By Jorge García Hombrados and Lindsey Novak  

A sizable share of marriages in several Asian and African countries are initiated by the man abducting the woman he wishes to wed. In this paper, we use quantitative and qualitative methods to characterize the practice of abduction marriage in Ethiopia. We first present the results from in-depth qualitative surveys with community leaders and abducted women in the Gambella region of Ethiopia to gain a deeper understanding of how the practice functions in these communities. These interviews suggest that abduction is typically used to overcome the refusal of the woman’s family. Second, we use Demographic and Health Survey along with ethnographic data to characterize women and ethnic groups affected by this practice in Ethiopia. Finally, we empirically examine the central hypothesis about the persistence of this practice and find evidence consistent with the hypothesis that men often use abduction to improve bargaining power in marriage negotiations and reduce the size of the bride price payment. Specifically, we demonstrate that droughts—a proxy for income shocks in this setting— increase the probability of abduction marriage only for women from ethnic groups that traditionally exchange a bride price

Bonn:  IZA – Institute of Labor Economics . 2024. 50p.

By Stephen Reimer and Matthew Redhead

Numerous deadly terrorist attacks across Europe – from the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and the Manchester Arena bombing of 2016 to the far-right firearms assault in Hanau, Germany in early 2020 – demonstrate that self-activating terrorism (sometimes referred to as lone actor or small cell terrorism) has become a major security concern for the continent. Much of the current ‘conventional wisdom’ around these kinds of actors assumes that terrorist financing and a counterterrorist financing (CTF) response are not relevant to this growing threat. Reports of attacks involving little to no preparation or financial resourcing have shaped a false perception that self-activator activity produces no usable financial intelligence. This has generated a high degree of unease among both CTF professionals in law enforcement, whose role it is to use legal investigatory powers to apprehend terrorists and would-be terrorists, and practitioners in the financial services sector, whose controls and instruments are designed to identify and report abuse of the financial system by terrorists planning attacks. The natural fear is that if the private sector cannot produce the kind of financial intelligence required, then law enforcement cannot do its job as effectively as it might. In light of this, the European Commission commissioned RUSI Europe to carry out this research study as part of Project CRAAFT, which seeks to answer two related research questions: 

• How do self-activating terrorists operating in Europe conduct their financial attack preparations? 
   

• How should the CTF regime be changed to meet this pervasive terrorist threat? 

For evidence, the research team reviewed relevant academic and policy literature and credible media reports, conducted 37 semi-structured interviews with relevant experts, reviewed 106 cases of successful and disrupted self-activated attacks in Europe between January 2015 and November 2020, and carried out three in-depth case study analyses. 

RUSI Occasional Paper, May 2021 51p.   

By Peter Leasure, Maria M. Orsini and Dexter Ridgway

The current paper builds upon previous research and seeks to estimate the likelihood of a drug arrest/violation across race/ethnicity and gender using data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Research seeking to identify disparities is important as appropriate policy interventions to address concerns about inequities can only be soundly explored after the identification of any disparities. This paper begins with a discussion of the data and analytic strategy. In the subsequent section, results are presented. It is critical for readers to understand that this study only seeks to identify if racial/ethnic disparities in drug arrests/violations exist and does not seek to identify the underlying causes of any disparities. Therefore, any results of this study should not be used to imply that the enforcement practices of the Ohio State Highway Patrol are discriminatory in any way. 

Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 880, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, September 2024, 

By Meghan M. O'Neil and Peter Leasure

This study explored, among persons undergoing drug treatment, whether one’s likelihood of possessing any felony charge differed depending upon their primary drug of choice. The results showed that individuals in drug treatment who reported cocaine or heroin/opioids as their primary drug of choice had significantly higher probabilities of having a felony charge than those who reported alcohol as their primary drug of choice.

Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 878,

By Shiying Zhang, Ao Huang

There have been numerous debates regarding the educational practice of grade retention and social promotion. This study analyzes the effect of an exogenous policy reform in China that abolishes grade retention during the compulsory education period. We exploit the staggered introduction of the reform across provinces and estimate a flexible difference-in-differences model that can capture the effect of exposure to the reform in different grades. The results indicate that abolishing grade retention significantly decreases the probability of junior high school completion, and most of these negative impacts are concentrated among students exposed to the reform in early grades. Moreover, rural children and boys are more likely to be negatively affected by the reform. Finally, we find that the reform increases the likelihood of later criminal behavior in early adulthood.

Unpublished paper, 2024.

By Fredrik Kärrholm, Peter Neyroud & John Smaaland

Research Question -  Which method for deriving a Crime Harm Index (Policing 10:171 183, 2016) for Sweden from criminal justice sources offers the best evidence for providing a sensitive indicator of differences in harm levels across offence categories? Data The number of days of imprisonment for each offence category associated with five different kinds of scales were extracted and compared: consensus by an expert panel of judges, the statutory maximum penalties, statutory minimum penalties, the average of maximum and minimum penalties and the average of actual sentences imposed in a recent time period for each crime type. Unlike the UK, for which the Cambridge Crime Harm Index draws on sentencing guidelines, Sweden has no such guidelines to offer. Methods - The data were compared for sensitivity defined as the difference in length of imprisonment days between high and low severity crimes, as well as other characteristics of the data sources. Findings - Given the available alternatives, the sentencing data average of actual sentences handed down by crime type provided the greatest reliability and sensitivity across the penalties for offences of high and low severity. Applying that method to both crime trends and crime mapping produces substantially different results from counting all crimes with equal weight and can be used by police and others to allocate resources with greater precision in relation to harm prevention. Conclusions - On both empirical and normative grounds, the average sentences in a recent time period for each crime category provides the most sensitive and democratic method for establishing an officially recognized Swedish Crime Harm Index.  

Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing 4(1): 15–33. 2021.  

By Jo‑Anne Kramer,  Arjan A. J. Blokland, ·Edward R. Kleemans, Melvin R. J. Soudijn

In order to launder large amounts of money, (drug) criminals can seek help from financial facilitators. According to the FATF, these facilitators are operating increasingly business like and even participate in professional money laundering networks. This study examines the extent to which financial facilitators in the Netherlands exhibit business-like charac teristics and the extent to which they organize themselves in money laundering networks. We further examine the relationship between business-like behavior and individual money launderers’ position in the social network. Using police intelligence data, we were able to analyze the contacts of 198 financial facilitators who were active in the Netherlands in the period 2016–2020, all having worked for drug criminals. Based on social network analysis, this research shows that financial facilitators in the Netherlands can be linked in extensive money laundering networks. Based on the facilitators’ area of expertise, roughly two main types of professional money laundering networks can be discerned. Some subnetworks operate in the real estate sector, while others primarily engage in underground banking. Furthermore, the application of regression models to predict business-like behavior using individual network measures shows that facilitators with more central positions in the net work and those who collaborate with financial facilitators from varying expertise groups tend to behave more business-like than other financial facilitators

Kramer JA, Blokland AAJ, Kleemans ER & Soudijn MRJ 2023. Money laundering as a service: Investigating business-like behavior in money laundering networks in the Netherlands. Trends in Organized Crime.

By Peter Gerbrands, Brigitte Unger, Michael Getzner & Joras Ferwerda 

Aim

There is a growing literature analyzing money laundering and the policies to fight it, but the overall effectiveness of anti-money laundering policies is still unclear. This paper investigates whether anti-money laundering policies affect the behavior of money launderers and their networks.

Method

With an algorithm to match clusters over time, we build a unique dataset of multi-mode, undirected, binary, dynamic networks of natural and legal persons. The data includes ownership and employment relations and associated financial ties and is enriched with criminal records and police-related activities. The networks of money launderers, other criminals, and non-criminal individuals are analyzed and compared with temporal social network analysis techniques and panel data regressions on centrality measures, transitivity and assortativity indicators, and levels of constraint.

Findings

We find that after the announcement of the fourth EU anti-money laundering directive in 2015, money laundering networks show a significant increase in the use of foreigners and corporate structures. At the individual level, money launderers become more dominant in criminal clusters (increased closeness centrality). This paper shows that (the announcement of) anti-money laundering policies can affect criminal networks and how such effects can be tested.

EPJ Data Science, 11(1), [15]

By Joras Ferwerda, Alexander van Saase, Brigitte Unger & Michael Getzner

 It is important to understand the amounts and types of money laundering flows, since they have very different effects and, therefore, need different enforcement strategies. Countries that mainly deal with criminals laundering their proceeds locally, need other measures than countries that mainly deal with foreign illegal investments or dirty money just flowing through the country. This paper has two main contributions. First, we unveil the country preferences of money launderers empirically in a systematic way. Former money laundering estimates used assumptions on which country characteristics money launderers are looking for when deciding where to send their ill‑gotten gains. Thanks to a unique dataset of transactions suspicious of money laundering, provided by the Dutch Institute infobox Criminal and Unexplained Wealth (iCOV), we can empirically test these assumptions with an econometric gravity model estimation. We use this information for our second contribution: iteratively simulating all money laundering flows around the world. This allows us, for the first time, to provide estimates that distinguish between three different policy challenges: the laundering of domestic crime proceeds, international investment of dirty money and money just flowing through a country  

Ferwerda J, van Saase A, Unger B & Getzner M 2020. Estimating money laundering flows with a gravity model-based simulation. Scientific Reports 10(1).

 By The Idaho Statistical Analysis Center

In 2022, the overall crime rate in Idaho, as measured by offenses reported to the Idaho Incident-Based Reporting System (IIBRS), was at its lowest in years. The overall offense rate in 2022 was 55.2 offenses per 1,000 residents (compared to 97.4 in 2005, a 43% decrease and the lowest in that span). However, the rate of society crimes, which includes drug offenses, increased 47% in the same period. Additionally, drug offenses accounted for a quarter (25%) of all offenses reported in 2022, compared to 9% in 2005. This research brief takes a closer look at substance-related crime in Idaho between 2013 and 2022, the most recent 10-year period for which data is available. 10-year Offense Trend Drug and Alcohol Offense Rates Between 2013 and 2022, the total rate of drug and alcohol offenses increased by just 3.4% (from 17.6 offenses per 1,000 residents to 18.2), remaining relatively stable compared to the overall crime trends noted above. However, this stability is due to diverging trends in drug offenses (drug/narcotic violations, drug equipment violations) versus alcohol offenses (driving under the influence, or DUI1; drunkenness; liquor law violations). The drug offense rate increased 31% between 2013 and 2022 (from 10.3 to 13.5), while the alcohol offense rate decreased 36% (from 7.3 to 4.7). 

Meridian, ID: Idaho Statistical Analysis Center, 2024. 22p.

By Pinedo M  , Montero-Zamora P , Pasch KE , Schwartz SJ 

Background: The role of immigration policies as political determinants of health among US-born Latinos is signifi- cantly understudied. Immigration policies can produce immigration-related stressors that have ‘spill over’ effects on the health behaviors of US-born Latinos. However, less is known about how immigration-related stressors relate to substance misuse among US-born Latinos. Methods: 1,784 US-born Latinos were recruited via web-panels in September 2021 to complete an online ques- tionnaire. Inclusion criteria included: (1) self-identifying as Latino; (2) born in the US; and (3) being 18 years of age or older. Participants were asked 14-items related to immigration-related stressors and past-year substance use behaviors. Dependent variables included past-year: heavy drinking, high intensity drinking, illicit drug use, prescription drug misuse, cannabis use, cocaine use, methamphetamine use, prescription sedative misuse, and prescription opioid misuse. Two separate multivariable logistic regression models were conducted for each out- come to investigate associations between (1) specific immigration-related stressors and substance misuse; and (2) experiencing greater (vs. fewer) number of immigration-related stressors and substance misuse. Results: On average, US-born Latinos reported experiencing 3 immigration-related stressors. In multivariable analyses, being fearful or worried about being detained for immigration reasons was associated with increased odds of engaging in heavy drinking, high intensity drinking, and illicit drug use. Having ever feared or worried about being potentially deported for immigration reasons and having ever witnessed or experienced an immi- gration raid was associated with high intensity drinking. Parental detentions and deportations in childhood were independently associated with high intensity drinking, illicit drug use, and prescription drug misuse. Notably, greater number of immigration-related stressor experiences increased the odds of substance misuse. Conclusion: Punitive immigration and enforcement policies give rise to multiple stressors that may render US- born Latinos vulnerable to misusing substances as a way of coping. Policies and public health interventions aimed at preventing and treating substance misuse should consider how immigration policies impact the behaviors of US-born Latinos.

International Journal of Drug Policy, 106, 2022

By Arjun Punaji

India has risen as a global attraction, captivating audiences with its vibrant cinematic innovations, rich artistic heritage, and profound literary works. These very expressions, however, sometimes clash with the state's desire to follow expected moral codes. The government, wary of "immoral activities" within these creative mediums, prescribes certain norms and imposes penalties for non-compliance. One such contested area is "obscenity," a concept with criminal law repercussions. This paper delves into Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the concept of obscenity. I will analyse the current legal tests and thresholds for obscenity in light of a rapidly changing world that demands more liberal legislation. Since "obscenity" often aligns with "socially immoral codes," I will examine obscene material through the lens of legal moralism. This paper's main focus is to examine the sanctity and clarity of ‘contemporary community standard’ and also examine that does morality and decency have static meanings or changes over time. Though the ‘Contemporary Community Standard’ is a good law at present, and invoked this standard repeatedly, courts were unable to define and clarify what the contemporary community standard constitutes. My argument is that this standard is problematic and unconvincing since the ‘Contemporary community standard’ itself is highly subjective because within the same community, both conservative and liberal ideas meet and one’s ugliness may become another’s creativity and freedom of expression. Also, morality does not uniformly apply in the same society. What I ‘like’ and approve of material or content may be ‘disgusting’ to others and the ‘contemporary community’ belongs to all sections of society such as rich and poor, readers and illiterates, old and adult, conservatives, and liberals. Therefore, I examine this standard through a ‘legal moralism’ perspective. This includes exploring the famous arguments of Lord Devlin in his "The Enforcement of Morals" lecture, along with the counter-arguments presented by H.L.A. Hart and Ronald Dworkin. Furthermore, we will investigate some of India's landmark (or controversial) obscenity cases. These cases often rely heavily on Western legal interpretations like the Hicklin Test, Miller Test, and the Contemporary Community Standard Test, without providing clear explanations for their application in the Indian context. This analysis aims to demonstrate why India needs to reevaluate its current legal tests in light of societal changes. Then I will propose the "harm principle" as a framework for regulating obscenity, advocating for a higher threshold for punishment. By taking a critical look at existing legal frameworks and advocating for a harm based approach, we can ensure that India's vibrant artistic expressions can flourish while upholding a sense of community decency.

National Law School of Indian University

By Hamid Azizi and Caitlin Elizabeth Hughes

The drug trade has garnered significant attention as a critical funding source for various terrorist organisations. This systematic review summarises the existing empirical knowledge about the Taliban and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (FARC) involvement, and profit from the drug trade, and methods of estimating drug trade revenue. Thirty-one studies were identified. Twenty-three about the Taliban, seven about the FARC, and one about both groups. Estimates of annual profit varied from US$19 to US$500 million for the Taliban and US$140 to US$3.5 billion for the FARC. Fourteen of the twenty-four studies about the Taliban provided an estimate and merely six studies discussed the methods used to generate those estimates. Among the eight studies about the FARC, four provided an estimate but one described the method employed. Studies used a variety of information sources. The review shows the need for caution regarding existing estimates and a more methodologically rigorous analysis of linkages.

Global Crime, 2024, VOL. 25, NO. 2, 122–155

By O’Mochain, Robert and Ueno, Yuki

Bringing together two voices, practice and theory, in a collaboration that emerges from lived experience and structured reflection upon that experience, O’Mochain and Ueno show how entrenched discursive forces exert immense influence in Japanese society and how they might be most effectively challenged. With a psychosocial framework that draws insights from feminism, sociology, international studies, and political psychology, the authors pinpoint the motivations of the nativist right and reflect on the change of conditions that is necessary to end cultures of impunity for perpetrators of sexual abuse in Japan. Evaluating the value of the #MeToo model of activism, the authors offer insights that will encourage victims to come out of the shadows, pursue justice, and help transform Japan’s sense of identity both at home and abroad. Ueno, a female Japanese educator and O’Mochain, a non-Japanese male academic, examine the nature of sexual abuse problems both in educational contexts and in society at large through the use of surveys, interviews, and engagement with an eclectic range of academic literature. They identify the groups within society who offer the least support for women who pursue justice against perpetrators of sexual abuse. They also ask if far-right ideological extremists are fixated with proving that so called “comfort women” are higaisha-buru or “fake victims.” Japan would have much to gain on the international stage were it to fully acknowledge historical crimes of sexual violence, yet it continues to refuse to do so. O’Mochain and Ueno shed light on this puzzling refusal through recourse to the concepts of ‘international status anxiety’ and ‘male hysteria.’ An insightful read for scholars of Japanese society, especially those concerned about its treatment of women.

London; New York: Routledge, 2023. 

By Luca Giommoni

This review examines a series of twelve studies led by James K. Cunningham and his team, focusing on the effects of precursor regulation on illicit drug markets. Their research shows that the regulation of chemicals essential for the production of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine is associated with several positive outcomes. These include a decrease in drug purity, a reduction in seizures, lower demand for treatment and hospitalization, and an increase in drug prices. According to the research, this decrease in harmful outcomes results from a combination of diminished overall consumption and a reduction in harm per dose. However, this review identifies some inconsistencies within their studies. These inconsistencies include premature assumptions about the timing of intervention impacts, uneven influences of similar interventions, variations in the implementation of these interventions, and the disregard of alternate explanations for sudden shifts in drug markets. Cunningham's work can be considered one of the most substantial contributions in this field. However, to secure the full confidence of the drug policy community in the authenticity of their findings, they must effectively address the issues identified in this review.

International Journal of Drug Policy 17 June 2024, 104498

By Amanda T. Dinwiddie, MPH1; Stephanie Gupta, MPH1; Christine L. Mattson, PhD1; Julie O’Donnell, PhD1; Puja Seth, PhD1 

What is already known about this topic?: During 2022, nearly 108,000 persons died of drug overdose in the United States. Persons with substance use disorders and non–substance-related mental health disorders, which frequently co-occur, are at increased risk for overdose.

What is added by this report?: In 2022, 22% of persons who died of drug overdose had a non–substance-related mental health disorder. The most common disorders were depressive (13%) and anxiety (9%). Approximately one quarter of decedents with a non–substance-related mental health disorder had at least one recent potential opportunity for intervention (e.g., current treatment for substance use disorders or recent emergency department visit).

What are the implications for public health practice?: Implementing evidence-based screening for substance use and mental health disorders during potential intervention opportunities and expanding efforts to integrate care for these disorders could improve mental health and reduce overdoses.

Drug overdose deaths remain a public health crisis in the United States; nearly 107,000 and nearly 108,000 deaths occurred in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Persons with mental health conditions are at increased risk for overdose. In addition, substance use disorders and non–substance-related mental health disorders (MHDs) frequently co-occur. Using data from CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, this report describes characteristics of persons in 43 states and the District of Columbia who died of unintentional or undetermined intent drug overdose and had any MHD. In 2022, 21.9% of persons who died of drug overdose had a reported MHD. Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria, the most frequently reported MHDs were depressive (12.9%), anxiety (9.4%), and bipolar (5.9%) disorders. Overall, approximately 80% of overdose deaths involved opioids, primarily illegally manufactured fentanyls. Higher proportions of deaths among decedents with an MHD involved antidepressants (9.7%) and benzodiazepines (15.3%) compared with those without an MHD (3.3% and 8.5%, respectively). Nearly one quarter of decedents with an MHD had at least one recent potential opportunity for intervention (e.g., approximately one in 10 decedents were undergoing substance use disorder treatment, and one in 10 visited an emergency department or urgent care facility within 1 month of death). Expanding efforts to identify and address co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (e.g., integrated screening and treatment) and strengthen treatment retention and harm reduction services could save lives.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Weekly / August 29, 2024 / 73(34);747–753

Edited by: Judith Goetz and Stefanie Mayer

This new book brings together research and analyses from five continents in order to promote a global perspective on the thoroughly global phenomenon of the current culture wars around sex and gender. The contributions show how transnational networks spread discourses that were developed in the Global North, and how they become re-articulated in different national, political and religious contexts.In recent years, issues of gender and sexuality have become a political battlefield on which far-right, religious and conservative actors wage their war against liberal and left-wing ideas, as well as emancipatory movements. 'Anti-Gender' crusades, which had originally been launched by the Vatican, deeply impacted societies and politics especially as these discourses were adopted by the secular far-right. Campaigns against sexual and reproductive rights, against gender equality and sexual diversity were waged from Russia to the United States and from Latin America to Japan.

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2024.

By  Rafael Duarte Villa, Camila de Macedo Braga1 and Marcos Alan S. V. Ferreira

In several Latin American countries, social violence has risen to warlike levels. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the extent of social violence and the new (informal) forms of governance generated by the so-called violent nonstate actors (VNSAs). Where a state’s forces fail to provide for the physical protection and social security of its citizens, some areas are governed by a mix of formal (vertical) and informal (horizontal) forms of governance, mixing state and nonstate actors. In these socially bounded spaces, nonstate actors produce and distribute public goods similarly as the state does. In this article, we explore how hybrid governance has appeared in the South American region, considering the operation of two regional VNSAs, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) in Brazil and the Bandas Criminales (BACRIM) in Colombia. We show that such VNSAs are significant agents for security governance, as they challenge preconceived notions of state authority (legitimacy)  

2021, Latin American Research Review

By Spencer Chainey Nathalie Alvarado Rodrigo Serrano–Berthet

Hot spots policing (HSP) is an effective approach for decreasing crime. This guide is designed to help police agencies better understand and make practical use of this policing strategy. The guide explains how HSP works in helping to decrease crime, and describes the processes involved in implementing a successful program in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). It also offers practical advice on how to address many of the challenges involved in implementing HSP, how to evaluate its impact, and how to complement it with other policing approaches to help sustain decreases in crime. Included throughout the publication are case studies from the region that help illustrate how HSP is applied. The guide also answers questions that are often asked about HSP, such as issues associated with the displacement of crime.

Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank - IDB 2024. 149p.

By Simone Cecchini and Jorge Martínez Pizarro

In Latin America and the Caribbean, where every country is a country of origin, destination, return or transit, international migration is becoming ever more complex and intensive. Migratory flows are increasingly characterized by irregularity; and migrants represent one of the most vulnerable population groups, as victims of stigmatization, discrimination, xenophobia and racism. However, migrants contribute to sustainable development through work, entrepreneurship, remittances and tax payments, in addition to their culture. To enhance these contributions, public policies and migration governance are needed at the multilateral, national and local levels, based on the interaction between migration and development and fulfilment of the countries’ human rights obligations.

CEPAL Review No. 141 • December 2023