Live-in domestic workers : overworked, underpaid and overlooked

Live-in domestics are the housekeepers, nannies and home health care workers that live with the families they work for five to seven nights a week. Like other domestics, the live-in domestics interviewed for this report suffered restriction of movement, isolation, inadequate nutrition, physical violence, wage theft and excessive overtime, all in Texas. Moreover, live-ins are more reluctant than other domestics to exercise their rights because they may automatically find themselves homeless. Nobody knows exactly how many live-in domestic workers are in the U.S. because of the secluded nature of their work, but experts and advocates agree that many live-in domestic workers are victims of human trafficking. There are more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, nearly 234,000 of those were adult victims of labor trafficking, according to reports. The same reports found that traffickers exploit approximately $600 million per year from victims of labor trafficking in Texas only. Since 2012, domestic work has represented the largest sector of all labor trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Texas is the second state with the most cases of human trafficking reported to the Hotline, second only to California. Like other states, these reported cases are growing every year. Reports also show that 85 percent of domestic worker trafficking survivors said having pay withheld or being paid well below minimum wage; 81 percent have lived in abusive living conditions; and 80 percent have been tricked with false or otherwise deceptive contracts. Through the lives of four present and former live-in domestic workers, these numbers come to life and live-in domestic workers stay in the shadows no more.Journalis

Indirect Victims of Child Sexual Abuse: Preliminary findings from research on the needs of and support for families of child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a complex and highly emotive subject. This research focuses on what victimologists sometimes called ‘indirect’, tertiary’ or even ‘secondary’, ‘victims’. These people are those non-abusers who are close to the ‘primary’ or ‘direct’ victim/s – the abused child/children. Indirect victims might be parents, carers, guardians, siblings, grandparents or friends. The experiences and needs of these people have rarely been the subject of research; yet the small number of (mostly US-based) studies of families of children subjected to sexual assault point to the profound impacts such offences can have, particularly on mothers. This poster reports on some preliminary findings from my ongoing research on the needs of and support for families of child sexual abuse. Findings derive from discussions with key contacts and from semi-structured interviews with key professional staff working in agencies involved in such cases. It reports in general terms on their perceptions of the ‘ripple effect’ emanating from child sexual abuse. Specifically it reports on their perceptions of who is affected, how people are affected, what their needs are and what services/support is available. Ultimately the research examines the scope and adequacy of extant support structures with a view to minimising risk and reducing harm in families

Descriptive Analysis of Stalking Incidents Reported to Alaska State Troopers: 1994-2005

This project examined the characteristics of stalking incidents reported to the Alaska State Troopers from 1994 to 2005. It included information from 210 reports, 222 charges, 211 suspects, 216 victims, and 246 witnesses. For those stalking incidents reported from 1999 to 2004, the charges, suspects, victims, witnesses, and legal resolutions are documented.National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Grant No. 2005-WG-BX-0011Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgments / Executive Summary / Descriptive Analysis of Stalking Incidents / Brief Overview of Stalking / Stalking Legislation in Alaska / Purpose of this Study / Methodology / Report Characteristics / Charge Characteristics / Suspect Characteristics / Victim Characteristics / Witness Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Stalking Prevalence and Reporting / Appendix A – Data Collection Instrumen

Homicide-suicide in Hong Kong 1989-1998

This study provides the first systematic research of homicide-suicide (HS) in a Chinese society. Data were drawn from the HK Homicide Monitoring Data-base computer file derived from investigation and death reports held by the HK Police Force and the Coroner's Court. During the 10-year study period, 56 events involving 133 deaths were identified. The majority of offenders were males (75%) and most victims were female (64%). The mean age of offenders and victims were 41.9 and 32.3 years respectively. Spouses and lovers comprised the majority of victims (48.2%) followed by child victims (36%). Most HS events were motivated by separation or termination of marital or sexual relations (39%), economic reasons (25%) and other domestic disputes (20%). The most frequent modes of killing were strangulation/suffocation (26%), stabbing/chopping (24%), followed by gassing/poisoning (14%) and falling from a height (14%). The commonest method of suicide was falling from a height (48%). It was followed by gassing/poisoning (22%) and strangulation/suffocation (13%). Depression (18.3%) was found to be the commonest mental disorder. Most offenders were from low-socio economic background. Two-thirds were unemployed and 76.6% had 9 or less years of education. HS in HK were distinguished from those reported in the western literature in respect to the high relevance of economic factors, the absence of mercy killing between old couples, a higher percentage of pedicide-suicides and the infrequent use of firearms

Bullying and Victimization in Elementary Schools: A Comparison of Bullies, Victims, Bully/Victims, and Uninvolved Preadolescents

Research on bullying and victimization largely rests on univariate analyses and on reports from a single informant. Researchers may thus know too little about the simultaneous effects of various independent and dependent variables, and their research may be biased by shared method variance. The database for this Dutch study was large (N = 1,065) and rich enough to allow multivariate analysis and multisource information. In addition, the effect of familial vulnerability for internalizing and externalizing disorders was studied. Gender, aggressiveness, isolation, and dislikability were most strongly related to bullying and victimization. Among the many findings that deviated from or enhanced the univariate knowledge base were that not only victims and bully/victims but bullies as well were disliked and that parenting was unrelated to bullying and victimization once other factors were controlled.

Stalking in Alaska

Originally published in the Alaska Justice Forum 24(1): 1, 7–12 (Spring 2007).This study examined 267 cases with a stalking charge reported to Alaska State Troopers from 1994 to 2005, and excluded any cases reported to local or municipal departments. We also examined the legal resolutions for cases that were reported from 1999-2004. * Over 50% of reports occurred in B detachment (Southcentral Alaska) and D detachment (Interior Alaska). Three units (Fairbanks AST Enforcement, Palmer AST Enforcement, and Soldotna AST Enforcement) handled 49% of reports. Thirty-five percent of the charges were for stalking in the first degree and 65% were for stalking in the second degree. * Most suspects (91%) were male and most victims (89%) were female. Most suspects (78%) were White and most victims (86%) were also White. On average, suspects were 36 years old while victims were 33 years old. Twenty percent of suspects had used alcohol, but only 2% of victims had used alcohol. Fifty-four percent of suspects were, or had been, in a romantic relationship with the victim. An additional 35% of suspects were friends or acquaintances of the victim. * The most common forms of stalking included standing outside or visiting the victim's home (in 54% of charges), making unsolicited phone calls to victims (in 51% of charges), following the victim (in 39% of charges), threatening to physically assault the victim (in 36% of charges), harassing the victim's family and friends (in 28% of charges), trying to communicate with the victim in other ways (in 27% of charges), standing outside or visiting the victim's work (in 20% of charges), physically assaulting the victim (in 19% of charges), sending the victim unsolicited mail (in 15% of charges), and vandalizing the victim's home (in 13% of charges). Forty-five percent of behaviors occurred primarily at the victim's home, while 27% occurred primarily in cyberspace. * Seventy-five percent of the cases reported between 1999-2004 were referred for prosecution, 55% were accepted for prosecution, and 40% resulted in a conviction on at least one charge. Cases with suspects who violated protective orders were 20% more likely to be referred for prosecution, were 19% more likely to be accepted, and were 41% more likely to result in a conviction

Vehicle Accident Alert and Locator (VAAL)

An emergency is a deviation from planned or expected behaviour or a course of event that endangers or adversely affects people, property, or the environment. This paper reports a complete research work in accident (automobile) emergency alert situation. The authors were able to programme a GPS / GSM module incorporating a crash detector to report automatically via the GSM communication platform (using SMS messaging) to the nearest agencies such as police posts, hospitals, fire services etc, giving the exact position of the point where the crash had occurred. This will allow early response and rescue of accident victims; saving lives and properties. The paper reports its experimental results, gives appropriate conclusions and recommendations

Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Incidents Reported to Alaska State Troopers: 2003-2004

This study examines the characteristics of sexual assault and sexual abuse of minor incidents reported to the Alaska State Troopers (AST), providing the first statewide overview of such cases. The sample utilized for the analysis included all sexual assault and sexual abuse of minor incidents reported from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004 and includes information from 989 reports, 1,903 charges, 1,050 suspects, 1,082 victims, and 771 witnesses. The descriptive analysis documents the characteristics of these reports, suspects, victims, incidents, and witnesses, and examines three legal resolutions: whether cases were referred for prosecution, whether cases were accepted for prosecution, and whether cases resulted in a conviction.National Institute of Justice Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. Grant No. 2005-WG-BX-0011 Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Grant No. 2003-WR-BX-0210 and 2004-WF-AX-003Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgements / Executive Summary / Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Incidents / Brief Overview of the State of Alaska / Brief Overview of Alaska State Troopers / Brief Overview of Sexual Assault / Sexual Assault Legislation in Alaska / PUrpose of this Study / Methodology / Report Characteristics / Suspect Characteristics / Victim Characteristics / Victim-Suspect Characteristics / Incident Characteristics / Witness Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Appendix A - Additional Tables / Appendix B - Data Collection Instruments / Appendix C - 2004 Alaska Sexual Assault Law

Measure for measure: how well do we measure micro-level conflict intensity?.

Rich measures of micro-level violent conflict intensity are key for successfully providing insight into the legacy of civil war.Yet, the debate on how exactly conflict intensity should be measured has just started. This paper aims to fuel this awakening debate. It is demonstrated how existing and widely available data - population census data- can provide the basis for a useful measure of micro-level conflict intensity, i.e. a fine Wartime Excess Mortality Index (WEMI). In contrast to measures that are based on news reports or data from transitional justice records, WEMI is relatively neutral to the cause of excess mortality, giving equal weight to victims belonging to the conquering and defeated party, to victims of large-scale massacres and dispersed killings, to victims of violence in easily accessable locations and remote areas, and to direct and indirect victims of violence. The measure is illustrated for the case of Rwanda and it is shown that in straightfoward empirical application of the impact of armed conflict on schooling different measures for micro-level conflict intensity yield strikingly different results.armed conflict,micro-level conflict intensity measures,difference-in-difference,Rwanda,schooling;

Penanganan Laporan dan Pengaduan Korban Kejahatan oleh Kepolisian Sektor Tampan Kepolisian Resor Kota Pekanbaru

The problem of crime or criminal offenses currently is increasing, various forms of crime and modus operandi can occur at any time and at any time along with the development and growth of the population, as well as in the District Tampan of Pekanbaru. Therefore, the role and effective coordination between the Police and the community is very important in providing a sense of security to witnesses and victims of criminal acts. The purpose of this thesis are: First, Handling Reports and Complaints Victims of Crime by the Police Sector of Tampan, Second, Obstacles encountered in the Reports and Complaints Handling Victims of Crime by Tampan Police Sector, Third, efforts made in Overcoming Barriers to Treatment Reports and Complaints Victims crime by the Police Sector of Tampan. This type of research can be classified into types of juridical sociological research. This research was conducted in the Police Sector Handsome, while the population and the sample is a whole party relating to the issues examined in this study, the data sources used, the primary data, secondary data, and the data tertiary. Data collection techniques in this study with interviews, observation, and literature study. Analysis of the data used is qualitative data and techniques by means of deductive inference. From the research, there are three main issues that can be inferred. First, Handling Reports and Complaints Victims of Crime by the Police Sector of Tampan District of Pekanbaru City Police have not conducted pursuant to Act No. 2 of 2002 on the Police and the Police Regulation No. 2 of 2012 on Public Complaints Handling Procedures in Environmental Police of the Republic of Indonesia. Second, obstacles encountered in the handling of reports and complaints of victims of crime by police Tampan sector is lack of awareness in giving testimony / witness in the police force, presence of motivational factors and risk factors, lack of police personnel, lack of facilities and infrastructure. Third, efforts are being made to overcome the obstacles in the handling of reports and complaints of victims of crime by police Tampan sector ie, preventive approaches and infrastructure approach, Suggestions Author, First, a need for special supervision over the handling of the complaint in the police report and handsome sector due to still have a few persons who are not serious in handling a case. Secondly, provision should be made legislation governing cross-sectoral coordination between institutions or law enforcement agencies relating to the handling of reports and complaints of victims of crime. Third, there needs to be a serious commitment, fast, and decisively from the Government to open up access to the widest public and relevant agencies handling complaints in the police reports and sector including the provision of facilities and infrastructuret