Seeking justice and redress for victim-survivors of image-based sexual abuse

Despite apparent political concern and action – often fuelled by high-profile cases and campaigns – legislative and institutional responses to image-based sexual abuse in the UK have been ad hoc, piecemeal and inconsistent. In practice, victim-survivors are being consistently failed: by the law, by the police and criminal justice system, by traditional and social media, website operators, and by their employers, universities and schools. Drawing on data from the first multi-jurisdictional study of the nature and harms of, and legal/policy responses to, image-based sexual abuse, this article argues for a new joined-up approach that supports victim-survivors of image-based sexual abuse to ‘reclaim control’. It argues for a comprehensive, multi-layered, multi-institutional and multi-agency response, led by a government- and industry-funded online or e-safety organisation, which not only recognises the diversity of victim-survivor experiences and the intersection of image-based sexual abuse with other forms of sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination, but which also enables victim-survivors to reclaim control within and beyond the criminal justice system

Image-based sexual abuse as a means of coercive control: victim-survivor experiences

Scholars and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the ways that abusive partners create, distribute, or threaten to distribute intimate images without consent, yet little empirical research has comprehensively explored image-based sexual abuse within intimate partner contexts. This article responds to this gap and reports on the findings of a study involving interviews with 29 women and one gender-diverse person who experienced image-based sexual abuse as part of a pattern of “coercive control.” The authors argue that abusive partners use intimate imagery as a means of exerting power and control, and as a tactic of intimidation, entrapment, and degradation. They note that law, policy, and practice responses should recognize the gendered nature of image-based sexual abuse and its growing use as a means of coercive control

Shattering lives and myths : a report on image-based sexual abuse

Image-based sexual abuse is a pervasive and pernicious form of sexual abuse. We use the term ‘image-based sexual abuse’ to refer to a broad range of abusive behaviours including the taking and/or distribution of nude or sexual images without consent, including threats to do so, which includes so-called ‘revenge porn’, ‘upskirting’, fakeporn, sexual extortion and videos of sexual assaults and rapes. This report draws on interviews with 25 victim-survivors of image-based sexual abuse and over 25 stakeholders, including police, policy-makers, lawyers and survivor organisations conducted over a six-month period in 2018

Rebooting an Old Script by New Means: Teledildonics—The Technological Return to the ‘Coital Imperative’

Teledildonics, a form of digital-mediated sexual interaction, opens new possibilities for the understanding of sexual activity. At first glance, it disrupts conventional preconditions and assumptions about sexual interaction, by allowing the dimension of touch despite the physical distance between partners and, ultimately, promoting a sexual dimension definitely disconnected from the reproductive model of sexuality. However, by scrutinizing the design and functionality of the devices, as well as the discourses presented by three commercial companies—LovePalz, Lovense and Kiiroo—I suggest that this technology reinforces the ‘coital imperative’, by equating sexual interaction with penetration of the vagina by the penis. Although permitting other formulations, specifically for non-heterosexual couples, the penetrative act remains a presupposition. In spite of structurally disrupting the reproductive model of sex, teledildonics promotes its strongest corollary.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

"I'd be just as happy with a cup of tea": Women's accounts of sex and affection in long-term heterosexual relationships

This article reports a feminist analysis of interview data with 10 British women, in which they discuss sex and affection in their heterosexual relationships. We explore the popular cultural notion that women lack sexual desire and are more concerned with love and affection. Feminist research has highlighted how in mainstream cultural discourses, men's sexuality has been positioned as superior to women's. Women's (lack of) desire is viewed as problematic and men's (active) 'need' for sex contrasts sharply with the construction of women as (passive) recipients of men's desire. The women in this research reported a lack of sexual desire, but positioned themselves as wanting to want sex, or 'desiring desire'. They expected penis-in-vagina intercourse to be an inherent part of (hetero)sex, and some participated in unwanted (consensual) sex in order to satisfy what they perceived as men's inherent 'need' for sex. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for feminist research and practice. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

Celebrating 30 years of <i>Feminism & Psychology</i>

Feminism & Psychology (F&P) was launched in 1991 with a sense of possibility, enthusiasm and excitement as well as a sense of urgent need – to critique and reconstruct mainstream psychology (theory, research methods, and clinical practice). Thirty years have now passed since the first issue was produced. Thirty volumes with three or four issues have been published each year, thanks to the efforts of many. On the occasion of F&P’s 30th anniversary, we, the present and past editors, reflect on successes, changes and challenges in relation to the journal. We celebrate the prestigious awards accruing to the journal, its editors, and authors, and the significant contributions the journal has made to critical feminist scholarship at the interface of feminisms and psychologies. We note some of the theoretical and methodological developments and social changes witnessed over the last three decades. We highlight challenges facing feminist researchers in academia as well as international feminist publishing. We conclude that the initial enthusiasm and excitement expressed by the then editorial collective was justified. But, there is still much work to be done

The effect of risk-based trading and within-herd measures on Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis spread within and between Irish dairy herds

Johne’s disease (bovine paratuberculosis) is an endemic disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map). Map is transmitted between herds primarily through movement of infected but undetected animals. Within infected herds, possible control strategies include improving herd hygiene by reducing calf exposure to faeces from cows, reducing stress in cows resulting in a longer latently infected period where shedding is minimal, or culling highly test-positive cows soon after detection. Risk-based trading can be a strategy to reduce the risk that Map spreads between herds. Our objective was to assess whether within-herd measures combined with risk-based trading could effectively control Map spread within and between dairy cattle herds in Ireland. We used a stochastic individual-based and between-herd mechanistic epidemiological model to simulate Map transmission. Movement and herd demographic data were available from 1st January 2009–31st December 2018. In total, 13,353 herds, with 4,494,768 dairy female animals, and 72,991 bulls were included in our dataset. The movement dataset consisted of 2,304,149 animal movements. For each herd, a weekly indicator was calculated that reflected the probability that the herd was free from infection. The indicator value increased when a herd tested negative, decreased when animals were introduced into a herd, and became 0 when a herd tested positive. Based on this indicator value, four Johne’s assurance statuses were distinguished: A) ≥ 0.7 – 1.0, B) ≥ 0.3 – 0.0 – < 0.3, and D) 0.0. A is the highest and D the lowest Johne’s assurance status. With risk-based trading some of the observed movements between herds were redirected based on Johne’s assurance status with the aim of reducing the risk that a non-infected herd acquired an infected animal. Risk-based trading effectively reduced the increase in herd prevalence over a 10-year-period in Ireland: from 50% without risk-based trading to 42% with risk-based trading in the metapopulation only, and 26% when external purchases were risk-based as well. However, for risk-based trading to be effective, a high percentage of dairy herds had to participate. The most important within-herd measures were improved herd hygiene and early culling of highly infectious cows. These measures reduced both herd and within-herd prevalence compared to the reference scenario. Combining risk-based trading with within-herd measures reduced within-herd prevalence even more effectively.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Attribution of responsibility for sexual crimes beyond individual actors – construction of responsibility of offenders, victims and society in laypersons’ explanations

This study analyses laypersons’ explanations for sexual violence. It focusses on how the responsibility for sexual crimes is constructed and attributed, and moreover, what kind of effect this has on the attribution of blame. The research data consist of 105 opinion pieces published in the leading Finnish newspaper since the beginning of the 21st century. The theory-driven qualitative analysis utilises attribution theory and focusses on laypersons’ interpretations and explanations for unusual acts and events deviating from social norms. Attribution theory is commonly utilised in relation to micro-level actors, the offender and the victim, whereas in this article, it is broadened to include also society as a macro-level actor. The analysis reveals that the construction of responsibility derives from (I) the chronological presentation and explanation of sexual crimes; especially (II) the causality attached to chronological phases, which emphasises the victim’s actions prior to the crime; and (III) the construction of active female agency against male passivity or absence of the perpetrator. Moreover, blame is based on a combination of active agency, produced in the analysed explanations, and stereotypical features connected to female gender (e.g. rape myths)

Contesting the Dominant Discourse of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Subjects, Agency, and Ethics

Responding to previous scholars’ call to explore the complexities of child sexual abuse (CSA), this article presents narratives of CSA and scrutinizes a binary construction underpinning this discourse of CSA, namely, the positioning of children as powerless and adults as powerful. The narratives belong to three Indonesian young people who have had sexual interactions with adults when they were children. The findings demonstrate how this binary positioning has been both drawn upon and resisted in the ways participants understand their sexual experiences. This article contributes to the existing literature by providing analyses of some vignettes of everyday experiences of how children might be constituted as sexual subjects, including their capability to exercise agency, perform resistance, and negotiate ethics. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to how the recognition of children as sexual subjects and their sexual agency might be beneficial for parents, educators, and counselors