tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/sex-crime-37129/articlessex crime – The Conversation2021-04-28T05:44:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1598112021-04-28T05:44:30Z2021-04-28T05:44:30ZNSW Police want access to Tinder’s sexual assault data. Cybersafety experts explain why it’s a date with disaster<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397493/original/file-20210428-17-1rdeyi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=110%2C34%2C3771%2C2549&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dating apps have been under increased scrutiny for their role in facilitating harassment and abuse. </p>
<p>Last year an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-12/tinder-dating-app-helps-sexual-predators-hide-four-corners/12722732?nw=0">ABC investigation</a> into Tinder found most users who reported sexual assault offences didn’t receive a response from the platform. Since then, the app has reportedly implemented <a href="https://www.tinderpressroom.com/news?item=122491">new features</a> to mitigate abuse and help users feel safe. </p>
<p>In a recent development, New South Wales Police <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/tinder-announces-new-safety-measures-artificial-intelligence/13317896">announced</a> they are in conversation with Tinder’s parent company Match Group (which also owns OKCupid, Plenty of Fish and Hinge) regarding a proposal to gain access to a portal of sexual assaults reported on Tinder. The police also suggested using artificial intelligence (AI) to scan users’ conversations for “red flags”.</p>
<p>Tinder <a href="https://www.tinderpressroom.com/2021-02-25-The-Top-10-Safety-Focused-Features-on-Tinder">already uses automation</a> to monitor users’ instant messages to identify harassment and verify personal photographs. However, increasing surveillance and automated systems doesn’t necessarily make dating apps safer to use.</p>
<h2>User safety on dating apps</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/right-swipes-and-red-flags-how-young-people-negotiate-sex-and-safety-on-dating-apps-128390">Research</a> has shown people have differing understandings of “safety” on apps. While many users prefer not to negotiate sexual consent on apps, some do. This can involve disclosure of sexual health (including HIV status) and explicit discussions about sexual tastes and preferences. </p>
<p>If the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/26/grindr-fined-norway-sharing-personal-information">recent Grindr data breach</a> is anything to go by, there are serious privacy risks whenever users’ sensitive information is collated and archived. As such, some may actually feel less safe if they find out police could be monitoring their chats.</p>
<p>Adding to that, automated features in dating apps (which are supposed to enable identity verification and matching) can actually put certain groups at risk. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2020.1851610">Trans and non-binary users</a> may be misidentified by automated image and voice recognition systems which are trained to “see” or “hear” gender in binary terms. </p>
<p>Trans people may also be accused of deception if they don’t disclose their trans identity in their profile. And those who do disclose it risk being targeted by transphobic users.</p>
<h2>Increasing police surveillance</h2>
<p>There’s no evidence to suggest that granting police access to sexual assault reports will increase users’ safety on dating apps, or even help them feel safer. <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131121/2/Rosalie_Gillett_Thesis.pdf">Research</a> has demonstrated users often don’t report harassment and abuse to dating apps or law enforcement. </p>
<p>Consider NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller’s misguided “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-18/nsw-sexual-consent-app-proposed-by-mick-fuller/100015782">consent app</a>” proposal last month; this is just one of many reasons sexual assault survivors may not want to contact police after an incident. And if police can access personal data, this may deter users from reporting sexual assault.</p>
<p>With high attrition rates, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/20/barriers-to-justice-we-are-still-governed-by-the-idea-that-women-lie-about-sexual-assault">low conviction rates</a> and the prospect of being retraumatised in court, the criminal legal system often fails to deliver justice to sexual assault survivors. Automated referrals to police will only further deny survivors their agency.</p>
<p>Moreover, the proposed partnership with law enforcement sits within a broader project of escalating police surveillance fuelled by <a href="https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5615">platform-verification processes</a>. Tech companies <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300209570/atlas-ai">offer police forces a goldmine</a> of data. The needs and experiences of users are rarely the focus of such partnerships.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-police-are-using-the-clearview-ai-facial-recognition-system-with-no-accountability-132667">Australian police are using the Clearview AI facial recognition system with no accountability</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Match Group and NSW Police have yet to release information about how such a partnership would work and how (or if) users would be notified. Data collected could potentially include usernames, gender, sexuality, identity documents, chat histories, geolocation and sexual health status. </p>
<h2>The limits of AI</h2>
<p>NSW Police also proposed using AI to scan users’ conversations and identify “red flags” that could indicate potential sexual offenders. This would build on Match Group’s current tools that detect sexual violence in users’ private chats. </p>
<p>While an AI-based system may detect overt abuse, everyday and “ordinary” abuse (which is <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131121/2/Rosalie_Gillett_Thesis.pdf">common in digital dating contexts</a>) may fail to trigger an automated system. Without context, it’s difficult for AI to detect behaviours and language that are harmful to users.</p>
<p>It may detect overt physical threats, but not seemingly innocuous behaviours which are only recognised as abusive by individual users. For instance, repetitive messaging may be welcomed by some, but experienced as harmful by others. </p>
<p>Also, even as automation becomes more sophisticated, users with malicious intent can develop ways to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/interface/2019/5/31/18646525/facebook-white-supremacist-ban-evasion-proud-boys-name-change">circumvent it</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tinders-new-safety-features-wont-prevent-all-types-of-abuse-131375">Tinder's new safety features won't prevent all types of abuse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If data are shared with police, there’s also the risk flawed data on “potential” offenders may be used to train other <a href="https://mashable.com/2017/10/26/children-predictive-policing-australia/">predictive policing tools</a>.</p>
<p>We know from past research that automated hate-speech detection systems can harbour inherent <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.13041">racial</a> and <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.01477">gender biases</a> (and perpetuate them). At the same time we’ve seen examples of AI trained on <a href="https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81328723">prejudicial data</a> making important <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479837243/algorithms-of-oppression/">decisions about people’s lives</a>, such as by giving <a href="https://rlc.org.au/publication/media-release-call-end-predictive-policing-targeting-children-young-ten">criminal risk assessment scores</a> that negatively impact marginalised groups.</p>
<p>Dating apps must do a lot more to understand how their users think about safety and harm online. A potential partnership between Tinder and NSW Police takes for granted that the <a href="https://reason.com/2021/03/27/will-feminists-please-stop-calling-the-cops/">solution to sexual violence </a> simply involves <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/prison-reform-sex-offenders-feminism/">more law enforcement and technological surveillance</a>. </p>
<p>And even so, tech initiatives must always sit alongside well-funded and comprehensive sex education, consent and relationship skill-building, and well-resourced crisis services. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation was contacted after publication by a Match Group spokesperson who shared the following:</em></p>
<p><em>“We recognize we have an important role to play in helping prevent sexual assault and harassment in communities around the world. We are committed to ongoing discussions and collaboration with global partners in law enforcement and with leading sexual assault organizations like RAINN to help make our platforms and communities safer. While members of our safety team are in conversations with police departments and advocacy groups to identify potential collaborative efforts, Match Group and our brands have not agreed to implement the NSW Police proposal.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosalie Gillett receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She is also the recipient of a Facebook Content Governance grant.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kath Albury receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She is also the recipient of an Australian eSafety Commission Online Safety grant.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zahra Zsuzsanna Stardust receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. </span></em></p>Granting police access to Tinder users’ information is problematic for many reasons (even if the intent is to keep people safe).Rosalie Gillett, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of TechnologyKath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of TechnologyZahra Zsuzsanna Stardust, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre of Excellence in Automated Decision-Making and Society, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/984032018-06-15T17:17:20Z2018-06-15T17:17:20Z‘Upskirting’ and ‘revenge porn’: the need for a comprehensive law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223362/original/file-20180615-85854-1wozlge.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/image-photo/close-man-using-mobile-smart-phone-129038348?src=i4OdgodCrj8r-wgxVMQIYw-1-20">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After months of campaigning and meetings, it appears that moves to criminalise “upskirting” – the act of taking secret, sexually intrusive photographs – <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44496427">have stalled</a>. For now.</p>
<p>This is disappointing. However, all may not be lost. It is now time for the government to step up – and to eliminate inconsistencies in the treatment of victims of <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/law/research/bham-law-spotlight-IBSA.pdf">image-based sexual abuse</a>. </p>
<p>Whether it involves voyeurism, upskirting, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/18/chrissy-chambers-youtube-revenge-porn-legal-victory">revenge porn</a> or sexual extortion, in all cases the images or videos are sexual, private and intimate. Victims can suffer harassment, and highly sexualised abuse such as rape threats. Like other cases of sexual offending, the harms victims experience include a fundamental breach of their autonomy, trust, sexual integrity and privacy.</p>
<p>Many victims fear for their physical safety, and the psychological impact can be devastating. These effects are ongoing. Each day, many victims wonder if the images will be shared, if more people are to view videos of them, if they are going to be subject to more abuse and harassment.</p>
<p>So while the language of “revenge porn” and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-upskirting-needs-to-be-made-a-sex-crime-82357&ust=1529150520000000&usg=AFQjCNEuvvq8uuSBO5jhoZCN2qpQUX-n0Q&hl=en&source=gmail">upskirting</a>” has worked to secure the attention of the media and policy makers, these terms risk obscuring the links and connections between all forms of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10691-017-9343-2">image-based sexual abuse</a>. It also adversely impacts on efforts to change the law. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1007631680994078720"}"></div></p>
<p>Too often the government simply reacts to specific instances of harm and abuse. This reactive approach and the single legislation it might lead to risks inconsistencies in the law, which hampers policing and fails victims. </p>
<p>We saw this in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-law-against-revenge-porn-is-welcome-but-no-guarantee-of-success-37598">rush to criminalise revenge porn</a> back in 2015 when debate focused almost exclusively on the classic case of a former partner sharing images without consent. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-law-against-revenge-porn-is-welcome-but-no-guarantee-of-success-37598">resulting law</a>, while welcome, has many limitations. </p>
<p>If private sexual images are shared without consent and when the specific intention is to cause the victim distress, then there may well be a breach of the law. But, if they – and it is mostly men – distributes the image “for a laugh”, their actions are not covered. </p>
<p>The same is true if they produce and distribute a “fake” sexual image, even if everyone who sees it thinks it’s real. Also not covered are threats to circulate the images. And because it is a violation of privacy and not a sexual offence, victims are not granted automatic anonymity. </p>
<p>Victims have a very real fear, therefore, that if they go to the police, the images will be shared even more widely and the harassment and abuse might intensify. We’ve seen the impact of this through <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44411754">figures that show</a> that many victims withdraw complaints, and the police charge very few (only 7%) suspects.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-ica8bbyQs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Far more revenge porn cases are dropping out of the criminal justice system than <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jip.1469&ust=1529166900000000&usg=AFQjCNEzMbOj8MJgkO8Pvfwf0jf1BvYulQ&hl=en&source=gmail">other sexual violence cases</a> (which also have well known problems in terms of prosecutions and convictions).</p>
<p>There are two likely reasons for this. First, there is no automatic right of anonymity for complainants whose private sexual images have been shared without their consent. Victims tell us that this means they are more reluctant to report to the police. </p>
<p>Second, we know from studies of rape and sexual violence that where victims have support, from organisations such as Rape Crisis or an independent sexual violence adviser, their cases are more likely to proceed. </p>
<p>Put simply, without adequate and effective support, some victims are likely to be unwilling or unable to take advantage of any new laws. </p>
<h2>Support network</h2>
<p>The government had previously said that it will consider any amendments to the upskirting bill. We’ve suggested the <a href="https://claremcglynn.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/sofs-gauke_letter-may-2018.pdf">secretary of state for justice</a> introduces a straightforward law which tackles all forms of image-based sexual abuse and which recognises these crimes as harmful, and sexual offences.</p>
<p>In fact, all the government need do is look to Australia where <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/vic/bill/soab2007413/">legislation criminalises</a> all non-consensual creation and/or distribution of intimate sexual images –- including threats to do so and altered images. </p>
<p>But law is only ever a first step. Also vital is sustainable resourcing of support services for victims. The <a href="https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/crime-info/types-crime/cyber-crime/revenge-porn">Revenge Porn helpline</a> currently does an amazing job despite being consistently under resourced and threatened with further cuts in funding. </p>
<p>If the government wants to make real its rhetoric of putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system and ending violence against women, now is the time to modernise and strengthen the law – and provide resources to support those brave enough to use it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98403/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erika Rackley receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Leverhulme Trust to conduct work in this area.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare McGlynn 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>Victims of image based sexual abuse deserve legal clarity.Erika Rackley, Professor of Law, University of BirminghamClare McGlynn, Professor of Law, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/823572017-08-15T13:38:10Z2017-08-15T13:38:10ZWhy ‘upskirting’ needs to be made a sex crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182102/original/file-20170815-29240-1p8k77j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gina Martin is fighting to change the law on upskirting.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/beaniegigi/"> @beaniegigi/Instagram</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It started with one woman, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-40861875">Gina Martin</a>, being prepared to put her head above the parapet and say: this is unacceptable and should clearly be a criminal offence. Martin was a victim of the practice known commonly as “<a href="https://inherentlyhuman.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/we-need-a-new-law-to-combat-upskirting-and-downblousing/">upskirting</a>” – the taking of a photo or video up a woman’s skirt without her permission. </p>
<p>When the police told her there was little they could do, she started a campaign and <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/887/239/401/?src=LG_FB&campaign=sign_887239401">petition</a>, and now many <a href="http://press.labour.org.uk/post/164055954594/labour-calls-on-government-to-make-taking-of">members of parliament</a> and <a href="http://www.apccs.police.uk/latest_news/new-law-needed-make-skirting-sexual-offence/">police and crime Commissioners</a> are calling for a change in the law. This is because, at the moment, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/natasha-holcroftemmess/taking-upskirt-photos-wit_b_17586650.html">English law</a> does not cover most forms of upskirting.</p>
<h2>The current law</h2>
<p>The law on voyeurism was introduced in 2003 to capture “peeping toms” who, for sexual gratification, spy on people in private – such as in changing rooms or toilets. As upskirting mostly takes place in public – in supermarkets, on public transport, at music festivals – voyeurism does not apply. </p>
<p>Sometimes, prosecutors use the ancient law of “outraging public decency”, but the existence of this offence is little known to either police or victims. Nor does it capture all examples of upskirting – as seen recently in Northern Ireland where <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/police-probe-into-claims-inappropriate-upskirt-pictures-found-on-pupils-usb-at-northern-ireland-grammar-school-35667222.html">two teachers</a> had photos taken up their skirts in the school classroom. The police took no action, saying the conduct was neither sufficiently public, nor private, for it to be covered by the criminal law. </p>
<p>This is clearly an intolerable legal situation that urgently needs reform. So, why has there been no change in the law before now? </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BWU1mY2HuFD/?taken-by=beaniegigi","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>One explanation is that the law struggles to keep up with changing technology: the ubiquity of smart phones now means that this offence is easy to perpetrate and the law just needs to catch up. This is true to an extent, but isn’t the whole explanation. </p>
<p>In practice, this type of offending conduct hasn’t been taken sufficiently seriously. <a href="https://inherentlyhuman.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/we-need-a-new-law-to-combat-upskirting-and-downblousing/">Many people</a>, including the <a href="http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/codifying-public-nuisance-and-outraging-public-decency/">Law Commission</a>, have been recommending new laws to cover all upskirting for a number of years. But, until now, there has been no political will for change. And opportunities to reform the law have not been taken. When the law against “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-law-against-revenge-porn-is-welcome-but-no-guarantee-of-success-37598">revenge porn</a>” was introduced in 2015, it could have covered upskirting. But it didn’t, because the focus was only on the panic around “revenge porn” and the urgent need to be seen to “do something”. </p>
<h2>How should the law change?</h2>
<p>Upskirting and “revenge porn” are both forms of what’s termed “<a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/law/research/bham-law-spotlight-IBSA.pdf">image-based sexual abuse</a>”, namely the non-consensual creation, and/or distribution, of private, sexual images. So, rather than just thinking about upskirting in isolation, it needs to see it as part of a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10691-017-9343-2">broader phenomenon</a> where women (and it is mostly women) are subjected to forms of sexual abuse and harassment involving the taking and sharing of private sexual images without their permission. </p>
<p>From here, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ojls/article/doi/10.1093/ojls/gqw033/2965256/ImageBased-Sexual-Abuse?guestAccessKey=cdabc364-65e7-4741-aa92-b581e27bed86">the necessary laws</a> can be crafted to cover all forms of image-based sexual abuse including (but not limited to) voyeurism, upskirting, “revenge porn”, sexualised photoshopping, and sexual extortion – a form of blackmail where sexual information or images are used to extort sexual favours from the victim. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BXi3ZmSHjdv/?taken-by=beaniegigi","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Such a law needs to focus on the harm to victims, not the motives of the perpetrators – voyeurism laws, for example, only apply where images are taken for sexual gratification. Similarly, “revenge porn” laws only apply where the perpetrator intends to cause distress to the victim. This creates a situation where if the image is taken to make money – by selling it to a website – no voyeurism offence has been committed. The same goes with “revenge porn”: if an image is distributed for sexual motivation, there is no offence. </p>
<h2>A sexual offence</h2>
<p>Upskirting and all forms of image-based sexual abuse must be recognised – and treated – as significant sexual harm. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/clare-mcglynn/revenge-porn_b_15441782.html">Victims experience</a> these as sexual assaults – the images are sexual, the abuse and harassment is sexualised. They threaten women’s sexual autonomy. So, any new upskirting law must be part of sexual offences legislation. And while we’re at it, the “revenge porn” offence needs to be amended so that it is also seen as a sexual offence. </p>
<p>This is important as it means the police and courts can take necessary action against perpetrators and all complainants are <a href="https://claremcglynn.com/centre-for-gender-equal-media/anonymity-campaign/">granted anonymity</a> when making reports to the police – a vital measure to encourage victims to report and to protect them from further harassment. </p>
<p>It is clear then that a new law against upskirting is urgently needed – and there are good examples to follow in <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2009/9/section/9">Scotland</a> and <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/bill/soab2007413/">Australia</a>. Ultimately, there needs to be a law that not only deters perpetrators, but one that also protects victims and engenders cultural change. And it’s needed now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Highly distressing and intrusive, but not illegal.Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law, Durham UniversityErika Rackley, Professor of Law, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/798182017-08-09T00:28:28Z2017-08-09T00:28:28ZAre sex offender registries reinforcing inequality?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181452/original/file-20170808-21888-19cfwbh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grounds of Hand Up Ministries in Oklahoma City houses sex offenders.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public sex offender registries are at the forefront of what I’ve described in my research as a “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-war-on-sex">war on sex</a>.”</p>
<p>Offenders convicted of sex crimes are now <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1456042">singled out</a> for surveillance and restrictions far more punitive than those who commit other types of crime. More than <a href="http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/Sex_Offenders_Map.pdf">800,000</a> Americans are now registered sex offenders. Tracking them has created a booming surveillance industry. </p>
<p>In my work on sex offender registries, I have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">found</a> that black men in the U.S. were registered at rates twice that of white men – resembling disparities found in the criminal justice system at large. However, these findings speak to the scope of the problem of American sex offender registries, as approximately 1 percent of black men in the U.S. are now registered sex offenders. My research suggests that inequality is deeply tied to sex offender policies.</p>
<h2>Marked for life</h2>
<p>Studies have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">found</a> that rates in sex offender registration have ballooned more than 24 percent between 2005 and 2013. I wondered, is this in line with other trends in American corrections? </p>
<p>Data show it is not.</p>
<p>Although the U.S. still incarcerates far more people than any other country in the world, correctional supervision rates in the U.S. (including people in jail or prison as well as those on parole or probation) <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus12.pdf">peaked in 2007</a> and have been declining since, albeit at a molasses pace. That means sex offender registries have grown while the prison population has shrunk.</p>
<p>Imagine being punished for something you did three decades ago. You served your time and thought it was in the past. Under American sex offender laws, moving on is nearly impossible: Most state policies are retroactive, meaning they apply to offenders who committed offenses before these laws were put in place. While these laws are the subject of several ongoing <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2017/07/21/Pennsylvania-Supreme-Court-rules-sex-offender-registration-punitive/stories/201707200196">court battles</a>, most remain in effect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.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">A sex offender registry board image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Steven Senne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Offenders are subject to extensive public notification requirements, which include state-run search engine listings that feature their address, mugshot, criminal history and demographic information. In some cases, offenders are also required to publicly post flyers with their pictures or run newspaper notices advertising their residency. Some states, such as Louisiana, <a href="http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=97429">stamp</a> “SEX OFFENDER” in large red script on driver’s licenses.</p>
<p>Having a mugshot disseminated across internet search engines is only the tip of the iceberg; once registered, offenders are subject to a wide array of housing and employment restrictions.</p>
<iframe title="New York Times Video - Embed Player" width="100%" height="321" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="true" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" id="nyt_video_player" src="https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000002235938"></iframe>
<p>In many places in the U.S., sex offenders are effectively zoned out of cities and towns because there are no residential areas that satisfy all of the numerous regulations. For example, offenders may be prohibited from living within a certain number of feet from a playground. </p>
<p>They are often left with no choice but to live <a href="https://www.ccjrnh.org/sex_offender_laws_treatment/testimony_hb_1153_stop_towns_limiting_where_people_convicted_sex_crimes_">under highways</a> or in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/sex-offender-city/307907/">improvised communities</a>, such as the one in Pahokee, Florida depicted in the New York Times 2013 short film, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002235938/sex-offender-village.html">Sex Offender Village</a>.”</p>
<h2>Why have registries?</h2>
<p>Punishment scholar Jonathan Simon <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2000.tb00318.x/full">argues</a> that the rise of sex offender registries is the result of lawmakers’ efforts to “govern through crime.” In other words, today’s lawmakers assert their authority by enforcing order and promoting fear of crime. This approach differs from, say, politicians who secure authority by promoting a social welfare agenda and social safety net.</p>
<p>Lawmakers offer a different explanation. They argue that more invasive policies are necessary because sex offenders are highly likely to commit <a href="http://www.wlox.com/story/20970525/lawmaker-wants-tracking-devices-on-certain-sex-offenders">future crimes</a>. In their view, informing the public of their criminal history will offer protection. But as the U.S. federal government’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking notes, <a href="https://www.smart.gov/SOMAPI/sec1/ch8_strategies.html">sex offender registration</a> requirements “have been implemented in the absence of empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness.”</p>
<p>Now that all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have developed such registries, the evidence testing the effectiveness of sex offender registries is beginning to mount. It is mixed, at best.</p>
<h2>Do registries work?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786010600764567?journalCode=gjup20">One study</a> followed sex offenders who were labeled “high-risk” for reoffending and who were released from Wisconsin prisons in the late 1990s. That study compared offenders who were subjected to limited public notification requirements with those who were subjected to extensive requirements. The researchers found no significant difference in the average time between release and a future offense. In other words, extensive public notification did not deter future offenses.</p>
<p>However, another <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00114.x/abstract">study</a> evaluated the likelihood of reoffending for sexual offenders labeled “high risk” released from Minnesota state correctional facilities. Here researchers found that offenders subject to community notification were somewhat less likely to commit another sexual offense. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759428">a recent study</a> found that sex offenders released in Florida between 1990 and 2010 had lower rates of recidivism than offenders of other types of crime – 6.5 percent for sex offenses, as compared to 8.3 percent for nonsexual assaults and 29.8 percent for drug offenses. Moreover, that study found that recidivism rates increased after the state legislature implemented sex offender registration requirements in 1997. </p>
<p>While the evidence is mixed that these policies are effective at deterring crime, the evidence of their collateral consequences is more consistent. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1478601X.2012.657906?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=gjup20">Several</a> <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3818/JRP.9.1.2007.59">studies</a> of registered sex offenders have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19561135">revealed</a> how registries reinforce class inequality by creating patterned experiences of unemployment, harassment and homelessness.</p>
<p>From a public safety perspective, scholars note that registries provide the public with a false sense of security: While the existence of sex offender registries reinforces a myth of “<a href="https://ccoso.org/sites/default/files/residencerestrictionsFL.pdf">stranger danger</a>,” most offenders in reality are acquaintances or family members. Balancing the thin support of the registries’ effectiveness against the more robust evidence of their negative effects, one scholar recently <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/">concluded</a> these policies do more harm than good.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">research</a> suggests there is also a racialized dimension to the war on sex offenders that complicates arguments in their favor. The evidence does not strongly suggest registries are effective at deterring crime. Rather, their most lasting impact may be their exacerbation of inequalities based on race, class and gender.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79818/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor Hoppe 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>Beginning in the 1990s, all 50 US states and Washington, DC created public sex offender registries. Do they do more to help or hurt?Trevor Hoppe, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/819122017-08-03T12:31:06Z2017-08-03T12:31:06ZChild sex dolls and robots: exploring the legal challenges<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180879/original/file-20170803-5621-rn81us.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/image-illustration/3d-robotic-woman-face-detail-view-329541794?src=umo4H0cUomgZ2NzDLlOWgw-1-80">Martan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/555772/sex-robot-festival-banned-extreme-arrive-britain-london">Sex robots</a> appear to be the next big thing for the adult entertainment industry. Unroboticised sex dolls are not new – but combined with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and programming applications, such dolls may soon reach <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/07/robots-covered-human-flesh-could-soon-reality/">new levels of sophistication.</a> </p>
<p>As sex dolls become increasingly realistic – and their roboticisation looms on the horizon – a key question to ask is how the law should respond when such objects are made for, and used by, those with a sexual interest in children? </p>
<p>Dolls for this market, manufactured overseas, are now starting to appear on the legal radar from attempts to import them into the country. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned that child-like sex dolls are being sold on the internet and campaigners have urged the government to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/31/child-like-sex-dolls-sold-websites-ebay-amazon-crime-agency/">outlaw the trade</a>. There have also been <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40428976">calls to ban</a> the import of sex robots designed to look like children.</p>
<p>How to deal with such dolls and their robot counterparts is a novel question for the law. In June 2017, an attempt to import a sex doll resembling a child was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/man-import-childlike-sex-doll-uk-jailed">successfully prosecuted</a> at Chester Crown Court. The legislation used dated back to 1876. Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act prohibits the importation of: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Indecent or obscene prints, paintings, photographs, books, cards, lithographic or other engravings, or any other indecent or obscene articles.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While dealing with a novel problem, the sentencing judge seemed confident that a crime had been committed. The conviction now clearly establishes that it is a crime to import such a doll, and presumably a robot sex doll as well, but other matters remain unclear.</p>
<h2>A legal loophole?</h2>
<p>What if the object had crossed the border undetected? The current child protection framework has largely been designed for two-dimensional material – <a href="http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/child-pornography(03679e11-a0d8-4bb8-b580-ddb4f12e2609).html">such as photographs and videos</a>. So it would appear that the mere <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/man-import-childlike-sex-doll-uk-jailed">possession of a child sex doll</a> and its robotic counterpart is not currently a criminal offence. The mere fact of possession may not easily be linked to a chain of evidence in relation to the now-established crime of importation. It is feasible that, given the drop in the cost of technology, such as 3D printers, and the emergence of sex-robot programming apps, such items could soon be created domestically, without the need for importation. Currently, the creation of child sex dolls and robots is not a crime.</p>
<p>The Chester conviction supports the presumption that the object ought to be criminalised, yet there is no consensus on whether child sex robots and dolls ought to be criminalised in the first place. <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sex-robots-could-stop-paedophiles-9121408">It has been argued</a> that sex dolls might have “therapeutic” use for sex offenders, as a sort of “safety valve” to divert the potential offender from turning their attentions to an actual child. </p>
<p>Other voices challenge this view. In their <a href="http://responsiblerobotics.org/2017/07/05/frr-report-our-sexual-future-with-robots/">2017 report</a>, the Foundation for Responsible Robotics explored this question. <a href="http://responsiblerobotics.org/2017/07/05/frr-report-our-sexual-future-with-robots/">They noted</a> that a Japanese company had already been selling child sex dolls for over a decade but that there were serious questions over the ethics of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/paedophiles-child-sex-dolls-prescription-stop-attacks-child-protection-stopso-therapists-a7872911.html">“treating” sex offenders</a> with such robots because it was hard to test how such interventions might work. It was also argued that such robots could have the opposite effect of reinforcing, rather than suppressing problematic desires.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"892716294625165312"}"></div></p>
<p>It is notable that the defendant in the Chester case was also charged with making and possessing indecent images of children and in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/31/child-sex-doll-imports-expose-previously-unknown-offenders">more recent case</a> another defendant was found to have possessed or made over 34,000 indecent images of children. </p>
<h2>New offences</h2>
<p>These cases suggest that the creation of a new spectrum of offences is both likely and increasingly necessary. Accordingly, we need to consider where offences like advertising, dissemination, creation and possession of sex dolls and robots would fit into the child protection framework. The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-121X.2010.00161.x/epdf">existing offence</a> prohibiting non-photographic, pornographic images of children – created by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 – was designed to catch fabricated images such as computer-generated or cartoon pictures. Perhaps this could be adapted to include dolls and robots?</p>
<p>But we might have to consider whether an entirely new set of offences would better cover this unusual issue. Should the fact that 2D has now moved to 3D make the offence more serious because sex dolls and robots could increase the possibility of incitement to harm due to their added realism? Should a doll be considered the same as a robot? Would the degree of roboticisation make a difference to the seriousness of the offence? </p>
<p>Likewise, if the doll or robot was found to be somehow linked to a real child, should this be considered to be the same as a photograph of a real child? What defences might be applicable? More broadly, the fact that such items are available for import suggests that international-level action as well as domestic legislation is necessary for more effective child protection. Crime is evolving alongside technology. The law needs to keep up and think ahead in order to meet the challenges of the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bela Bonita Chatterjee 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>New laws are needed to keep up with the growing problem of imported child sex dolls and robots.Bela Bonita Chatterjee, Senior Lecturer in Law, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/770612017-05-10T20:57:35Z2017-05-10T20:57:35Z‘13 Reasons Why’: when a TV series sheds light on gender violence and harassment at school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168754/original/file-20170510-28069-qwy9ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.theodysseyonline.com/what-13-reasons-why-taught-me</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>13 Reasons Why</em>, the breakout TV series, has gotten people talking since it first aired on Netflix on March 31, 2017. Three scenes brutally – some will say realistically – depict the rape of two characters and the suicide of one, Hannah Baker. Many mental-health specialists have condemned the show for glorifying suicide (Hannah gets back post-mortem at the people who hurt her). They consider that some twist plots, as well as the lack of resources readily available to people watching the show, <a href="http://www.speakingofsuicide.com/2017/04/30/suicide-contagion/">may affect already-vulnerable viewers</a>. Others, such as writer Brian Yorkey, defend the show as a sensitive depiction of <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/television/7776785/selena-gomez-13-reasons-why-criticism-teen-suicide">suicide and the damage it can cause</a>.</p>
<p>But if one can suspend judgement of the three scenes, what remains is the show’s very real depiction of gender violence and sexual harassment in school.</p>
<h2>Slut shaming and female sexuality</h2>
<p>Based on a novel by Jay Asher, <em>13 Reasons Why</em> follows high school student Clay Jensen as he listens to audio recordings made by his friend Hannah Baker prior to her death. Hannah narrates the events leading to her suicide, and posthumously identifies the people who failed her, be it by hurting her, cutting ties with her, or not providing help when she most needed it.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JebwYGn5Z3E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for the series.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>13 Reasons Why</em> accurately illustrates the struggles teenage girls go through, especially when it comes to sexuality. The main female characters all have to face some form of <a href="http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/11877/1/Ringrose_and_renold_Slutwalk_2012.pdf">“slut shaming”</a>. The term refers to the practises and attitudes through which girls are blamed for not conforming to sexual standards. Hannah, for example, is humiliated and intimidated because of rumours concerning her supposed sexual promiscuity – that she’d had sex in a public space and kissed a girl. These rumours are based on questionable facts and disseminated on cell phones. Jessica and Courtney also fear having their reputation tarnished due to gossip concerning their sexuality. Only Sheri and Skye, secondary characters, seem to get by without too much damage.</p>
<p>Slut shaming and gender-based violence are as much about <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/29/slut-shaming-study.html">power dynamics and popularity as they are about sex</a>, and <em>13 Reasons Why</em> brilliantly illustrates this point. For example, it is to gain accolades from his friends that Justin claims that he had sex with Hannah. Social hierarchy is also the reason that a list ranking girls’ “attributes” circulates (Hannah’s name figures as “best ass”). And it is the reason that Courtney, to preserve her reputation, withdraws from Hannah after a picture of their kiss is sent out to everyone.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167899/original/file-20170504-21616-tocx1f.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">Mr. Porter, the school counselor, suggests to Hannah that she might have consented to having sex, illustrating the inability of adults as well as society to face up to issues related to consent and sexual assault.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://thetab.com/2017/04/07/look-past-bryces-storyline-moment-youll-see-really-terrifying-thing-13-reasons-teaches-us-rape-culture-113916">The Tab</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The show directly addresses the confusion that may sometimes surround the notion of consent. In a scene that’s particularly difficult to watch, Hannah meets with Mr. Porter, the school counsellor, and tries to talk about having been raped. He suggests to her that, if she did not explicitly say no or tell her aggressor to stop, she most likely consented to having sex with him. <em>13 Reasons Why</em> presents rape as something that that works hand-in-hand with power dynamics, and that permeates the school’s entire climate. It is because the rumours about Hannah’s sexuality are false – she did not in fact have sex in a public park, nor did she seek out a lesbian kiss – that we, as spectators, can feel empathy towards her. How much empathy would we have felt if <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/hannahs-13-reasons-why-story-actually-shames-sexually-active-young-women-50964">the rumours had been true</a>? – if she had actively sought out these encounters and/or taken pleasure from them? Would she then have deserved to be slut-shamed?</p>
<h2>Flexible masculinities</h2>
<p>The show presents conceptions of masculinity that are more nuanced than <a href="http://www.utne.com/arts/gender-studies-men-on-television-ze0z1409zdeh">those usually shown on television</a>, especially in <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=rSGfBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA170&dq=teen+tv+masculinity&ots=dVmBOw_fLS&sig=KfRdehdpATIJSjYAlY5qa8sagaM#v=onepage&q=teen%20tv%20masculinity&f=false">shows targeting teenagers</a>. It also includes positive representations of young gay men – Tony and Ryan are light years away from the <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=mhoIr93acWsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=gay+men+representation+victim+media&ots=ANkeHt8zx2&sig=ApJyckcLfKmUjNqoAetbVmusBgk#v=onepage&q=gay%20men%20representation%20victim%20media&f=false">“tragic victim"–like non-heterosexual tropes</a>. And although the majority of the male characters find their motivation in the possibility of falling in love or having sex (Clay, Bryce, Justin, Marcus and Zach are all examples of that), <em>13 Reasons Why</em> also allows for teenagers who aren’t interested in such things. School photographer Tyler, Tony and Ryan, and to a certain extent, Alex, have other reasons pushing them to action.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167877/original/file-20170504-4929-198h0b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clay Jensen, secretly in love with Hannah Baker, wasn’t sufficiently close to prevent her from taking her own life.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>13 Reasons Why</em> consistently upsets the viewers’ references when it comes to masculinity, in a genre (teen television) that is not usually known for being innovative, with the <a href="https://commons.trincoll.edu/tripod/2013/10/22/glee-challenges-the-medias-traditional-portrayal-of-masculinity/">possible exception of <em>Glee</em></a>. Clay Jensen, <em>13</em>’s main character, is a good guy and friendly with all students. He nevertheless is shown with scars on his face for the entire 13 episodes – the result of a bike accident and fistfights – and is incapable of opening up to his parents. Clay and Tony personify a masculinity that is nurturing and caring. Even Justin and Bryce, the show’s "bad boys”, sports stars and popular students, do not fully respect the codes of traditional <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243205278639">hegemonic masculinity</a>. Justin is often seen crying, and in a tragic scene, he evens fails at protecting his girlfriend from being sexually assaulted. Bryce is shown offering support to his friends (for example, by letting one of them living at his house for many days on end).</p>
<h2>Gendered lessons of the show</h2>
<p>All in all, <em>13 Reasons Why</em> only shows teenagers doing exactly what they’ve been taught to do. It tells us that the gender models they’re being offered remain extremely restrictive and damaging. That dominant masculinities still play a role in how young men interact with their peers. That girls are expected to be desirable and attractive, yet not play an active role in their own sexuality. That those who do not comply with these gender rules will be severely punished. </p>
<p>In this sense, the show allows for numerous demonstrations of the strength, and the inevitability, through which gender socialization plays out. “Nothing anyone did to Hannah was any different than was happens to every girl at every high school”, says Marcus towards the end of the show. Isn’t that, in itself, one of the most upsetting aspects of the show?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabrielle Richard 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>The Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” presents rape as an aggressive act, working hand in hand with the powers that be and permeating a school’s entire culture.Gabrielle Richard, Chercheuse, Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne (UPEC)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/750142017-03-27T11:37:53Z2017-03-27T11:37:53ZImminent UK cuts to mothers’ tax credits are an assault on women’s human rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162217/original/image-20170323-4967-17u5dl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One-track policy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/autumn-trip-2191802?src=NYzAj6IT-1DTt69-PY1KAw-2-40">Jan Vancura</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the new UK tax year begins on April 6, stand by for a severe attack on women’s welfare. Parents will no longer be able to claim tax credits for more than two children – unless they can prove that subsequent children were a consequence of rape or a coercive relationship. And while the whole change will hurt women the most, that exception was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/mar/16/tax-credit-clause-becomes-law-without-parliament-vote">pushed through</a> by <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/376/pdfs/uksi_20170376_en.pdf">statutory instrument</a> without even a vote in parliament.</p>
<p>This is a resolute line of action from a UK government in 2017; whose prime minister, Theresa May, has repeatedly <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/13/theresa-mays-pledges-to-fight-injustice-and-make-britain-a-count/">expressed</a> her commitment to helping poorer households. This is a government which <a href="http://wbg.org.uk/news/wbg-publishes-full-gender-impact-assessment-spring-budget-2017/">has already</a> blighted the incomes and economic status of women through welfare “reforms” and public sector cutbacks in the name of austerity while allowing employers to make workers’ conditions ever more flexible at the same time. </p>
<p>This latest policy, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/government-ignores-pleas-to-scrap-tax-credit-rape-clause_uk_5883d118e4b02085409880c4">says the government</a>, is “a key part of controlling public spending [to] create an economy that works for everyone”. But the reality is that in many cases, the people applying for tax credits will be <a href="https://gingerbread.org.uk/content/365/Statistics">among the</a> UK’s 2m single parents, around 90% of whom are women. For women who also need to prove rape to be granted the three-child exception, they are being further punished for sex-based crimes they have already experienced. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162220/original/image-20170323-4954-1k8zuz9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Says who?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/male-female-equality-concept-men-women-403108885?src=0al0UlerwEWqZbKjrJteMg-1-20">Dianameise</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How can a policy “work for everyone” when it deliberately suppresses women’s economic status and seeks to control their fundamental freedom to have children or not? How that can be justified under the <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/public-sector-equality-duty">Public Sector Equality Duty</a>, which requires all policy and spending proposals to undergo an equality impact assessment, is bewildering. Has the UK government even conducted such an assessment? Has the government no regard for the spirit of domestic or <a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/">international</a> anti-discrimination legislation? </p>
<h2>The fightback</h2>
<p>The UK government cannot claim to be ignorant of the consequences of such a policy and the strength of opposition to it. Women’s and human rights organisations across the UK <a href="https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/scraptherapeclause1/">have been</a> loudly against, while a <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105330">public petition</a> last year opposing this so-called “rape clause” attracted thousands of signatures. </p>
<p>The SNP MP Alison Thewliss has been the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/17/snp-mp-launches-campaign-against-tax-credit-clause">most prominent</a> opponent within the Commons through her #scraptherapeclause campaign. Her <a href="http://www.alisonthewliss.scot/scrap-the-rape-clause/">campaign site</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/alisonthewliss">Twitter feed</a> document extensive attempts to hold the government to get the policy abandoned. </p>
<p>In recent days, Thewliss has been denied an emergency debate, despite the business of the House ending ahead of schedule on the day in question; and denied a request for an archaic intervention called a “prayer of anulment”. </p>
<p>She has <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/edm/2016-17/1078">also tabled</a> an Early Day Motion, another means of tabling a parliamentary debate if it garners sufficient support, but after eight days it had only been signed by 57 out of 650 MPs. Finally, she <a href="http://calendar.parliament.uk/calendar/Lords/All/2017/3/22/Daily">has lobbied</a> the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Committee, which could review the provision at its next meeting, in private, on March 28.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162219/original/image-20170323-4948-10cugox.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">Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alison_Thewliss_Park_Circus.jpg#/media/File:Alison_Thewliss_Park_Circus.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Feminist economics</h2>
<p>Combining women’s economic and reproductive rights to oppress and discriminate against them is not new – just reflect on the pregnancy and maternity discrimination that is <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/managing-pregnancy-and-maternity-workplace/pregnancy-and-maternity-discrimination-research-findings">all too common</a> in the workplace. Women have consistently been penalised for having and rearing children despite the fact that this comes down to biology and social constructs that view them as the primary carers. </p>
<p>Public policy largely ignores the contribution of care to the wider economy because it goes unpaid and consequently disregards the ways in which women’s financial autonomy is compromised. <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/10/economist-explains-17">Feminist economics analysis</a> has developed as an academic discipline that exposes this in-built gendered bias. </p>
<p>Policies like the rape clause reveal the emptiness of hand-wringing about women’s poverty and child poverty. Of the cuts to public spending to date, <a href="http://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WBG_Budget2017_Fullresponse-1.pdf">86% have already</a> directly affected women’s income – so the last thing women need is a new cut that affects only them. </p>
<p>This reinforces the need for women to scrutinise and challenge politicians’ spending decisions, and to build their confidence and skills at calling these things out. When a government eschewing state intervention directly intervenes in women’s reproductive rights, we have truly passed through the looking glass.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela O'Hagan 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>A controversial policy could make women prove they were raped before they can get benefits is set to come into effect despite a wide coalition of opponents.Angela O'Hagan, Lecturer, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.