920BD7-673D-4BB3-9F57-9FB91BE03C62/BusinessWithoutDebate">late October</a> after the publication of the investigation into his conduct.</p>
<p>Once a recall has been triggered, local voters have the chance to sign a petition to have their MP removed. They can sign in person at multiple locations around the constituency or remotely by post or by <a href="https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/elections-and-voting/recall-petition-wellingborough-constituency/signing-petition">appointing a proxy</a>. T</p>
<p>he process is effectively very similar to a general election except that rather than having just one polling day, recall petitions stay open for weeks. Bone’s constituents had between November 8 and December 19 to sign.</p>
<p>When a recall petition is triggered, organisations, such as political parties, can register as official campaigners either for or against a recall. As in election contests, there are spending limits and a need to provide an account of what was spent. In this case <a href="https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/elections-and-voting/recall-petition-wellingborough-constituency/petition-campaigners">only the Labour Party appears to have registered</a>.</p>
<p>If more than 10% of registered voters sign the recall petition, the MP loses their seat. Bone has been removed because that threshold has been reached among Wellingborough’s 78,000 registered voters. </p>
<h2>Another byelection headache for the Tories</h2>
<p>It is easy to see why some opposition parties might campaign for a recall. The seat could be winnable. It could be a chance to harry the incumbent party. It is all part of a build up to a future general election contest.</p>
<p>Of course, an MP can avoid a recall petition by simply resigning. Former prime minister Boris Johnson did precisely that in 2022 when <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40412/documents/197897/default/">facing a lengthy suspension</a> for misleading the house. His former colleague <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/07/chris-pincher-to-resign-as-mp-after-losing-appeal-against-suspension">Chris Pincher’s resignation</a> meant the same. In cases such as these, constituents get a byelection whether they wanted one or not.</p>
<p>Bone’s constituents have decided that they want to be the next to hold a byelection. The only thing that can stop them now is if the general election is imminent – and it only becomes imminent with a firm date. </p>
<p>Given the timing of the recall petition, it is almost certain that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives will have to endure another pre-general election vote triggered by the misconduct of one of his team. Even in a safe seat, that’s a fate they will have hoped to avoid.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula Keaveney is a member of the Liberal Democrats</span></em></p>Bone has become only the fourth MP to ever lose their seat via a recall petition.Paula Keaveney, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046662023-09-21T12:43:05Z2023-09-21T12:43:05ZEducators say student misconduct has increased − but progressive reforms or harsher punishments alone won’t fix the problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547844/original/file-20230912-17-y3ixy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only 13% of principals believe suspensions reduce misbehavior, according to a national survey.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/schoolboy-sitting-on-chair-in-corridor-side-view-royalty-free-image/200411974-001">Ableimages/DigitalVision Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2022-23 school year was a <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/">particularly violent year for educators</a>.</p>
<p>In Florida, a high school student <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/28/florida-high-school-nintendo-switch-attack/11363828002/">beat a paraprofessional unconscious</a>. A 15-year-old in Georgia <a href="https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/teen-girl-sentenced-one-year-behind-bars-brutal-attack-teacher">left her teacher with difficulty walking</a>. And a group of students in Texas <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/high-schoolers-allegedly-gang-assistant-principal-pummel-her-hard-rushed-hospital">sent their assistant principal to the hospital</a> after an assault.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.wptv.com/news/state/broward/14-year-old-student-accused-of-cutting-teacher-with-scissors-in-violent-attack-at-bright-horizons-center">headlines</a> suggest the 2023-24 school year may not be much different.</p>
<p>Such violence at school <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416653921">disrupts teaching and learning</a> and has elicited <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/28/23658974/school-discipline-violence-safety-state-law-suspensions-restorative-justice">calls to reform school discipline policies</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://education.ufl.edu/faculty/curran-f-chris/">policy researcher</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MTcxlxMAAAAJ&hl=en">studies school safety and discipline</a>, I have seen two camps form <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-biden-administrations-updated-school-discipline-guidelines-fail-to-meet-the-moment/">with polarized and politicized views on school discipline</a>. On the one side are those who seek more restorative responses to misconduct that emphasize building relationships with students and discipline policies that keep kids in school. On the other are calls for greater use of exclusionary and punitive practices like suspension. </p>
<p>In my view, making schools safe requires school leaders not to get caught up in this either/or debate. Instead, I believe it requires recognizing a shared goal of safe schools and the need for a comprehensive approach to achieving it.</p>
<h2>Behavior and the pandemic</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/7/6/23197094/student-fights-classroom-disruptions-suspensions-discipline-pandemic">Recent reports</a> suggest these high-profile incidents of violence in schools are part of a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp">general increase in student misconduct</a> over the past couple of years. This contrasts with a decline over the prior decades. </p>
<p>For example, the National Center for Education Statistics found that <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp">84% of public school leaders felt</a> the pandemic negatively affected student behavior. Another survey found <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/threats-of-student-violence-and-misbehavior-are-rising-many-school-leaders-report/2022/01">two out of three teachers and leaders perceived more student misbehavior</a> in 2021 than in 2019. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/when-students-feel-unsafe-absenteeism-grows">students who feel unsafe going to school have worse attendance rates</a> than those attending schools with less violence and misbehavior. They also score <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573514540415">lower on standardized tests</a>, particularly when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416653921">classroom instruction is disrupted</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, teachers who experience threats or physical violence from students <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1197327">are more likely to leave their positions</a>, according to a study I co-authored in 2017. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young person at rally holds sign that says 'End the school to prison and deportatation pipeline'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students in New York City attend a rally to end school discipline practices that they say disproportionately affect students of color.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-gather-for-a-rally-calling-on-the-passage-of-the-news-photo/1372383627">Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restorative justice experiences backlash</h2>
<p>Over the past couple of decades, <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/what-do-we-know-about-school-discipline-reform-suspensions-expulsions/">states and school districts nationwide</a> have adopted school discipline reforms that prioritize relationships between peers and with teachers, positive incentives for good behavior and prevention of misconduct.</p>
<p>These policies, often implemented as part of <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-heck-restorative-justice-heather-wolpert-gawron/">restorative justice initiatives</a>, focus on building community and a positive school climate instead of removing kids from school.</p>
<p>But as school violence persists, these restorative justice reforms are being called into question.</p>
<p>In Nevada, teachers union representatives from the Clark County Education Association <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/finger-pointing-over-school-violence-targets-restorative-justice-law">sought to revise laws</a> to immediately remove students for violence against school staff. The state legislature there <a href="https://lasvegassun.com/news/2023/jun/25/legislative-changes-in-nevada-education-include-ne/">passed legislation</a> scaling back restorative justice and making it easier to suspend students. In San Diego, the <a href="https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/san-diego-unified-looking-into-districts-discipline-policy/509-ec0b95c6-1290-4c3b-937d-938d1a42d4eb">superintendent promised</a> to revisit restorative discipline policies after parent complaints about student safety. Policy advocates have claimed discipline reform has <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/school-safety-commisson-report-discipline-policy">contributed to school shootings</a>.</p>
<p>While restorative practices and other positive interventions <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/96">can improve student outcomes</a>, prior research has found many of these less punitive disciplinary reforms to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2018.1435052">poorly implemented</a> or <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2840.html">less effective than hoped</a>. </p>
<p>In some cases, this has meant <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2019/09/12/opinion-your-schools-leaders-putting-your-children-greater-risk/2267284001/">students have been allowed to stay in school</a> despite posing a threat to the safety of others. </p>
<h2>Suspensions and expulsions aren’t the solution</h2>
<p>The limitations of restorative practices have resulted in calls for a return to greater use of suspensions and other punitive discipline. In one of the most high-profile displays, a Florida sheriff <a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/education/brevard-county-school-discipline-reportedly-out-of-control-officials-say-staff-under-attack/">announced in front of a jail</a> plans for a return to more punitive discipline, suggesting a need for more use of detentions and suspensions. He lamented that students were no longer afraid of suspensions or having “the cheeks of their a– torn off for not doing right in class.” </p>
<p>In some cases, removing students who are disruptive to the classroom has <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/edfp/article/16/3/443/97124/Peer-Disruption-and-Learning-Links-between">had positive effects on other students’ achievement</a>. But exclusionary school discipline like suspension and expulsion can have their own <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318791582">unintended consequences</a> on students. For example, suspensions are <a href="https://edsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Noltemeyer_Ward_2015_Meta-Analysis.pdf">related to lower academic test scores for those suspended</a> as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01459-3">increased delinquency</a>, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2016.1168475">criminal activity and arrest</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, schools suspend a disproportionately high number of kids <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51257-4_2">who aren’t white – particularly Black students</a>. In addition, males and students with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51257-4_2">more likely to be suspended</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, there is little evidence that suspensions and expulsions improve behavior. In fact, a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2023/02/23/survey-what-purpose-do-suspensions-serve-principals-dont-seem-quite-sure/">recent national survey</a> found that only 13% of principals agreed that suspensions reduce future misbehavior.</p>
<h2>A path forward</h2>
<p>Proponents of progressive discipline reform and those advocating for “get-tough,” exclusionary policies share a desire for safe schools. The sheriff speaking in front of the jail as well as his critics both want to prevent kids from ending up incarcerated. </p>
<p>How do policymakers and educators see past these divides to achieve safer schools?</p>
<p>First, it may help to acknowledge that <a href="https://www.law.umaryland.edu/media/SOL/pdfs/Programs/ADR/Handout2-9-25-17.pdf">effective school discipline policies</a> can include both restorative and exclusionary practices. It is true that there is a need to reduce the disproportionate use of suspension for minor offenses. But it is also true that students who pose an immediate danger to others may need to be temporarily removed to settings where they can receive additional support.</p>
<p>Next, schools can focus on strengthening their school climate through excellent instruction and <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/preventing-suspensions-tackle-discipline-problems-with-empathy-first/">positive relationships between students and teachers</a>. Welcoming schools where students are engaged in learning <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X17690499">may preempt many behavioral situations</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, policymakers can recognize that school safety is affected by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558499143003">experiences of students outside of school</a>. Addressing the trauma, violence and social disruptions experienced in homes and neighborhoods through broader public policy holds potential to improve safety inside schools. </p>
<p>All of this takes resources and support for schools, educators and students. I believe these are resources well spent, though, to achieve the shared goal of school safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>F. Chris Curran receives funding from the National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance to conduct research on school safety.</span></em></p>Debates about school discipline have become polarized between proponents of restorative justice and those who believe a get-tough approach is required.F. Chris Curran, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1988692023-02-14T20:15:28Z2023-02-14T20:15:28ZAbuse in Canadian sports highlights gender and racial inequities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509262/original/file-20230209-20-2yzmak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C37%2C2492%2C1624&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite calls for action, the Canadian government has been slow to address allegations of sexual abuse in sporting bodies. </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/abuse-in-canadian-sports-highlights-gender-and-racial-inequities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Sport in Canada is at a crossroads. The ongoing scandal with <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9222057/hockey-canada-sex-abuse-scandals-poll/">Hockey Canada</a> highlights the need to take broader societal action to create a safer sport culture. The crisis in sport is rooted in issues of power and control that remain unchecked. There is also a lack of awareness at the least, and neglect or complicity at the worst.</p>
<p>In 2022, it came to light that Hockey Canada <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article/report-hockey-canada-had-second-fund-for-handling-sexual-assault-claims/">used internal funds</a> to settle sexual assault allegations. <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/juniors/article/court-filling-provides-more-details-in-alleged-hockey-canada-sexual-assault/">Criticism</a> of how Hockey Canada handled allegations of abuse have prompted an overhaul of the governing body’s leadership, and highlighted the sport system’s failure to foster a safe culture.</p>
<p>This situation demonstrated some of the most insidious aspects of abuse in sport. But Hockey Canada is not alone in the reckoning about ongoing abuse cultures in sport. </p>
<p>Across <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/shattered-trust-canada-safe-sport-funding-crisis-1.6716783">Canadian sport</a> there are more stories surfacing about abuse and maltreatment. In the past few months alone, hundreds of athletes have come forward to publicly report issues of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, including more than <a href="https://www.globalathlete.org/our-word/500-canadian-gymnasts-concerns-about-a-toxic-abusive-sport-culture-continue-to-be-ignored">500 current and retired gymnasts</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Hockey Canada logo is shown on the jersey of a player carrying a hockey stick." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509529/original/file-20230210-409-t5ggs0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2022, allegations of sexual misconduct and misuse of funds led to the resignation of Hockey Canada’s board.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abuse-is-widely-accepted-as-part-of-organized-sports-culture-but-it-should-not-be-tolerated-194164">Abuse is widely accepted as part of organized sports culture but it should not be tolerated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet the government refuses to launch a national inquiry. Rather, it has referred the issue to Parliament’s <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/FEWO">Status of Women Committee</a>. The implication is that abuse and maltreatment are only a women’s issue. </p>
<p>There have been calls for an independent inquiry into safe sport from <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/scholars-against-abuse-jan23-1.6722975">scholars</a>, <a href="https://www.therecord.com/ts/news/canada/2022/11/21/gymnastics-is-rotting-former-canadian-athletes-call-for-nationwide-inquiry-into-abuse.html">athletes</a>, the
former Canadian Federal <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2165828675504">Sport Minister</a> and the <a href="https://www.cces.ca/news/cces-board-directors-calls-public-inquiry-toxic-sport-culture">Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES)</a>. </p>
<p>A large majority of the cases of abuse and maltreatment are coming from the stories of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211045096">young women</a>, yet the government appears to be ignoring those testimonials.</p>
<p>If we compare this situation to past events in Canada, we see some glaring differences deeply rooted in the gender and racial inequalities in this country. </p>
<h2>The Dubin Inquiry</h2>
<p><a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-56-1990-1-eng.pdf">The 1989 Dubin Inquiry</a> involved a Canadian government investigation into the use of performance enhancing drugs and banned practices. It was launched after Canadian sprinter <a href="https://olympic.ca/team-canada/ben-johnson/">Ben Johnson</a>, who had won the 100m sprint final at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, was disqualified for failing a drug test. </p>
<p>The Dubin Inquiry changed the landscape of drug testing in Canada and led to the development of CCES. The events that led to the Dubin Inquiry involved far fewer athletes in comparison to the current scandals. Yet, they prompted a Royal Commission of Inquiry.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man on a running track wearing a red vest and shorts raises his arm." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508744/original/file-20230207-27-ev9vrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Johnson subsequently tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol and was stripped of his gold medal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is notable is the individual athlete at the heart of the inquiry. The international and national shame from the actions of one Black man prompted the federal government to launch a national inquiry. By all accounts, Johnson was villainized for his doping, actions that were rampant on the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/sport/olympics-2012-ben-johnson-seoul-1988-dirtiest-race/index.html">international athletics</a> scene at the time.</p>
<p>When Johnson was winning, he was hailed as a great Canadian gold medalist, but when he was disgraced by doping, <a href="https://torontoist.com/2012/08/historicist-fastest-man-alive/">he was stripped of his Canadian identity</a>.</p>
<p>Some felt that Johnson (and many other athletes) were used as <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/09/25/ben-johnson-was-fast-justice-was-faster.html">pawns by the major players</a>, including the federal government. Someone needed to take the blame for the “<a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/10/03/Sports-faces-worldwide-moral-crisis/3204623390400/">moral crisis in sport</a>,” and no one was better placed to do so than an athlete.</p>
<h2>Today’s moral crisis in sport</h2>
<p>In Canadian sport’s current moral crisis, the majority of the victims are young women who have suffered in silence for years. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.657624">Abuse in sport</a> can be perpetrated at all levels against anyone of any age. However, research has demonstrated that it is more prevalent for <a href="https://www.humanium.org/en/exploitation-of-children-in-sport-a-widespread-and-unchecked-problem/">young women</a> with male coaches in positions of power. </p>
<p>Coaching remains dominated by men. The Coaching Association of Canada reported that only <a href="https://womenandsport.ca/resources/tools/gender-equity-in-coaching/">34 per cent of coaches are women while 66 per cent are men</a>. This means that most young girls are coached by men in positions of power. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.globalathlete.org/">Global Athlete</a>, an organization that campaigns for athletes’ rights, has been helping to mobilize thousands of athletes across 15 sports to call on the Canadian government to address the crisis of abuse.</p>
<p>Government actions to date have been to launch the House of Common’s Standing Committee on the Status of Women study into physical and emotional abuse in sport, and to create <a href="https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/">Canada’s first Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC)</a>. </p>
<p>Both approaches are a far cry from an independent inquiry. Essentially, the government is investigating itself and allowing sport organizations to be self-regulating — clearly an approach that has not been working.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing a suit speaking into microphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508716/original/file-20230207-29-himdd7.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There have been calls for Gymnastics Canada CEO Ian Moss to resign following the organization’s handling of misconduct allegations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Spowart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gymnastics Canada</h2>
<p>In January 2023, MPs questioned <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gymnastics-canada-resignation-moss-1.6731050">Gymnastics Canada CEO, Ian Moss</a>, about the organizations handling of athlete complaints against a high level male coach. Moss’s responses to their failure to investigate highlight the organizations inability to self-regulate and unwillingness to be accountable for the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur-sports-coaches-sexual-offences-minors-1.5006609">history of abuse in their sport</a>. </p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.mclarenglobalsportsolutions.com/pdf/Gymnastics-Report-Jan-22-2023.pdf">McLaren report</a> was an attempt by Gymnastics Canada to understand the situation in the sport. The report offers detailed accounts of abuse and maltreatment from those who remain in the gymnastics community. But it failed to engage survivors forced out of the system and missed the mark on a trauma-informed approach. </p>
<p>It’s yet another example of failing to engage in a proper athlete-centred, survivor-informed, independent inquiry that would hold the organization accountable for its culture of abuse. </p>
<p>While some have argued that a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-instead-of-another-judicial-inquiry-we-should-use-restorative-justice/">restorative justice</a> approach is needed for culture change, such an approach will not hold organizations and individuals accountable for their role in silencing victims and failing to protect young athletes. </p>
<p>Initiating a national inquiry will send a message to every child, youth and elite athlete — particularly young women — that they are worthy of protection. Prevention is imperative and athletes must no longer be forced into silence. The outcome of a national inquiry could set a benchmark for the rest of the world, just as the Dubin Inquiry did with doping.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Misener receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Schneider 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 lack of government action in response to allegations of sexual abuse in Canadian sport contrasts with the response to previous scandals and highlights the racial and gender inequalities at play.Laura Misener, Professor & Director, School of Kinesiology, Western UniversityAngela Schneider, Director, The International Centre for Olympic Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1919722022-10-06T12:17:06Z2022-10-06T12:17:06ZAbuse in women’s professional soccer was an ‘open secret’ – the ‘bystander effect’ and structural barriers prevented more players from speaking out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488302/original/file-20221005-26-e96y9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4727%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fans of the Portland Thorns hold protest signs during a game in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NWSLInvestigationSoccer/58c8718fb762417fbaa3c206e66073ac/photo?Query=women%27s%20soccer%20report&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=43&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Steve Dipaola</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/sports/soccer/soccer-abuse-power.html">An investigation has found</a> that widespread abuse of players in U.S. women’s professional soccer existed despite some of the behavior of coaches being “an open secret.”</p>
<p>Based on more than 200 interviews, <a href="https://www.kslaw.com/attachments/000/009/931/original/King___Spalding_-_Full_Report_to_USSF.pdf?1664809048">the report</a> – led by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates – highlighted systemic verbal and emotional abuse against players, and sexual misconduct by coaches.</p>
<p>The allegations open a number of important questions regarding how such behavior was allowed to continue in a post-#MeToo society and after high-profile instances of abuse in other U.S. sports, notably <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/13/1063798289/nassar-abuse-survivors-settlement-gymnastics-olympics">women’s gymnastics</a>.</p>
<p>However, as <a href="https://www.clemson.edu/cbshs/about/profiles/index.html?userid=hkettre">social scientists who</a> <a href="https://www.sjsu.edu/people/robert.marx/">study sexuality and violence</a>, we have another question: What are the barriers preventing people from reporting instances of abuse? </p>
<h2>The role of bystanders</h2>
<p>The report into women’s soccer notes that although certain players did “doggedly” report misconduct, others were hesitant to come forward. Many players <a href="https://www.kslaw.com/attachments/000/009/931/original/King___Spalding_-_Full_Report_to_USSF.pdf?1664809048">mentioned structural barriers</a> to reporting. For example, some said that even if they had wanted to report misconduct, “they did not know how or where to make their report.” Others thought it was “futile” to report misconduct, given the failure by teams and the league to address the issue. These statements indicate serious structural issues within women’s soccer that need to be addressed by those in power.</p>
<p>Still, some players did not feel a sense of responsibility for taking action. These players said <a href="https://www.kslaw.com/attachments/000/009/931/original/King___Spalding_-_Full_Report_to_USSF.pdf?1664809048">they thought it was</a> “not their story to tell” or they did not want to act on “rumors.”</p>
<p>This reflects what the research tells us about a phenomenon known as the “bystander effect.”</p>
<p>Over 50 years of research has documented a <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2011-08829-001">bystander effect</a> in which witnesses fail to intervene, often because they assume someone else will take action. Research applying the bystander effect specifically to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9581-5">sexual assault</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518777555">and misconduct</a> has revealed that witnesses fail to intervene for a number of common reasons: they do not notice the misconduct; do not believe it is their responsibility to intervene; do not believe they have the skills to intervene; or are inhibited by the belief that those around them will negatively judge them for intervening. </p>
<p>Witnesses to sexual misconduct often fail to intervene for one or more of those reasons. </p>
<p>The report on women’s soccer found that <a href="https://www.kslaw.com/attachments/000/009/931/original/King___Spalding_-_Full_Report_to_USSF.pdf?1664809048">players</a> often didn’t think it was their responsibility to report, or they feared retaliation if they did – often through unfavorable trades to other teams. </p>
<p>What is clear from the report is that some sort of “bystander training” is needed in women’s soccer to help stop further abuse. Such training has proved to be effective with other populations, such as college students.</p>
<p>Bystander training programs strive to sensitize people to the warning signs of sexual assault and misconduct – like a young man leading a young woman into an isolated place – and provide them with skills so that they will know how to intervene when necessary. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.10078">these programs</a> might teach participants to speak up when hearing sexist jokes or witnessing sexual harassment, walk a friend home when he or she has had too much to drink, start a conversation with a young woman who appears to be uncomfortable with her date, or call the police.</p>
<h2>Bystander training appears to help</h2>
<p>We were curious about the effects these bystander programs have on the behavior of witnesses to sexual misconduct. So in a 2018 study, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0927-1">we analyzed data</a> from over 6,000 college students across the United States and found that programs designed to prevent sexual assault by increasing onlookers’ interventions do have a meaningful effect on bystander behavior. Compared to peers who did not participate in a bystander program, college students who did participate reported a greater ability to intervene and greater intentions to intervene, should a situation require it.</p>
<p>Most important, those who participated in a bystander program reported actually engaging in more bystander intervention behaviors than those who did not participate in a program. On average, these participants reported two more instances of bystander intervention in the months following the bystander program than their peers who did not attend a bystander program. Simply put, bystander programs are successful at encouraging bystanders to intervene when witnessing sexual misconduct or its warning signs. </p>
<p>Although we looked specifically at college students, we believe the findings apply to other populations.</p>
<p>The report of widespread abuse in women’s soccer reminds us that sexual misconduct is common in society and that its prevention is a communal responsibility. </p>
<p>As researchers who study sexuality, violence and prosocial behavior, we believe that bystanders need to keep their eyes open and speak up on behalf of potential victims. Our research demonstrates that having been educated about bystander strategies leads to greater intervention. As a society, we should strive to become better bystanders by noticing warning signs, knowing strategies to intervene and remembering that we have a collective responsibility to prevent sexual misconduct and assault.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: Portions of this article originally appeared in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/bystander-effect-and-sexual-assault-what-the-research-says-104360">previous article published</a> on Oct. 5, 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191972/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Hensman Kettrey has received funding from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Marx 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>A new report has highlighted ‘systemic’ verbal, emotional and sexual abuse of women’s soccer players. Many feared retaliation if they spoke out, while others didn’t think it was their place.Heather Hensman Kettrey, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Clemson UniversityRobert Marx, Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Development, San José State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1808302022-04-07T10:00:36Z2022-04-07T10:00:36ZBritish voters want lying politicians to face consequences – new study<p>Does the British public care about the integrity and honesty of its politicians? The answer to this question may profoundly shape domestic politics in the weeks ahead. The Metropolitan police are in the process of issuing fines to government officials who broke lockdown restrictions in 2020 and 2021, and the prime minister may be one of the recipients of these fines. Civil servant Sue Gray, meanwhile, is preparing to release the full version of her report on the rule breaking. If she concludes that failures of leadership fed a culture of impunity at No 10, there are bound to be voices calling for Boris Johnson’s resignation.</p>
<p>Short of that is the matter of what consequences there should be for politicians who break rules or mislead parliament.</p>
<p>We at the UCL Constitution Unit are conducting a <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/deliberative-democracy/democracy-uk-after-brexit/what-kind-democracy-do-people-want">major research project</a> examining public attitudes to democracy in the UK – including on the ethical standards of those in public life. Our latest release is a report from the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/deliberative-democracy/democracy-uk-after-brexit/citizens-assembly-democracy-uk">Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK</a> – a body of 67 people, recruited to represent the UK voting-age population, who came together over six weekends late in 2021 to discuss, learn, reflect, deliberate, and agree on recommendations for how their democracy should work.</p>
<p>The message from the members of the assembly could barely be clearer. A huge 98% backed the recommendation: “Lying or intentionally misleading parliament should be able to be identified as ‘contempt of parliament’. As well as being made to give a public apology, MPs who break this rule should be fined or otherwise punished.”</p>
<p>And 98% of members also agreed that the codes of conduct for MPs, peers and ministers should be strengthened. On bullying and harassment, 93% said that “MPs should be subject to the same sanctions as other employees regarding the treatment of staff”.</p>
<p>These were among 51 recommendations that assembly members agreed, on topics including the balance of power between government and parliament, the roles of referendums and petitions, and the powers of the courts. Many of these recommendations also directly bear on current debates.</p>
<h2>More power to parliament and protecting courts</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2859">new law</a> returns to the prime minister the power to dissolve parliament to hold an election without having to ask parliament to agree in a vote. But 78% of assembly members said: “The Prime Minister should only be able to call an early general election if it is supported by a vote in the House of Commons.”</p>
<p>Indeed, members felt that the relationship between government and parliament overall needs to be rebalanced. While 92% agreed that government should not be unduly delayed in implementing its manifesto commitments, 92% also said: “We believe that parliament needs to be able to play a stronger role in scrutinising the actions of government.” They recommended greater powers for MPs to decide parliament’s agenda and when recesses are called.</p>
<p>Ministers have long been frustrated by adverse court rulings and are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/human-rights-act-reform-a-modern-bill-of-rights">consulting</a> on possible changes to the Human Rights Act that would clip judges’ wings. The Brexit process famously saw judges branded <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3903436/Enemies-people-Fury-touch-judges-defied-17-4m-Brexit-voters-trigger-constitutional-crisis.html">“enemies of the people”</a>, and the public are often assumed to disdain court power.</p>
<p>It turns out, however, that people’s distrust of politicians trumps any such concerns. The assembly, in fact, advocated stronger judicial powers, with 86% of members agreeing that “courts should be able to overturn laws that are judged as violating legally recognised human rights. Otherwise they should not have the power to override the sovereignty of parliament”. Large majorities also said that judges’ existing powers should not be eroded.</p>
<p>There are widespread concerns that the <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2839">Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill</a> infringes rights to protest. But 96% of members said: “To allow for effective public participation in political debate and scrutiny, freedom of speech and the right to protest need to be protected.”</p>
<p>That was one manifestation of a desire to strengthen the public’s voice. Members wanted better education and information about politics and called on politicians to be more visible in their communities. They said that petitions should carry more weight. They supported referendums, but said they “should be restricted to when there are clearly defined, but contentious, choices where the consequences of the decision can be accurately set out in advance”. They also backed wider use of citizens’ assemblies in a range of contexts.</p>
<h2>The citizens’ assembly model</h2>
<p>There may be doubts over whether the conclusions of a citizens’ assembly really reflect wider public opinion. A membership of 67 may appear small. We might worry that, over six weekends, members would develop their own groupthink – or be led to particular conclusions by organisers.</p>
<p>But we know that is not the case here, because, ahead of the assembly, we also conducted a major survey of public opinion, with a UK-wide sample of over 6,000 respondents. The results were <a href="https://theconversation.com/voters-value-honesty-in-their-politicians-above-all-else-new-study-175589">remarkably similar</a> to the assembly’s conclusions. There, too, we found overwhelming concern about integrity in public life and a desire to avoid undue concentration of power.</p>
<p>In short, the public does care about integrity. And their scepticism about politicians means they want ministers to be kept in constant check by parliament, courts and the public at large.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Renwick receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>A citizens’ assembly calls for stronger sanctions for rule breaking MPs.Alan Renwick, Professor of Democratic Politics, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1689322021-10-01T05:22:25Z2021-10-01T05:22:25ZAs a NSW premier falls and SA guts its anti-corruption commission, what are the lessons for integrity bodies in Australia?<p>Are anti-corruption commissions, and their role, set to come under new attack in Australia?</p>
<p>Today, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned after the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) announced an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-01/icac-investigating-gladys-berejiklian-daryl-maguire/100506956">official investigation</a> into alleged conflicts of interest. This is sure to reignite debate over the scope and powers of such bodies around the country.</p>
<p>The NSW ICAC is celebrated for exposing corruption across politics, including the now-convicted former Labor ministers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/19/former-nsw-labor-ministers-eddie-obeid-and-ian-macdonald-found-guilty-of-corruption-charges">Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald</a>. But as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/history-repeats-how-ofarrell-and-greiner-fell-foul-of-icac-25701">third Liberal premier</a> to resign as a result of ICAC scrutiny since 1992, Berejiklian’s demise is almost certain to provoke a backlash.</p>
<p>The news followed the South Australia parliament passing sweeping <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/B/CURRENT/INDEPENDENT%2520COMMISSIONER%2520AGAINST%2520CORRUPTION%2520(CPIPC%2520RECOMMENDATIONS)%2520AMENDMENT%2520BILL%25202021_HON%2520FRANK%2520PANGALLO%2520MLC/C_AS%2520PASSED%2520LC/INDEPENDENT%2520RECOMMENDATIONS%2520AMENDMENT%2520BILL%25202021.UN.PDF">amendments</a> to its own Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) last week, narrowing the scope of its operations and reducing its transparency. </p>
<p>Both events bring sharp focus to the right balance of powers for all such bodies, especially the long-awaited <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-proposed-commonwealth-integrity-commission-and-how-would-it-work-140734">federal integrity commission</a>, still in the works over two years after being promised by the Morrison government. </p>
<p>However, South Australia’s reforms in particular point to why a political backlash against these important agencies would be extremely unwise.</p>
<h2>What did South Australia do?</h2>
<p>Far from inspiring public confidence, the South Australian reforms have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/sa-icac-bill-passing-fuels-debate/100489280">sparked considerable controversy</a>. The changes strip the ICAC of its original powers to investigate not just corruption, but also misconduct and maladministration.</p>
<p>Commissioner Ann Vanstone <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/sa-icac-bill-passes-parliament/100487668">has said</a> the amendments “decimated” her powers to investigate corruption. A further suite of changes jeopardises her ability to even <a href="https://www.icac.sa.gov.au/public-statement/investigation-update/ICAC-Public-Statement-29-September-2021.pdf">report publicly</a> on the progress or outcome of investigations. </p>
<p><a href="https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2021/09/30/exactly-how-sas-politicians-have-protected-themselves-from-icac/">Some have said</a> the changes are largely an exercise in self-protection by the state’s parliamentarians. The lightning speed with which SA’s parliament passed the laws only reinforces the public suspicion.</p>
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<p>It is more worrisome than what happened in NSW in 2016, when the parliament <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-23/icac-commissioner-megan-latham-resigns/8050004">restructured</a> that state’s ICAC to add more commissioners and a full-time CEO, seriously altering Commissioner Megan Latham’s role. Latham resigned, returning to her seat on the NSW Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Some elements of South Australia’s reforms make arguable sense, such as giving the primary power over investigating maladministration back to the ombudsman. This role should never have been confusingly duplicated in the ICAC in the first place.</p>
<p>The challenge, however, is whether the ombudsman is up for the type of rigorous inquiries into government failures the ICAC excelled at. This includes being willing to sheet responsibility home to ministers and governments where necessary, not simply examine bureaucratic performance.</p>
<p>Former ICAC Commissioner Bruce Lander’s inquiries into <a href="https://www.icac.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/370724/ICAC_Report_Sale_Gillman.pdf">dealings for the sale of government-owned land</a> and <a href="https://www.icac.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/370727/ICAC_Report_Oakden.pdf">major problems in state-run aged care</a> set a new standard of transparency and public accountability for the state. </p>
<p>But a far bigger problem is shifting the power to examine official misconduct to the ombudsman, which is a poor fit for that office. It also strips the ICAC of a large part of its proper function.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sports-rorts-affair-shows-the-need-for-a-proper-federal-icac-with-teeth-122800">The 'sports rorts' affair shows the need for a proper federal ICAC – with teeth</a>
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<h2>A flawed fix to a flawed body</h2>
<p>Many defects in the original SA model have been amplified by the reforms, sounding warnings for other states and the proposed national body. </p>
<p>Limiting the ICAC purely to investigating criminal corruption leaves it unable to lift the lid on many forms of non-criminal misconduct. This includes conflicts of interest, which are the slippery slope to more serious corruption taking hold.</p>
<p>With inquiries into <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-29/icac-refers-mps-to-dpp/100500392">allegations of serious parliamentary misconduct</a> still outstanding, and a recent rise in <a href="https://www.icac.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/362926/ICAC_OPI_Annual_Report_2019-2020.pdf">reported police complaints</a> in the state, the ICAC’s ability to ensure misconduct does not grow into systemic corruption has become crucial.</p>
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<p>The best state models allow their anti-corruption bodies to examine allegations of serious or high-risk misconduct, alongside provable criminal offences - as in NSW. This power is key to actively preventing corruption in the first place. </p>
<p>Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission is another example of a state model that works this way. And even though Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission focuses on criminal acts, it has the benefit of a broad, common law “misconduct in public office” offence at its disposal.</p>
<p>The SA ICAC has also been the most secretive in the country. This is because it was modelled on federal crime commission legislation, not other states’ ICAC models. As such, it was never able to hold any public hearings. The recent amendments only make this secrecy worse.</p>
<p>As the recent Transparency International/Griffith University report on <a href="https://transparency.org.au/a-strong-federal-integrity-commission/">Australia’s national integrity system</a> shows, safeguards are always needed, and there is always a balance to be struck in determining when anti-corruption bodies should use their public hearing powers — similar to royal commissions or coronial inquiries.</p>
<p>But there is no question, such powers are needed. And South Australia has none.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brand-gladys-how-icac-revelations-hurt-berejiklians-school-captain-image-147986">Brand Gladys: how ICAC revelations hurt Berejiklian's 'school captain' image</a>
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<h2>Lessons for the rest of Australia</h2>
<p>South Australia has given a big signal to other Australian jurisdictions on what <em>not</em> to do, especially for the proposed federal integrity commission. Even at times of crisis and political pressure.</p>
<p>Recent proposals for the federal body have raised <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/commonwealth-integrity-commission-has-serious-deficiencies-judges-police-and-lawyers-20210525-p57uvw.html">similar concerns</a> about too little transparency and too narrow a focus on the rare and high threshold of criminal offences, at the expense of “grey area” misconduct.</p>
<p>In the real world, there are no bright lines between criminal corruption and serious misconduct.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-government-drags-its-heels-a-better-model-for-a-federal-integrity-commission-has-emerged-148796">As the government drags its heels, a better model for a federal integrity commission has emerged</a>
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<p>The federal purchase of land at Leppington for the Western Sydney airport has raised questions of both. While the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/29/no-evidence-of-criminal-conduct-in-30m-purchase-of-land-near-western-sydney-airport-afp-finds">Australian Federal Police</a> has found no provable criminality in this controversial deal, the lack of an independent body to fully investigate and prevent recurrence of the non-criminal failures involved leaves ongoing, wider risks of corruption unaddressed.</p>
<p>The SA experience is also a reminder that while anti-corruption agencies might be initially popular, they can quickly end up with few powerful friends or admirers.</p>
<p>The uncomfortable truth is politicians, like many others in public service, are prone to cognitive dissonance. They know public integrity is a desirable goal, but become acutely sensitive to their own vulnerabilities when anti-corruption bodies are implemented.</p>
<p>The lessons here are clear: a best-practice federal integrity commission should look nothing like the South Australian model, and not be set back by the latest developments in NSW. </p>
<p>There can be no public confidence in a body aimed at rooting out corruption if its work is done behind closed doors, and with one hand tied behind its back.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A J Brown has received funding from the Australian Research Council, all of Australia's Ombudsman offices, most of Australia's anti-corruption agencies, various other Commonwealth and State regulatory agencies and the Victorian Parliament for his past research on integrity systems relevant to this article. He is also a boardmember of Transparency International Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Goldsmith 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>South Australia has shown other Australian jurisdictions what not to do with their anti-corruption bodies, especially the proposed federal integrity commission.Andrew Goldsmith, Strategic Professor of Criminology, Flinders UniversityA J Brown, Professor of Public Policy & Law, Centre for Governance & Public Policy, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104412019-02-03T19:19:22Z2019-02-03T19:19:22ZWhy the federal government’s new integrity commission isn’t up to the job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256263/original/file-20190130-108370-jnix3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C997%2C663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Restricted powers and a small budget are major concerns with the proposed federal integrity commission.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1100506820?size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A federal integrity commission is an idea whose time has finally come. The Coalition <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/commonwealth-integrity-commission.aspx">announced</a> its proposal for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission in mid-December, joining <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2013/December/The_latest_proposal_for_a_national_integrity_commission">the Greens</a>, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/labor-leader-backs-creation-of-national-integrity-commission/news-story/0868ca6701a49577146feb6c8a8cc182">Labor</a> and <a href="http://www.cathymcgowan.com.au/cathy_to_introduce_national_integrity_commission_bill_2018">independents led by Cathy McGowan</a> in recognising the need for a body to investigate corruption by politicians and public servants. </p>
<p>But not all integrity commissions are equal. Unfortunately, the government’s <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/commonwealth-integrity-commission.aspx">initial proposal</a> is light on both powers and resources and is unlikely to weed out corruption and serious misconduct.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-proposed-national-integrity-commission-is-a-watered-down-version-of-a-federal-icac-108753">The proposed National Integrity Commission is a watered-down version of a federal ICAC</a>
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<h2>There are big gaps in its proposed powers</h2>
<p>At a minimum, the new commission should be able to investigate and resolve claims of corruption in the public sector. Yet the government’s proposal limits its scope and powers in three critical ways.</p>
<p><strong>1. It limits who can report corruption</strong></p>
<p>The government proposes the commission only investigate corruption in the public sector if the federal police or agency heads refer it. The proposal explicitly excludes investigation of public complaints. It also appears to exclude investigation of tips and information from lower-level public officials, journalists and whistleblowers. </p>
<p>Closing off the best source of information about corruption — those that have witnessed it directly or heard about it — would severely limit the commission’s effectiveness. Indeed, instead of ignoring public tips, the commission should be a gateway for them.</p>
<p><strong>2. It limits investigations to criminal offences</strong></p>
<p>The proposed commission will only investigate conduct likely to be a criminal offence. While criminal conduct should be the priority, the commission should also be able to investigate other forms of serious misconduct. For example, links between financial contributions and political favours should be explored even if an improper motive – required to meet the criminal threshold – isn’t likely to be established.</p>
<p><strong>3. Findings may remain secret</strong></p>
<p>The proposed commission “<a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Documents/commonwealth-integrity-commission/cic-consultation-paper.pdf">will not be able to make findings of corruption, criminal conduct or misconduct at large</a>”. Only the courts can make findings of criminal conduct. But the commission needs to be able to report to the public on the outcomes of its investigations. The government’s proposal makes no mention of the commission having any public presence.</p>
<p>The commission won’t allay public concern if it operates purely behind closed doors. It should be empowered to publish findings of fact in relation to its investigations and refer suspected criminal conduct to the <a href="https://www.cdpp.gov.au/">Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions</a>, or serious misconduct to the relevant agency. </p>
<p>Public findings from the commission are important to reassure the public that corruption and serious misconduct are being investigated. It also creates accountability for the agencies ultimately tasked with pursuing the conduct. It is equally important the commission makes public statements when it does <em>not</em> find facts to support an allegation, so that public officials don’t live under a cloud of suspicion. </p>
<h2>Funding too tight</h2>
<p>The government proposes a commission operating budget of about <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Documents/commonwealth-integrity-commission/cic-consultation-paper.pdf">A$30 million a year</a>. This is supposed to fund the new public sector integrity division as well as a division to investigate corruption in law enforcement agencies – a task currently undertaken by the <a href="https://www.aclei.gov.au/">Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity</a> (ACLEI), with a budget of about <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Documents/commonwealth-integrity-commission/cic-consultation-paper.pdf">$12 million a year</a>. </p>
<p>Assuming the law enforcement division requires only the existing ACLEI budget – optimistic given the raft of new agencies the government is asking it to cover – this would leave the public sector division with a budget of $18 million.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/parties-money-and-their-masters-who-do-office-holders-serve-24720">Parties, money and their masters: who do office holders serve?</a>
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<p>That’s far smaller than the annual budgets of the larger states’ integrity agencies: NSW <a href="https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/documents/about-the-icac/corporate-reporting/5325-icac-annual-report-2017-18-1/file">$24 million</a>, Western Australia <a href="https://www.ccc.wa.gov.au/annualreports">$30 million</a>, Victoria <a href="https://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/publications-and-resources/article/annual-report-2017-18">$40 million</a> and Queensland <a href="http://www.ccc.qld.gov.au/research-and-publications/publications/ccc/corporate/ccc-annual-report-2017-18">$57 million</a>.</p>
<p>A recent review estimated the cost of a well-functioning commonwealth integrity agency at <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/518249/Full-Report-National-Integrity-Options-August-2018.pdf">$47 million a year</a> (including a law enforcement division). </p>
<h2>Broader integrity reforms are also needed</h2>
<p>An integrity commission, even a powerful and properly resourced one, is not enough on its own to ensure well-resourced and well-connected groups don’t have too much sway over public policy. </p>
<p>Grattan Institute’s 2018 report <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/whos-in-the-room/">Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics</a> covered the vulnerabilities of Australian governments to this type of undue influence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/influence-in-australian-politics-needs-an-urgent-overhaul-heres-how-to-do-it-103535">Influence in Australian politics needs an urgent overhaul – here's how to do it</a>
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<p>A number of simple changes could reduce these risks, including capping political advertising expenditure during election campaigns, strengthening the disclosure regime for political donations and making lobbying more transparent by publishing ministerial diaries.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-the-federal-government-to-catch-up-on-political-donations-reform-100822">Time for the federal government to catch up on political donations reform</a>
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<p>Setting much clearer standards for politicians on potential conflicts of interest – particularly relating to corporate hospitality, gifts and secondary employment – would also be a useful complement to the integrity commission’s activities. </p>
<h2>Back to the drawing board</h2>
<p>The government should go back to the drawing board. A weak and poorly resourced integrity commission is only marginally better than no integrity commission. Fortunately, there is time for the government to fix the model before the proposal is put to parliament. And if the government is serious about lifting the standards in public office, it should reform political donations and lobbying rules at the same time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute's activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Wood 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>Corrupt politicians and public servants will be under the spotlight of the new federal corruption watchdog. But if its proposed powers are any clue, it will have neither bark nor bite. Here’s why.Kate Griffiths, Senior Associate, Grattan InstituteDanielle Wood, Program Director, Budget Policy and Institutional Reform, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/877162017-11-22T01:55:00Z2017-11-22T01:55:00ZCompanies need confidentiality clauses – but not to muzzle sexual abuse victims<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195709/original/file-20171121-6016-1jw9l6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actor Rose McGowan was recently offered $1 million to agree to keep her settlement with Weinstein secret. She declined. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Paul Sancya</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Harassment and abuse accusations against Harvey Weinstein and other prominent men, like <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/10/bill-oreilly-dropped-uta-32-million-settlement-reveal-1202193924/">Bill O'Reilly</a>, have revealed a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html?_r=0">trail of settlement agreements</a> in their wake, many of which contained language that prevented victims from speaking publicly.</p>
<p>These agreements have not been made public, although reporters have in some cases <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=564310240">described</a> their terms. Rose McGowan – who settled a claim against Weinstein in the 1990s without agreeing to confidentiality – recently refused an additional offer of US$1 million <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/us/rose-mcgowan-harvey-weinstein.html">in exchange</a> for secrecy.</p>
<p>States such as <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/bill_would_say_no_more_to_non-.html">Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-jersey-lawmakers-seek-to-ban-non-disclosure-agreements-for-sex-assault/">New Jersey</a> and <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s6382">New York</a> are working on legislation that would ban nondisclosure provisions in harassment settlements. </p>
<p>While nondisclosure agreements <a href="http://beta.latimes.com/business/la-fi-weinstein-nondisclosure-agreements-20171023-story.html">are currently getting a bad rap</a>, they can serve a legitimate business purpose. It’s a mistake to think of them as a monolith; they come in a variety of forms and serve different functions. Understanding them can help reveal when they’re used appropriately – and when their real purpose is to conceal and perpetuate misconduct. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195725/original/file-20171121-6055-1yqqte5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&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">They may seem scary, but confidentiality agreements aren’t meant to muzzle victims of sexual abuse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">nito/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Settlements vs. standard confidentiality</h2>
<p>When I worked as an employment lawyer, we dealt primarily with two different kinds of contracts containing nondisclosure provisions: <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1361470/000095012312013908/filename26.htm">standard confidentiality agreements</a> that most employees sign at the start of their employment and settlement agreements used to resolve a lawsuit or a threat of one.</p>
<p>Confidentiality agreements are very common. They serve primarily to protect a company’s business information. They might prohibit disclosing research and development, trade secrets or other nonpublic information about the company’s business. </p>
<p>Depending on how it is worded, a standard confidentiality agreement might not even cover an employee’s disclosure about harassment she experienced. And even if it did, other legal principles likely protect an employee’s right to speak out. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/title-vii/">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act</a> protects an employee’s right to “oppose” harassment and other forms of discrimination in the workplace, and there is <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8247805565388059338&q=crawford+v.+nashville&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">some</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=330550140674659906">case</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14894379875610053664">law</a> supporting the idea that public opposition to harassment such as writing letters or picketing are protected.</p>
<p>In addition, the National Labor Relations Act protects a worker’s right to engage in “concerted activity” – <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/protected-concerted-activity">“acting together to improve wages or working conditions”</a> – which <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/fact-sheets/nlrb-and-social-media">arguably includes</a> discussions on social media about a workplace rife with harassment.</p>
<p>In other words, an employee who suffers from harassment has many options for bringing attention to the problem. She is largely free to discuss it with co-workers, file a lawsuit or even discuss it publicly.</p>
<p>That’s where settlement agreements come in. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195722/original/file-20171121-6016-13de7l5.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">Well, almost no one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</span></span>
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<h2>Settlement agreements are different</h2>
<p>A harassment victim would typically enter into a settlement agreement after a lawyer threatens to bring a lawsuit or actually files a lawsuit on the victim’s behalf. Through the agreement, the victim waives the right to pursue the lawsuit, usually in exchange for money. For example, former Fox News host O'Reilly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bill-oreilly-settled-sixth-sexual-harassment-claim-for-32-million/2017/10/21/ff34b24c-b68c-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html">reportedly settled</a> a harassment claim for $32 million.</p>
<p>In settlement agreements, provisions intended to keep the terms secret or to prevent the victim from saying anything publicly about the harasser may be an important part of the deal.</p>
<p>Their purpose, however, is not always nefarious. Lawsuits are invasive, exhausting and expensive. Both victims and companies may have a legitimate interest in ending a protracted dispute. Secrecy-related provisions can serve to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11817421592110697495&q=Merrell+v.+Renier&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">keep the peace</a> once a settlement is finalized.</p>
<h2>Common contract terms</h2>
<p>Of course, these agreements are, by their nature, secret, which prevents those of us on the outside from knowing exactly how they were drafted. </p>
<p>However, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website offers a glimpse into standard contract language, through posted agreements between companies and executives. (Such agreements with executives are commonplace, even without threatened litigation or suspected wrongdoing.)</p>
<p>Some contract provisions attempt to ensure secrecy by <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/74303/000119312504036954/dex10u.htm">designating the contract terms</a> as confidential.</p>
<p>But that covers only the contract, not the underlying allegations themselves. To prevent public statements, employers use what is known as a “nondisparagement” clause. These come in different forms. <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1096560/000129707705000001/ex10_27.htm">Narrower provisions</a> prohibit only “defamation, libel or slander” – which would allow a victim to speak out, provided the statements are true.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/866054/000086605404000014/release.htm">A broader provision</a> might prohibit disparaging any employees or prohibit “any action which could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the personal or professional reputation of [the company] or any of its … employees.”</p>
<p>In some cases, a victim’s obligations extend beyond mere silence and force them to speak in support of the harasser. New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey described a provision in one of Weinstein’s agreements that required the victim to say <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=564310240">“positive things”</a> if the press ever inquired about Weinstein. Lauren O'Connor, an employee of Weinstein’s company, was <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=564310240">apparently required</a> to write a letter stating that she had a “good experience” at the company as part of her settlement.</p>
<h2>The bad ones settle early</h2>
<p>As the Weinstein example demonstrates, settlement agreements can be used to obscure wrongdoing and enable continued misconduct.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195730/original/file-20171121-6055-qran27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&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">Alleged abusers like Harvey Weinstein use settlement agreements to ensure no one ever knows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Germana/STAR MAX/IPx</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This can be especially true of lawsuits settled before a case is even filed, which can skew toward the more serious ones – and involve the most serious abusers. As <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/mnlr101&div=27&g_sent=1&casa_token=">law professor Jennifer Shinall observed</a>, “[E]mployers have a financial incentive to settle the most egregious discrimination claims before a lawsuit is filed” to avoid “high damages at trial and … negative publicity.”</p>
<p>Or, <a href="http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1450&context=cjlpp">in the words</a> of labor scholars Zev Eigen and David Sherwyn, “employers settle cases with bad facts at early stages,” meaning the worst cases will never see the light of day. </p>
<p>Particularly when a company decides to keep a documented harasser on the payroll, these provisions can provide cover for continued harassment. Later victims may never learn of the pattern of misconduct, or only after they have initiated their own lawsuit.</p>
<h2>Nondisparagement provisions: The real problem</h2>
<p>Thus far, most of the public debate around these contracts relate to the secrecy of settlements. But it is the broad nondisparagement clauses, and those requiring affirmative statements, that perform most of the work in concealing misconduct. </p>
<p>Proposed legislation should take this into account. The proposed New York law does so by invalidating agreements with the “<a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s6382">purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of … harassment</a>,” which would include a broad nondisparagement provision. </p>
<p>Legislators should also consider an exception for the legitimate use of such clauses, such as in settlement of previously filed lawsuits. Narrow nondisparagement clauses – which prohibit only defamation, slander or libel – are also defensible because they protect against false statements.</p>
<p>Likewise, courts should approach these provisions in a balanced way, as they do with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9875117510352576316">noncompete agreements</a>, and consider whether they are unreasonable, overly broad or supported by a legitimate business purpose.</p>
<p>Ultimately, employers would do well to reconsider why they demand broad nondisparagement provisions in the first place. Silencing the victim is a short-term fix. Their long-term interests may be better served by dealing with the harasser.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87716/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth C. Tippett 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>Nondisclosure agreements are getting a bad rap these days because they’ve been used to prevent victims of sexual harassment and abuse from speaking out. But not all are nefarious.Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/713022017-03-10T10:58:28Z2017-03-10T10:58:28ZIs it ever OK to have a sexual relationship with your doctor?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159319/original/image-20170303-29009-s5k20l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/530101327?src=8ApRBGenDF7o9XjAsffP0Q-1-64&size=medium_jpg">ARTFULLY PHOTOGRAPHER/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s not unusual to hear of doctors being struck off for making sexual advances to their patients, but it’s not that often you hear about patients making sexual advances to their doctor – <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19575072">yet it does happen</a>. And when it does, patients need to take some moral responsibility for their actions.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gmc-uk.org/">General Medical Council</a>, the organisation that regulates doctors in the UK, <a href="http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/30214.asp">makes it clear</a> that doctors “must not pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with a current patient”. Any doctor caught ignoring this rule is likely to face professional sanction – including being struck off. And it may not end there. The doctor could also be charged with a sexual offence or face a civil action for battery or harassment.</p>
<p>When patients sexually harass their doctors, they face the same legal liability as mentioned above. But in cases where sex is consensual and initiated by the patient did either party really do anything wrong? </p>
<p>In my view, they have both done something wrong. The relationship between doctors and patients is unequal in terms of power and trust. Even when sex is consensual and initiated by patients, doctors take advantage of the power entrusted in them by patients and society. This is especially the case where a <a href="http://66.199.228.237/boundary/boundary_violations_and_physician_impairment/physician_patient_contact_prevalence_problems.pdf">patient is vulnerable</a>, such as those where a patient is undergoing therapy. </p>
<p>A vulnerable patient may initiate sexual advances if they interpret their doctor’s professional caring as personal intimacy. (Disturbingly, a large number of cases <a href="http://bit.ly/2m3weuO">against psychiatrists</a> brought by their regulatory body in the UK are about sexual misconduct.) In fact, all patients may be vulnerable to some extent since, when we approach doctors, we do so because we are ill or have a concern about our health. This might mean that we should always <a href="http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/-(6f28687c-cf49-4f8c-ad6e-1756e4ad12fe).html">question a patient’s consent to sexual activity with their doctor</a>. </p>
<p>Whether or not the patient is always vulnerable <a href="http://bit.ly/2lDbPec">can be debated</a>. A patient who initiates sexual contact may not feel that the trust he or she places in a doctor has been breached if the doctor consents to the advance. But the doctor still breaches the trust that the public places in the medical profession to maintain purely professional relationships with patients. And the patient should share some moral responsibility for this. Moral responsibility does not just relate to the individual, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03605310590926830?src=recsys">it extends beyond them</a>. One patient’s sexual advances towards their doctor could have implications for other patients. He or she may now be treated differently from other patients by their doctor and their needs could be prioritised over others. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160191/original/image-20170309-21043-1swcyo3.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">Patients should be informed of what’s expected of them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/343216736?src=62PIQBgm2CbCwLQB7iTFsg-1-1&size=medium_jpg">SpeedKingz/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Patients need guidelines too</h2>
<p>Doctors should always maintain sexual boundaries with their patients and resist patient-initiated attempts to breach these boundaries. Yet patients are not commonly advised about appropriate sexual boundaries.</p>
<p>Guidance about the nature of their relationships with doctors should be given to patients in notices and information leaflets in GP practices, hospitals and clinics and online (such as NHS websites). All new patients could be provided with a document informing them about appropriate conduct so that there is no doubt. </p>
<p>Doctors have a professional and ethical duty to ensure that sexual boundary breaches between doctors and patients are avoided. We might view patients who have consensual sex with their doctors as less culpable than their doctors but, even if these breaches are initiated by the patient, it doesn’t make them OK. <a href="http://bit.ly/2lDbPec">With very few exceptions</a>, a zero-tolerance approach is essential to protect a relationship grounded in trust that is so fundamental to society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Ost has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for an earlier project, The Impact of the Criminal Process on Health Care Ethics and Practice: <a href="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/project/5E8CDCBF-89A5-4A14-89D3-19521837B3A7">http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/project/5E8CDCBF-89A5-4A14-89D3-19521837B3A7</a></span></em></p>Doctors can be struck off for having sexual contact with their patient, but where are the sanctions for patients?Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/731072017-02-17T07:20:24Z2017-02-17T07:20:24ZPolice and French youth: A long and brutal history<p>Parisians <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/parsi-protesters-pictures-clashing-police-riots-anal-rape-young-man-cell-truncheon-racial-tension-a7582911.html">took to the streets</a> in the city’s 18th arrondissement to protest the latest incident of police brutality in France. Protesters clashed with police, who used tear gas to repel the crowds.</p>
<p>This latest flare-up came after a week of simmering tensions in the suburbs over yet another violent interaction between the police and a young black man, known as “Theo L”, who was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/06/french-police-brutality-in-spotlight-again-after-officer-charged-with">allegedly beaten and raped</a> by a group of officers in suburban Aulnay-sous-Bois on February 3.</p>
<p>French President François Hollande visited Theo in hospital, and has <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170215-france-hollande-calls-justice-alleged-police-rape-case-riots-theo">promised that justice will be served</a>. The four officers involved have been suspended; one has been charged with rape, the other three with assault.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"829018076649811968"}"></div></p>
<p>The list of violent and sometimes fatal interactions between police forces and youth in France is long. </p>
<p>“<em>L’Affaire Theo</em>” comes after the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/21/violent-clashes-break-out-in-paris-suburbs-over-death-of-man-in-custody">death of Adama Traore</a> in July 2016. He was detained by the police in Beaumont-sur-Oise, north of Paris, after he resisted an ID check and died while in police custody. </p>
<p>An infection was initially blamed but later examinations indicated he <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2016/07/30/un-syndrome-asphyxique-pourrait-expliquer-la-mort-d-adama-traore_4976487_1653578.html">died of asphyxiation</a>. </p>
<p>Both incidents led to widespread protest. Most have been peaceful, but a number of cars were burned, recalling the riots that took place in 2005 after the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/31/french-electrocution-deaths-case-reopens">deaths of two young men</a> trying to escape the police in the suburbs of Paris. </p>
<h2>A familiar pattern</h2>
<p>The “Theo L.” case is only the latest in a long series of violent interactions between the police and minority youth. Whether the accusations are proven or not, publicised or not, for decades they have been part of the image of the low-income suburbs that French officials refer to as “sensitive”. </p>
<p>The media coverage is also something that stretches all the way back to the <a href="http://www.expressions-venissieux.fr/2011-07-07-1981-lete-chaud-des-minguettes-revele-la-problematique-banlieue-a-la-france/">“hot summer” of 1981</a> in the area of high-rises called Les Minguettes, south of Lyon.</p>
<p>The incidents follow a familiar pattern: they start with an incident involving police officers and youth. Tensions rise, demonstrations and protests take place, all with the expectation that a riot will soon break out. After the fact, the violence is blamed on the youth.</p>
<p>At best, such events are followed by small measures designed to show that the government has taken into account the excesses committed by certain officers, and commitments to improve oversight. At worst, as during <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/01/france.jonhenley">the 2005 riots</a>, the authorities’ unfailing support for the police marks the end of the episode. </p>
<p>Since 2002 there has been no substantive public-policy response that seeks to directly address the underlying causes of these longstanding tensions.</p>
<h2>Government in paralysis</h2>
<p>Nevertheless, there is no shortage of diagnoses: <a href="http://www.persee.fr/doc/pomap_0758-1726_2006_num_24_1_3201">studies</a>, <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/node/%2050020">NGO reports</a>, work by France’s <a href="https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/le-7-9/le-7-9-04-fevrier-2016">Defender of Rights</a>, and even an <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxj38a_assises-de-la-formation-de-la-police-nationale_news">officer-training conference organised by the national police</a> have clearly shown that the policies of repression and “zero tolerance” adopted during the previous decade are dead ends.</p>
<p>Up to now, relations with certain sectors of the population have been seen only through the prism of management and control. In the so-called “sensitive” districts, the police are <em>de facto</em> occupying forces, and even a “gang among other gangs” – an expression used by the police themselves – rather than responding to requests by the public for security.</p>
<p>In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, François Hollande spoke of putting youth, and in particular those in difficult areas, at the heart of public policy. He also proposed requiring that the police provide <a href="http://www.marianne.net/controles-au-facies-defenseur-droits-relance-idee-du-recepisse-100249899.html">written proof to all those from whom they demanded IDs</a>. </p>
<p>Yet little or nothing has been done to stop the vicious circle of pressure and retaliation that drags both young people and the police into a logic of permanent tensions and recurring confrontations. </p>
<p>The Socialist government – fearful of being labeled as lax by the right and extreme right – is totally paralysed, and has essentially taken up the traditional themes of authority and inflexibility. Like <a href="http://www.bastamag.net/Transports-publics-peine-de-prison-pour-le-seul-fait-de-signaler-la-presence-de">earlier governments</a>, it doesn’t hesitate to <a href="http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/propositions/pion3109.asp">conflate terrorist activity and everyday crime</a>.</p>
<h2>Masking structural weaknesses</h2>
<p>As a result, there is a tendency to forgive almost all police misconduct almost systematically and <em>a priori</em>, on the grounds that their profession is difficult. This is certainly true, but the continued use of force masks the structural weaknesses of governments struggling to find solutions other than the use of force to crises in sensitive neighbourhoods.</p>
<p>The tacit protection enjoyed by the police is offered in exchange for their mission to control public protests – as during last year’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/09/end-of-term-protests-threaten-francois-hollande-labour-legacy">labour-law unrest</a> – or when individuals are singled out as being a potential problem. </p>
<p>This serves the interests of the police hierarchy – as illustrated by the omnipresence of union representatives in the media and in ministerial cabinet – even as it puts officers on the ground in an untenable position. This inter-police conflict was at the heart of last fall’s protests by beat cops after <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2016/10/08/deux-policiers-blesses-par-des-cocktails-molotov-dans-leur-vehicule-a-viry-chatillon_5010515_3224.html">four officers were attacked on October 8</a>, and one seriously injured.</p>
<p>Inside French police stations the relative clemency enjoyed by officers isn’t enough for the most authoritative. At the same time, those who dreamt of another way of policing feel only regret, especially when they’re forced to remain silent so as not to break police solidarity.</p>
<p>Indeed, far from being a single, uniform whole, the French police are torn by <a href="http://www.liberation.fr/france/2016/10/18/manifestation-enquete-de-l-igpn-tensions-dans-la-police_1522777">internal dissent</a>. The blunders and excesses committed by some officers have an <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-geneses-2009-2-page-24.htm">immense impact</a> on the daily work of others, and puts pressure on them to enter into the logic of confrontation.</p>
<h2>Substantial changes for the police</h2>
<p>Will future governments continue to try to control low-income neighborhoods through the use of an occupying police force? </p>
<p>The fear of riots continues, but it is not enough to mobilise those who make public policy. Cynically, some may say that unrest will serve unify public support for the government. So far, rapid-response police units have managed to control minor incidents without hurting too many victims.</p>
<p>However, some elements could finally lead to the right questions being asked about policing and public security. </p>
<p>Increasingly, the young people who are victims of police “blunders” have no prior record. This was the case with Bouna Traoré and Zyed Benna, the two teenagers whose death in Clichy-sous-Bois sparked the conflagration of 2005. That is also true for Theo L. When the victims have no criminal records, it’s much more difficult for the police to justify their mistreatment.</p>
<p>The growing use of CCTV cameras and the widespread availability of video are another source of concern for police officers who want to abuse their powers – their actions <a href="http://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/police/les-controles-de-police-sous-videosurveillance_2057057.html">can now be recorded</a>. The images of the <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75019/video-un-crs-frappe-un-manifestant-devant-le-lycee-bergson-a-paris-24-03-2016-5657025.php">high-school student struck by a riot policeman</a> during the 2016 labour-law demonstrations, or those taken after Theo’s, arrest speak louder than even eyewitness accounts.</p>
<p>There are an increasing number of ways that the public can reach out to authorities able and willing to condemn police misconduct, circumventing the need to lodge a complaint at a police station, through the European Court of Human Rights, France’s <a href="http://www.defenseurdesdroits.fr/">Defender of Rights</a>, the use of civil courts, and the creation of organisations by youth who no longer accept how they are treated.</p>
<p>Both the police hierarchy and governments must take into account these changes, which will require a profound rethinking of how police forces operate. If ethics have not succeeded in reining in some officers who repeatedly resort to violence, perhaps the law will eventually succeed in doing so.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This piece is the first in an ongoing series on police brutality worldwide. It was translated from the French by Leighton Kille.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73107/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Mouhanna ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Governments’ continual use of security forces to ‘keep order’ in low-income and minority neighborhoods masks their inability find solutions other than force.Christian Mouhanna, Chercheur au CNRS, directeur du Cesdip, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) – Université Paris-Saclay Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/453352015-07-29T05:21:36Z2015-07-29T05:21:36ZDon’t expect the Lord Sewel story to prompt constitutional change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89977/original/image-20150728-7662-1k6zctw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We shall, we shall not be moved.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/18169974721/">UK Parliament</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A former politics lecturer is in <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6560352/Baron-John-Sewel-drug-binges-with-prostitutes.html">hot water</a> for being caught on film appearing to don an orange bra with a studded leather jacket, smoking a cigarette in his underwear, snorting white powder from a woman’s breasts and allegedly making rude comments about the prime minister.</p>
<p>John Buttifant Sewel has attracted so much attention because he was a member of the House of Lords – although he has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33685519">now resigned</a> – and because he seemed to brag about using public money to fund the above-described activities.</p>
<p>The scandal has once again stirred up a clamour for the House of Lords to be reformed. Sewel’s alleged behaviour has not raised any issue of great constitutional importance but reminds the public of its distaste for the unelected upper house.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the attention is unlikely to last long. And given how little appetite there is for change in the lower House of Commons, any meaningful change is unlikely too.</p>
<h2>A tenacious bunch</h2>
<p>The situation was very different in <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/house-lords-rejects-1909-people%E2%80%99s-budget">1909</a>, when the Conservative-dominated House of Lords blocked the Liberal government’s budget. This led to the 1911 Parliament Act, which curtailed the power of the House of Lords and prevented it obstructing money bills. </p>
<p>At this stage, a peer could only leave the house by dying or could be temporarily excluded through bankruptcy or imprisonment. An act of parliament could also be brought in specifically to remove an errant lord, as was the case in after World War I to a group of lords who had <a href="https://adriantinniswood.wordpress.com/tag/british-peerage/">supported the King’s enemies</a>. </p>
<p>There are now many more ways to leave the Lords. In 1963 the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/48/contents">Peerage Act</a> allowed hereditary peers to disclaim their peerages for their own lifetime, but to enable their sons to resume the title and membership of the House of Lords. The first person to take advantage of the reforms was Labour MP <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23447489">Tony Benn</a>, who had inherited a peerage on the death of his father, former Labour cabinet minister, the first Viscount Stansgate. </p>
<p>In 1999 Tony Blair’s government started a still unfinished reform process. Most of the hereditary peers left the Lords, although 42 places were reserved for those elected by their own party group.</p>
<p>When Robert Shirley, the 13th Earl Ferrers, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/nov/18/earl-ferrers">died in 2012</a>, the ensuing by-election, in which peers vote, attracted 27 Conservative candidates for his spot. Politicians are always arguing for more choice. They also tend to regard a high turnout at elections as a good thing and, by this measure, the 2003 Lords <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/lords/house-of-lords-information-office/hoflpressnotice301003/">by-election</a> following the death of Lord Milner was exemplary. All three eligible hereditary peers turned out to vote.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/24/contents/enacted">House of Lords Reform Act of 2014</a> allowed peers to retire or resign, as Sewel has now done in the face of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/27/sewels-punishment-in-lords-may-be-delayed-for-a-year">pressure from colleagues</a>. He took his time deciding though, and indeed there is still no compulsion to retire at any set age or length of service. Conservative life peer Peter Carrington, aged 96, is still a member of the House of Lords after 74 years’ service.</p>
<p>Had Sewel not resigned, the <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/houseoflordsexpulsionandsuspension.html">House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015</a> allowing peers to suspend or expel members could have been employed. But this process would take <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/28/sewel-scandal-lords-need-reform-but-who-will-take-it-on">considerable time</a>. </p>
<h2>Pigeon steps to reform</h2>
<p>Over the past century, the volume of House of Lords reforms has increased, but the impact of each successive piece of legislation has been diminishing. The fact that an alleged bra-wearing, powder-snorting incident involving one peer has triggered a new debate on further reforms suggests that the appetite for change is much greater than the level of agreement about what should be done.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/">expenses scandal</a> of 2009 demonstrated that public opinion can be raised to boiling point over parliamentary misbehaviour, but little distinction was made in the media between serious fraud and accidental claims for single portions of dog food. Duck islands, dog food, orange bras and trouser presses make for better headlines than big issues.</p>
<p>David Cameron has managed to play the situation to his advantage. Citing his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19149212">failure</a> to pass reforms of the Lords to create a mainly elected chamber during his coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, he has decided not to introduce any new legislation. He forgot, of course, to mention that the 2012 reforms failed when 91 of his own MPs voted against a three-line whip.</p>
<p>He instead plans to even up representation among the parties in the second chamber by creating <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/28/david-cameron-to-appoint-more-tory-peers-to-the-house-of-lords">new Conservative peers</a>. The Liberal Democrats currently have 101 peers but only eight MPs, while the Conservative Party, which has an overall majority in the Commons, has has fewer life peers than the Labour Party.</p>
<p>So far the Sewel affair has led to the prospect of a further bloating of the House of Lords. There will be a debate on its future but all the major political parties seem content to make sure it leads nowhere.</p>
<p>That means that, years down the line, when this scandal is remembered, it will not be for its role in prompting fundamental constitutional change but for the image of a man slumped in a chair wearing women’s underwear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alun Wyburn-Powell is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party, but not an office-holder, elected member or prospective candidate.</span></em></p>The Lords has a long history of scandal and this won’t be the last.Alun Wyburn-Powell, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Journalism, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/402992015-04-16T04:24:43Z2015-04-16T04:24:43ZAre corruption watchdogs out of control? Their records say no<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-court-forces-icac-to-drop-cunneen-inquiry-and-review-others-40171">High Court ruling</a> against the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s attempt to investigate a senior lawyer raises interesting questions about the powers and activities of anti-corruption agencies. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-15/margaret-cunneen-inquiry-icac-loses-high-court-bid/6393364">decision on Wednesday</a> focused on the definition of corruption within New South Wales’ <a href="http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/maintop/view/inforce/act+35+1988+cd+0+N">ICAC statute</a> and meant ICAC could not investigate the Crown prosecutor, Margaret Cunneen, whose alleged conduct may have perverted the course of justice.</p>
<p>Some may see the High Court ruling that ICAC exceeded its powers as evidence <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/craig-baumann-icac-a-star-chamber-lacking-procedural-fairness-20141118-11oy1i.html">for claims</a> that the anti-corruption agency is <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3014466/its-an-out-of-control-star-chamber/">out of control</a>.</p>
<p>But our research, a soon-to-be published review of integrity bodies around Australia, suggests otherwise: less than 1% of thousands of complaints to anti-corruption agencies in NSW and Western Australia went to formal investigation.</p>
<p>However, maladministration, misconduct and corruption often morph into each other. In practice, there are no clear boundaries. It is important to see the activities
for what they are and for the different kinds of harms they might do to the community. </p>
<h2>Why corruption demands unflinching action</h2>
<p>Corruption is a real and tangible problem. It destroys good government and undermines social and economic goals and aspirations. We have seen some admirable activities by our anti-corruption agencies in solid attempts to keep our politics and administration clean, transparent and built on integrity.</p>
<p>A politician or person in public service gets a salary. That should be the only reward for that public service. There should be no favours for a bit extra, no payments for decisions, no persuasions to do things in certain ways for extra rewards.</p>
<p>It should be fairly clear when officials do wrong things, when they fail to do something they should do, or when they do something permissible but purposely do it in an improper manner. This is the essence of corruption: breaching trust and improperly trading on that entrusted authority.</p>
<p>Among the public, there is a <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/2012-10-26_ANUpoll_ethics_corruption.pdf.pdf">widespread view</a> that corruption <a href="http://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/docs/default-source/research-documents/ibac-perceptions-corruption-report-v2-2013.pdf">is increasing</a> in Australia, and that many in politics are corrupt. </p>
<p>However, there is a great danger to our society if we label as corrupt those activities that involve normal decision-making and operational matters that might not be to the liking of ideological or partisan opponents, or perhaps demonstrate administrative incompetence.</p>
<h2>How many complaints do anti-corruption agencies pursue?</h2>
<p>In our research project we found that of all the things reported to the NSW ICAC (around 3000 cases), less than 1% went to full investigation. Three-quarters were closed without further action. </p>
<p>Similarly in Western Australia, less than 1% of 6000 cases went to full investigation, but most were referred for external investigation or for agency system-based evaluation.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78137/original/image-20150416-31694-6fcfrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=790&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">An official accepting money for favours is a clear-cut case, but corruption can be a more murky affair.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Maryna Pleshkun</span></span>
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<p>In the same project we tried to classify the complaints that came to the anti-corruption agencies. We found that overwhelmingly they were not about corruption, but about criminal activities such as misappropriation or assault, drug use in the workplace, poor work behaviour, such as harassment, unprofessional conduct, neglect of duty, or failure to act.</p>
<p>A large proportion of behaviour (in the order of 25% of cases) breached codes of conduct, demonstrated conflict of interest, poor control of information, petty misuse of power, or breach of confidentiality.</p>
<p>A recent case (and I stress that I do not know any more that what I read in the media) involved a chief executive of a major organisation who was referred to an anti-corruption agency. He was alleged to have misused his credit card and
some appointments may not have complied with all the processes required. </p>
<p>This person ran a billion-dollar enterprise; he needed to be nimble with strategic decisions and he rubbed his opponents up the wrong way. To use a corruption allegation to sort out these managerial issues seems not to be the right way to go. There are other managerial remedies.</p>
<p>The landscape of public-service delivery often does not distinguish among corruption, misconduct and maladministration. Where there is fraud and embezzlement, there is a clear criminal case to be made. Where there is laziness, poor service, or even bullying and harassment, management - not an anti-corruption agency - must deal with that.</p>
<p>The case on which the High Court ruled would seem, on the face of things, to involve allegations that would be a matter for the police.</p>
<h2>Transparency is vital in a murky area</h2>
<p>So somewhere in this murky field there is real corruption: tangible and egregious examples of manipulation for private benefit, of bribery, extortion, nepotism, conflict of interest, misuse of information, cronyism. We have seen these behaviours through the work of our anti-corruption agencies, and have seen
exposure, criminal prosecution and recommendations for better practice.</p>
<p>It is important to distinguish doing one’s job from manipulating the system. When an official is bought a cup of coffee or a modest lunch, that in itself is not corruption. It is corruption, however, when that exchange leads to a change of a decision or an outcome that is bought.</p>
<p>Guarding against allegations of corruption requires a high level of transparency. There should be no secrecy about things that might be perceived by others as benefits, but perceived by the official as the nuts and bolts of doing one’s job. </p>
<p>The High Court did not canvass these matters, but these are the sorts of issues that make up the nuts and bolts of corruption mitigation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Graycar led a research team at the ANU which received funding in 2013 from the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.</span></em></p>ICAC has claimed some high-profile scalps, prompting some claims that the watchdog is out of control. Yet our new research shows 99% of complaints don’t proceed to a formal investigation.Adam Graycar, Professor Social and Policy Studies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.