By Madeline Brashear, Sarah Diaz

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly within California, Arizona, and Texas, exists one of the largest mass graves in the world, both perpetuated and ignored by the U.S. government. Since 1998, the remains of over 7,500 migrants1 have been recovered around the U.S.-Mexico border and over 7,667 are still missing.2 According to data compiled by the Missing Migrants Project, “more lives are known to be lost in the United States of America than in all other countries in the Americas combined.”3 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has found that the Mexico-United States border is the zone of the most border deaths in the Americas, due in large part to the “harsh conditions of the arduous desert trek,” and is the third-highest zone of border deaths in the world.4 These numbers, while incredibly high, are a significant undervaluation, as thousands of migrants are reported missing each year, yet to be discovered.5 Many of these missing perished in the remote regions of the desert, their bodies will never be recovered, and their stories may never be told. An accurate calculation of the death toll will never be known.6 This brutal reality is the product of our nation’s immigration laws and policies: Border Patrol disguises the impact of its current enforcement policy by mobilizing a combination of sterilized discourse, redirected blame, and “natural” environmental processes that erase evidence of what happens in the most remote parts of southern Arizona. The goal is to render invisible the innumerable consequences this socio-political phenomenon has for the lives and bodies of undocumented people.7 In Arizona alone, the remains of approximately 3,500 migrants have been recovered since 1990. 8 Over one third of those recovered remain unidentified due to the state of decomposition in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert.9 The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME), located in southern Arizona along the Tucson sector of the border, continues to be the agency that investigates the highest number of migrant deaths in the United States.10 While the local medical examiners work diligently to recover and identify missing migrants, the federal government does nothing to ameliorate the problem they created. It leaves that task to the border communities affected by this silent violence. For over twenty years, humanitarian organizations, NGOs, and scholars have sounded the alarm, expecting the United States government to take action to prevent the preventable.11 Instead of enacting policies to stop the deadly policies, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and within it, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have consistently enacted policies that have only amplified the problem.

CLALS Working Paper Series, No. 44 (Nov. 2023) Washington, DC: American University,

Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, 2023. 38p.

By Sarah J. Diaz, Jenny Lee

In the spring of 2018, United States citizens bore witness to the unfathomable: children, toddlers, and even breastfeeding infants were ripped screaming from their parents’ arms by U.S. immigration officials and then disappeared into government detention. The events that took place shocked the collective conscience, moving American mothers to march with their children to government immigration offices across the country to demand a halt to the program. The policy of family separations, or parent-child separations, was formally announced by the Trump Administration through a memo entitled “Zero Tolerance” and defended by the administration as not only permissible but required by U.S. law. The Biden Administration condemned the phenomenon as a “human tragedy that occurred when our immigration laws were used to intentionally separate children from their parent or legal guardians (families).” However, there have been no pronouncements by the Biden Administration that the Zero Tolerance policy was anything other than a legitimate, albeit unfortunate, immigration policy. The global community cannot allow the Trump Administration’s policy of family separation to be accepted as a legitimate government immigration policy. Instead, it is imperative to recognize that the policy of family separation, and the manner in which parent-child separations were carried out, constitute crimes against humanity. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The following document synthesizes data gathered from litigation, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and publicly available reports written by NGOs, government bodies, and international organizations alike to determine exactly how the Trump Administration’s policy of parent-child separations via Zero Tolerance unfolded. The review uncovered the following key findings of fact explored extensively in the Findings of Fact section of this report: • Throughout the Trump Administration’s four years in power, top government leaders deployed nativist, xenophobic and increasingly inflammatory rhetoric to describe Central American migration. This rhetoric stemmed from the top, emboldening its widespread use amongst rank-and-file officers at the southern border. Trump himself disparaged Central American migration as a “violent invasion” or an “infestation”—at one point calling migrants “animals.” Then-DHS Secretary John Kelly’s rhetoric revealed an attitude of insidious structural racism toward Central American migrants in which he referred to them as “rural people with limited education who don’t have skills nor integrate well.” The rhetoric at the top was replicated by line officials, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was eventually described as having “a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants.” • The Trump Administration implemented the policy of family separation with the specific intent to deter migration from Central America (specifically, from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – referred to as the “Northern Triangle”). Then-DHS Secretary John Kelly specifically indicated to the media that family separation was being considered to deter future migration to the southern border by Central American families. The policy was only implemented at the southern border and was never carried out along the northern border, coastal ports of entry, or ports of entry in the interior. • Family separation was first carried out in secret, away from the public eye, and denied by the Trump Administration. In the spring of 2017, long before the formal implementation of Zero Tolerance, the government quietly launched family separation pilots in Yuma and El Paso. The Trump Administration denied the existence of the pilot programs even as immigration and child welfare advocates offered evidence of a sharp increase in the separation of infants and toddlers from their parents. • Terrorizing children and families was central to the government’s policy, not merely an unfortunate byproduct. From the beginning of the Trump Administration, the government openly stated that it was considering family separation as a tool of deterrence. While the Trump Administration repeatedly claimed that separation was merely incidental to a policy of prosecution, recently released government emails show an administration furiously working to enforce separation even when it was not necessary, when it could have been avoided, and even when other government agencies were trying to immediately reunify families. The secret pilot programs demonstrated the inevitable harms to separated children (including losing children into detention systems, protracting separation, exacerbating harm) but these lessons were deliberately ignored by the Trump Administration. • The Trump Administration was at all times aware of the unthinkable and lasting harm that the family separation policy would cause to children. Researchers have documented the harm of parent-child separation for decades. In the midst of the Trump Administration’s separation of families, medical experts were unequivocal in their condemnation: family separation causes lasting and profoundly harmful physical and psychological effects on children. The American Academy of Pediatrics described the practice as “state-sanctioned child abuse.” The medical community denounced the practice as a form of child torture. In fact, the government’s own detention facilities recorded family separations as “abuse in DHS custody.” • The Trump Administration exploited harm to children to employ pervasive and illegal coercive practices to force deportations of separated families. One report contains evidence that U.S. government officials used physical and verbal threats, deception and intimidation to coerce separated parents into signing forms to relinquish their right to request asylum and to opt instead for deportation. The trauma of being separated from their children, as well as the coercive environment created by government officials, made it extremely difficult for parents to participate meaningfully in the legal process. Thirty percent of mothers reported that immigration officers threatened that if the mother did not sign the deportation order, they would never see their children again. • As of the date of this publication, the Trump Administration separated over 5,500 children from their parents pursuant to the policy of family separations via Zero Tolerance; an accurate number will never be known. According to government records, at least 5,569 children were separated from their parents by the Trump Administration as of January 20, 2021. However, these numbers do not paint the complete picture. In addition to the unreported numbers from Yuma, multiple agencies have reported parent-child separations that were not registered in HHS records.

Chicago: Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2022. 83p.

By Amy Farrell; Meredith Dank; Katherine Kaufka Walts; Callie Hansson; Andrea Hughes; Chlece Neal

The exploitation of children who are working in the United States is a critical social issue. While recent public attention has been directed toward labor abuses of migrant children, there is strong evidence that labor trafficking impacts a wide range of children who experience individual and structural vulnerabilities. Despite public concern about the exploitation and labor trafficking of children, we lack detailed information about what young people are exploited for labor, the contexts under which these abuses occur, and how to best meet the needs of these young survivors – both U.S. citizen and foreign-national. Utilizing data from 71 cases of child labor trafficking either prosecuted by U.S. officials (36) or served by legal advocacy agencies in four U.S. sites (35). Across these cases information was coded for 132 child labor trafficking victims and 145 child labor trafficking perpetrators. Case data was supplemented with in-depth interviews with legal advocates, victim service providers, child welfare, law enforcement and other government officials, as well as adult child labor trafficking survivors, this study fills important gaps in our knowledge

Report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2024. 93p.

By Laura E. McMinn, Juliane A. Kloess, and Zoe Stephenson

Young people with special educational needs (SEN), such as intellectual disability and/or autism, are particularly vulnerable to child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). This mixed-methods systematic literature review consolidates findings in respect to how young people with SEN are currently being taught about CSEA in the UK, incorporating empirical and practice-based findings to counteract publication bias. Key databases were searched, and relevant organizations were contacted regarding studies published between 2015 and 2022 (inclusive). Thirteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 10 adopted a qualitative methodology, and three a mixed-methods approach. The thematic synthesis of the qualitative studies identified the following themes: (a) beliefs and stereotypes about CSEA, vulnerability. and risk have led to young people with SEN being misinformed and misunderstood, and (b) anxiety about the topic of sex and abuse creates polarized views regarding CSEA education in adult guardians of young people with SEN. Themes are discussed in the context of societal biases in respect to vulnerability and risk, and these biases are considered to have a negative effect on how young people with SEN are supported. The findings of this review encourage providers of CSEA awareness education to be mindful of not endorsing harmful stereotypes, and to involve parent–carers as much as possible. This review additionally encourages services and organizations to increase focus on practitioner reflexivity and regular training to counteract potential biases in respect to gender, vulnerability, and risk.

Trauma, Violence, & AbuseVolume 25, Issue 3, July 2024, Pages 2503-2520

By Audrey N. Beck, Sheldon Zhang, Kyle Vincent, Kantar Ghana

This study estimates likely child trafficking and exploitative child labor in three fishing districts around Lake Volta in Ghana. Both international and Ghanaian definitions were applied to determine these populations. Targeting children in fishing villages along the coast of Lake Volta, this study used a household-based probability sampling to reach N=1,286 children. Household parent/caregivers (N=489) were also sampled to understand community perceptions of trafficking and child labor in these areas. Among children interviewed, we find that about 38% were likely victims of human trafficking and an additional 45% were engaged in likely exploitative child labor (i.e., excessive hours, harsh conditions). Additionally, we find that children identified as likely trafficked victims are more frequently exposed to dangerous working conditions, physical and psychological harm. Among children, we find: • Approximately 37.7% (CI=34.3,41.1) of children were identified as likely trafficked victims. • The majority of these children were boys (~60%). • These children were about 13 years old on average. • An additional 45.1% (CI=41.6,48.7) were engaged in likely exploitative child labor conditions only, and 17.2% (CI=14.6,20.2) were doing other child work/ help. • About half of all children engage in fishing tasks out on the lake, such as bailing/scooping water, paddling the boat, diving for nets, etc. • Some of these tasks are particularly dangerous, with 15% reporting going underwater to retrieve nets. • About 20% of children said they were not attending school, citing the need to work as one of the most common reasons for skipping school. Likely trafficked children • Many were working in dangerous conditions (28.6%) or working excessive hours, including: ~22.5 per week on average, 34.4% working six days a week, and 13.7% reporting working seven days a week. • More than half worked while it was dark. • 58% of likely trafficked children report extreme fatigue, 55% report severe stomach aches, and 51% report severe back and joint pain. About 40% expressed feeling sad, hopeless, or having little interest in things. • Emotional violence, such as being belittled and insulted, was significantly higher among likely trafficked children (25.3%) than those in likely exploitative child labor (12.3%). A similar pattern emerges for physical violence and threats of violence, with 36.7% of likely trafficked children experiencing such conditions. • Likely trafficked children experienced the highest levels of restrictions on their freedom, perceived exit or work refusal costs, and emotional and physical abuse at work. Among parent/guardians, we find: • Nearly 20% know of a child brought to their village to work, while about 34% know of a child not enrolled in school (most commonly to support their family economically). • About a fifth have witnessed children engaged in dangerous fishing tasks, with about 10% noting they have seen boys being treated badly in fishing. • However, most parent/caregivers believed children enjoyed working in fishing, most commonly because it allowed them to earn money for themselves or their family. • Knowledge of labor laws is lacking, with only 9% reporting their employers are knowledgeable about most labor laws. Using rigorous probability-based methods, this study finds child labor in the fishing industry to be pervasive in the villages along Lake Volta, dangerous and abusive working conditions to be common, and the number of potential child trafficking victims to be alarming. In addition to probability household sampling, we also used population-based calibrations to weight our results. These results point to the need for increased efforts to enforce child protection laws, eliminate abusive working conditions for children, and improve access to child welfare and education services. More importantly, periodic assessment through repeated measures should be built into all anti-child trafficking or anti-human trafficking efforts to evaluate program outcomes and monitor progress.

Washington, DC: International Justice Mission, 2023. 31p.

By Kirsten Singleton, Katrina B. Stone, and Julie Stricker

Past studies have demonstrated the presence of child work, child labor, and child trafficking within Lake Volta’s fishing industry—highlighting that many children live outside the legal safeguards Ghana has established to protect child welfare—and have also documented the hazards and hardships faced by these children. However, prior to this mixed methods baseline study, the extent of child trafficking into forced labor on Lake Volta could only be inferred. The purpose of this baseline study was to document the scope and nature of child trafficking in Lake Volta’s fishing industry. Methodology IJM conducted two primary data collection efforts: 1) an operational assessment in the southern region of Lake Volta in 2013; and 2) a qualitative research study in destination and source communities in 2015. 1. Operational assessment in the southern region of Lake Volta: In 2013, IJM conducted an operational assessment on Lake Volta to determine the scale of child trafficking into forced labor. This assessment was conducted in IJM’s intended project area (the southern portion of the lake, which ranges from south of the Abotasi fishing village and east of the Akosombo Dam). Over the course of 17 days during June and July, data collectors conducted interviews with children and/or adults in a total of 982 occupied boats (canoes) classifying the trafficking status of all children interviewed or observed. 2. Qualitative study in destination and source communities: In 2015, IJM hired a local Ghanaian research firm to conduct in-depth qualitative research in the top three destination and top three source communities identified by the southern operational assessment. In total, the study team conducted 32 focus group discussions with targeted community members involved in Lake Volta’s fishing industry—including young adults who had worked in the fishing industry as children; men in the fishing industry; women in destination communities who host children; and parents/guardians who send children to Lake Volta—and interviewed 51 key informants. To further triangulate information, the study team documented five accounts with survivors of trafficking and profiled six fishing villages in which focus group discussions were conducted. Results - Findings from the distinct yet complementary studies in 2013 and 2015 reveal that the majority of children working in Lake Volta’s fishing industry are 10 years old or younger. This shows that the majority of children are too young to legally conduct the hazardous tasks inherent in many aspects of the fishing industry. Although the 2013 operational assessment overwhelmingly found boys working on Lake Volta (99.3% of children on the southern region of the lake were boys), the 2015 study found that girls also work in—and are trafficked into—the fishing industry. The findings demonstrate that girls have different roles in the fishing industry, completing most tasks somewhere onshore or further inland instead of on the lake where the 2013 assessment occurred. The 2015 study also revealed that both boys and girls have physically demanding, and sometimes hazardous, roles in Lake Volta’s fishing industry. The 2013 operational assessment found that more than half (57.6%, 444/771) of children working on southern Lake Volta’s waters were trafficked into forced labor. In 2015, each of the fishing communities sampled during the qualitative study confirmed the presence of child trafficking. Across destination communities, most respondents estimated that 60% or more of the children working in the fishing industry were born in other communities. In source communities, most respondents estimated that between 20-50% of children leave the community specifically to work in Lake Volta’s fishing industry. Data collection in 2013 and 2015 found that children trafficked into the fishing industry had contractual agreements for their exploitation, which were frequently between the trafficker and the child’s parent/guardian. The 2015 study found that while many perpetrators may be low-income fishermen themselves, they do not use trafficked children merely to survive. In fact, exploiting trafficked children enabled them to send their biological children to school and provide better accommodations and clothing for their own family. One male survivor accounted that, “We were more or less like house slaves, because their own children did nothing.” Thus, several factors distinguished trafficked from non-trafficked children, including: access to education, working conditions—such as working longer hours and being assigned more intense, hazardous, or difficult tasks—and improper clothing and shelter. Physical violence committed against children was widespread in Lake Volta’s fishing industry, with parents/guardians in source communities reporting that children were “beaten like goats.” While trafficked children overwhelmingly experienced violence, this was not unique to trafficked children due to the cultural acceptance of physical discipline in Ghana. Qualitative data in 2015 revealed that traffickers controlled children through violence and limiting access to food; and sometimes kept older boys in their employment through sexual rewards and marriage. The latter control tactics rendered girls in the fishing industry vulnerable to multiple forms of victimization. These means of control combined with the working and living conditions affected trafficked children, with key informants citing that survivors displayed signs of trauma and underdeveloped social skills. Further, although everyone acknowledged that there are government programs in place and NGOs that serve trafficking survivors, the service needs of trafficked children far exceeded the availability and accessibility of services. Recommendations The study’s results revealed the need for a holistic, multidisciplinary anti-trafficking intervention which includes: 1) prioritizing the arrest, prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of child trafficking into forced labor and the related psycho-social support of trafficked children; and 2) reducing vulnerability through increased access to education and through economic empowerment. The information in this report can help inform strategies for the identification and investigation of cases of child trafficking, including: methods to reach hidden populations and routine monitoring of trafficking hotspots. Once identified, trafficked children must be provided with appropriate services by the Ghanaian government as well as other community and non-governmental stakeholders. Findings demonstrate the need for strong trauma-informed recovery services for survivors and reintegration support.

Washington, DC: International Justice Mission, 2021. 98p.

By Bronwyn Arnold

Child sexual abuse is presumed to be inherently harmful. During sentencing, the victim’s harm is relevant as a purpose for punishment and for determining the penalty, and the sentencing remarks communicate the reasons underpinning the offender’s punishment. This article explores a sample of sentencing remarks of sexually abused child sexual offenders made in three Australian jurisdictions between 2005 and 2018. It finds that the presumption of harm is routinely extended to the immediate victims, but rarely extended to victim-offenders. In some cases, judges used language which minimized the victim-offenders’ experiences. The article argues that the presumption of harm should be extended to victim-offenders and their harm acknowledged, to promote sentencing’s communicative function and help to facilitate its rehabilitative purpose.

The British Journal of Criminology,

By International Justice Mission

This study examines the prevalence of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in 20 priority cities in the Dominican Republic based on an undercover survey that used quantitative and qualitative methods. Investigators with police training conducted the survey in establishments and public spaces where sexual services are consistently sold. This report presents the current prevalence of CSEC in 2022 and compares it to the results obtained in a 2014 baseline study conducted by IJM (IJM, 2015). IJM used the same methodology in the baseline and endline studies. This report documents a statistically significant reduction in the prevalence of CSEC, which declined from 10.0% in 2014 to 2.2% in 2022. In other words, over the course of eight years, CSEC has become 78.0% less prevalent. Other qualitative data confirm this reduction and suggest it may be due to increased efforts by government authorities. This report also identifies and presents the way in which CSEC currently functions in the Dominican Republic. Although there are various qualitative studies on the efforts of authorities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),1 IJM’s 2014 baseline study and the current study are the only reports that use a systematized methodology to document the current prevalence of CSEC in the Dominican Republic. This study therefore offers authorities important information about the current reality of CSEC. This study is part of a concerted effort by IJM to measure the following indicators of protection: prevalence of the crime; people’s reliance on the public justice system (PJS) for protection; performance of the PJS in reported cases; and key stakeholder confidence in the PJS's response. This series of measurements provides evidence of the extent to which the Dominican public justice system has transformed its response to CSEC and sex trafficking throughout the course of IJM’s intervention.

Washington, DC: IJM, 2022. 64p.

By The International Justice Mission

This study analyzes the response of the Dominican public justice system (PJS) to commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and sex trafficking from 2010 to 2022. It is the first nationwide study of its kind to use a robust methodology and provide concrete data about the performance of the PJS in response to CSEC and sex trafficking, key authorities’ confidence in the response of the PJS, and survivors’ reliance on the PJS for protection. Prior studies have found that CSEC and sex trafficking are widespread in the Dominican Republic and that the effectiveness of the PJS’s response has been inconsistent, with enduring gaps in the area of victim services. These prior studies were qualitative, drawing on the opinions of key government and civil society stakeholders (International Justice Mission [IJM], 2017; Participación Ciudadana, 2022). Ethnographic research on prevalence published by International Justice Mission (IJM) in 2015 found that 10% of people in the Dominican sex industry were minors being sexually exploited. Qualitative studies conducted by IJM and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have identified comprehensive services for victims as one of the largest gaps in the PJS’s response (IJM, 2017; Universidad Iberoamericana [UNIBE], 2022). Each year the government issues a report with an overview of the human trafficking cases it has prosecuted (Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MIREX], 2021). However, this report does not describe the quality or speed of the government's response, nor does it measure the progress of cases towards justice or a complete recovery for victims. In short, there is a lack of quality data on the PJS’s response to CSEC and sex trafficking, which hinders efforts to strengthen the PJS and make evidence-based decisions. This study fills this gap, providing data from a review of prosecutor and police case files, as well as interviews with CSEC survivors, government officials who interact with CSEC or sex trafficking victims in critical moments, and officials who hold leadership positions on CSEC and sex trafficking issues. This study's contribution to research on sex trafficking and CSEC in the Dominican Republic is novel for two reasons. First, it includes the voices of CSEC and sex trafficking survivors and upholds them as essential to informing the government's response. Second, it presents quantitative data based on official documents from the institutions that comprise the PJS. This research forms part of a concerted effort to measure the following indicators of protection: prevalence of the crime; people’s reliance on the public justice system for protection; performance of the PJS in reported cases; and key stakeholder confidence in the PJS’s response. This series of measurements provides evidence of the extent to which the Dominican public justice system has transformed its response to CSEC and sex trafficking throughout the course of IJM’s intervention. When laws are enforced fairly and effectively, potential perpetrators are deterred by the higher risk of punishment, which in turn lowers crime rates. Improved performance means the PJS response is swifter and more frequent, cases progress in criminal proceedings, and proceedings meet quality standards. This enhanced performance then increases people’s reliance on and confidence in the justice system, creating a virtuous cycle of confidence and effectiveness that drives a sustained decline in the prevalence of abuse.

IJM: 2022. 123p.

By The U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The prevalence of human trafficking, forced labor, and child sexual exploitation throughout the world is an urgent humanitarian issue with direct and far-reaching consequences on the United States. Within the United States, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation are grossly prevalent and affect diverse communities. These crimes threaten our physical and virtual borders, our immigration and customs systems, our prosperity, our national security, and are a direct attack on Americans’ personal safety and our country’s public safety. Accordingly, the United States has declared it a national priority to end human trafficking, the importation of goods produced with forced labor, and child sexual exploitation. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is on the frontlines of this fight, protecting the country and collaborating with our partners to stop these crimes. To leverage all of our authorities in this fight, DHS developed a first-of-its-kind Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor, and Child Sexual Exploitation. It represents our vision to end this urgent humanitarian issue, articulates the Department’s long-term approach for combating these crimes, and serves as a framework to prioritize our resources and monitor progress. The strategy outlines five key goals: ONE—Prevention. Reduce the threat by providing information and resources to specific vulnerable populations, schools, and community groups. TWO—Protection. Disrupt illicit activity by identifying and assisting victims toward stability and recovery. THREE—Prosecution. Leverage DHS law enforcement and national security authorities to investigate, take enforcement action, and refer cases for prosecution. FOUR—Partnership. Build strong partnerships throughout the homeland security enterprise as force multipliers across the Nation. FIVE—Enabling DHS. Harmonize and organize DHS programs to allow for maximum efficiency and effectiveness in addressing these threats. Across these five goals there are nine objectives, each with a series of Priority Actions, which will guide the Department in its efforts to combat human trafficking, the importation of goods produced with forced labor, and child sexual exploitation. When implemented, this strategy will strengthen public safety and the security of the border, travel, immigration, and customs systems. It will also assist communities in becoming more resilient against these scourges. DHS is committed to keep fighting against this evil. In collaboration with our homeland security enterprise partners, we will bring trafficking and exploitation to an end and protect communities from further exploitation.

Washington, DC: DHS, 2020. 56p.

By Tom Gotsis

This paper presents data on the increasing prevalence of sexually explicit deepfakes and discusses their harmful impacts. It then examines the relevant Commonwealth and New South Wales (NSW) offences, which were introduced by the Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Act 2024 (Cth) and the Crimes Amendment (Intimate Images) Act 2017 (NSW).

The paper identifies three gaps in NSW’s offences. These gaps are not covered by the Commonwealth offences because those offences apply only when the internet has been used to transmit sexually explicit material. The paper also considers Victoria’s counterpart provisions, which do apply to sexually explicit deepfakes.

Key points

Most of the victims depicted in sexually explicit deepfakes are women.

In 2022, Victoria introduced offences that prohibit producing, distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images of adults.

In 2024 Commonwealth offences were introduced to prohibit a person from using a carriage service, such as the internet, to transmit sexually explicit deepfakes of adults.

NSW does not have offences that expressly prohibit the production and distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes of adults.

The limitations and uncertainties relating to NSW’s intimate image offences could be remedied if they were amended along the lines of the new Commonwealth and Victorian offences

Parliamentary Research Service (NSW), 2025. 25p.

By Sara Kowal, Scott Walker, Zaman Ashraf, Mai Sato

Since 2010, persons convicted of rape offences were executed in at least 9 countries, including India and Pakistan. Moreover, public protests against the rape epidemic, which led governments to introduce capital rape laws, illustrates the need to shine a spotlight in South Asia.

This report examines the use of the death penalty for rape in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The report provides an overview of capital rape laws in these jurisdictions, discusses the everyday ramifications of such laws, and explores existing and potential avenues by which advocates may campaign for reform.

Selangor, Malaysia Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network; Clayton, Victoria: Eleos Justice Faculty of Law, Monash University, 2022. 88p.

By Office of the eSafety Commissioner (Australia)

Coercive control is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship through manipulation, pressure and fear. It’s not one behaviour or incident, but a pattern of controlling behaviour.

This summary report explores attitudes and expectations that could normalise the use of tech-based coercive control in relationships.

People who use coercive control in a relationship are more likely to use physical violence against their partner and any children involved, and there is a greater risk of physical harm, including intimate partner homicide.

When someone uses digital technology as part of that abusive behaviour, it’s known as ‘technology-facilitated coercive control’ or ‘tech-based coercive control’. This can include behaviours such as monitoring and surveillance, cyberstalking with tracking, impersonation, hacking, harassment and abuse. It is often subtle and targeted and this can make it difficult to identify.

The research aims to understand the prevalence of certain harmful expectations and attitudes relating to tech-based surveillance and micro-management (often elements of tech-based coercive control) in intimate relationships.

The findings highlight the need for nuanced and targeted education and communication activities to:

increase awareness of tech-based coercive control

reshape how people think about digital privacy and respect in digital environments when in an intimate relationship

reinforce that consent is an active and ongoing process.

Key findings

Men, younger adults and linguistically diverse adults were more likely to agree with behaviours that could foster an unhealthy dependency or controlling dynamic within intimate relationships.

Men and linguistically diverse adults were more likely to agree that insisting on checking how an intimate partner looks in a photo, wanting them to be constantly available to respond to the partner’s texts and calls, and constantly texting them were all usually a sign of care from a partner within an intimate relationship.

Men, linguistically diverse adults and married adults were more likely to agree that, within an intimate relationship, it was reasonable for a partner to expect to have their partner’s personal passwords and to track them whenever they wanted.

Canberra: Australian Government, 2025. 23p.

By Ionel Zamfir

This comparative analysis of national legislation on rape in European Union Member States provides an overview of legal provisions on the crime of rape, with a focus on the notion of consent. According to the Council of Europe Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence, to which the EU became a party in 2023, lack of consent from victims of rape should be made a constitutive element of the crime. This norm, together with increased social awareness of sexual violence, has inspired a wave of legal reforms in many EU Member States.

Brussels: EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service , 2025. 39p.

By Londeka Ngubane, Sazelo Mkhize, Sogo Angel Olofinbiyi

I n educational context, the term corporal or physical punishment refers to the use of physical force intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort for discipline, correction, and control, changing behavior or in the belief of educating/bringing up the child(Naz, Daraz, Khan; Hossain & Khan (2011). Dar (2012) annotates that corporal punishment is ‘the intentional application of physical pain as method of behaviour change’. It comprises a wide variation of methods such as ‘hitting, slapping, spanking, punching, kicking, pinching, shaking, shoving, choking, use of various objects (i.e., wooden paddles, belts, sticks, pins, or others), painful body postures (such as placing in closed spaces), use of electric shock, use of excessive exercise drills, or prevention of urine or stool elimination’ (Dar 2012). In the context of criminology, corporal punishment refers to some manner of physical punishment inflicted by judicial order on the body of an offender (Naz et al 2011).Majority of children in South Africa have experienced physical punishment by the time they reach adolescence though it was legally abolished in 1996.

Reaserch Gate, 2022, 14p.

By Madeline Rolfe, Beth Mooney, Teresa Hulme, Millie Paine and Sophie Davi

Fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, making up around 41% of all crime against households and people aged 16 and over. 6 Data suggests that the scale of fraud is increasing, with fraud incidents rising by 19% between 2023 to 2024 across the whole population. 7 Fraud causes significant harm to individuals and the economy. 8 It also represents a national threat: fraud is a form of serious and organised crime. 9 One study found two thirds of serious and organised crime groups committing fraud were also involved in other criminal activity. 10 In some cases, proceeds from fraud were used to fund other illegal activity. 11 Tackling fraud is a strategic priority for policing and is included in the Strategic Policing Requirement. 12 The government has also underlined a commitment to tackling fraud in the Fraud Strategy. 13 This is an opportune time to generate insight around how best to tackle fraud. Previous Crest research found initial evidence to suggest that the risk of young people being exposed to and experiencing fraud is disproportionately growing compared to elderly people as the internet increasingly becomes part of their daily lives. 14 However, research to understand children and young people’s (CYP) experiences of fraud is lacking. This research is the first to specifically focus on fraud committed against CYP. It examines reporting data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), interviews with CYP, and nationally representative surveys with both CYP and parents and guardians. Findings from these sources have been triangulated to build a comprehensive picture of fraud experienced by CYP. A wider range of fraud experts have also been engaged throughout this project to ensure our research is cutting edge and informs action in this sector. This research is well timed given Fraud Minister David Hanson’s announcement at the Global Anti-Scam Summit in March 2025 that an expanded fraud strategy is to be developed and published later this year. Key findings Scale and nature of fraud against children and young people 1. Most CYP have been targeted by fraudsters within the last year. According to our survey, 88% of CYP aged 13-21 had been targeted by fraud in the last year. Only 1% of children and young people (CYP) have never encountered fraud. 2. Nearly a third (29%) of CYP have been a victim of fraud. Some CYP are more likely to experience fraud victimisation, including older CYP (aged 18-21) and CYP with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). 3. Milestones where CYP gained new or increased financial independence coincided with fraud victimisation. For example, some of our interviewees experienced fraud after opening their first bank account or getting their first job. There was also evidence of victimisation after CYP received a lump sum of money e.g. the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. 4. The most commonly experienced types of fraud by CYP are advance fee fraud, banking and credit fraud, financial investment fraud, cyber fraud, and identity theft and fraud. Available data suggests that, on average, CYP lose the most money from financial investment fraud. 5. Advance fee fraud is the most commonly recorded fraud against CYP, it accounted for the majority of CYP reports to professionals and was commonly experienced CYP interview participants 6. CYP are more likely to experience fraud on certain online platforms. These were Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Interestingly, these platforms are not where they spend most of their time. Children and young people reporting fraud 1. Nearly two-thirds of CYP told someone about their experience of fraud. The most common person to tell was a parent/guardian, with over half (59%) of survey respondents telling their parent/guardian about their experience. Reporting the fraud to the bank (35%) and Action Fraud (22%) was less common. 2. The most common barrier to reporting fraud was due to feeling that nothing would happen, with 27% stating this reason. Impact of fraud on children and young people 1. CYP reported significant emotional impact as a result of fraud victimisation. Almost half (47%) of survey respondents reported feeling strong emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, frustration as a result of their victimisation; and over a quarter (27%) of survey respondents stated that being a victim of fraud impacted their mental health. 2. Fraud victimisation leads to CYP changing their behaviour. Changing internet use and online activity was a common impact of fraud victimisation amongst CYP, this ranged from being more cautious online with emails, websites and privacy settings to stopping a particular online activity altogether, such as online shopping or online banking.

London: Crest Advisory, 2025. 86p,

By MITCH MORRISSEY & ERIK GAMM

DNA evidence, where it’s available, is crucial to solving sexual assault cases—according to one study, it raises the likelihood of a guilty verdict from less than a third to nearly 75%. The trouble and expense of processing it, however, can create backlogs that put cases on hold for years. Dozens of state and local law-enforcement agencies have faced this problem over the decades since DNA technology emerged.

This year, due in part to years of alleged misconduct by one of its forensic scientists, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found itself with a queue of more than 1,400 untested sexual assault kits and without the means to process new ones promptly. The unsolved cases stuck in this backlog represent substantial further crime risks from repeat offenders, delayed justice for victims, and tangible costs to Colorado’s economy.

Key Findings

By processing all of the 1,369 DNA kits in the state’s backlog, Colorado could prosecute up to 200 rape cases.

This would also prevent up to 1,030 sexual assaults, 108 other violent crimes, 230 property offenses, and 113 drug/alcohol, public disorder, and other crimes.

At a testing cost of $2,000 per kit and adjudication, public-services, and work-loss costs totaling $82,000 per case, clearing the backlog and prosecuting cases associated with it will cost the state $21 million. In return, Colorado’s economy will eventually save $234.7 million due to prevention of future crimes.

The longer authorities take to clear the backlog, the larger the costs and smaller the savings will become.

CSI estimates that, by training 15 more DNA scientists over the next year, CBI will clear its DNA backlog of excess kits by July 2027. Delayed processing of kits currently in the backlog, which are expected to be tested by September 2026, will have allowed $51.8 million worth of additional criminal activity.

Even kits that don't lead to convictions are worth testing for the qualitative benefits they offer, like identifying deceased and incarcerated perpetrators, adding to the national DNA database, and providing closure to victims.

Common Sense Institute, 2025. 12p.

Age is a core part of our identity in the UK, both for adults and for children. As well as being a way of marking growth and maturity, chronological age determines how we are able to participate and develop as members of society and is intrinsically linked to our legal rights. However, for children seeking asylum in the UK, age is increasingly being used as a tool for excluding them from the support and protection to which they are entitled. Hundreds of children are having their ages questioned by border officials when they arrive in this country and are then being sent into the adult system. The government repeatedly claims that there are high numbers of adults pretending to be children, but this is not the case. Instead, our research has found that in 2022 more than 800 children were incorrectly treated as adults by the Home Office and placed alone in accommodation alongside adults, or in immigration detention, at significant risk.

Helen Bamber Foundation i. Asylum Aid, . Humans for Rights Network 2023. 8p

By Jennifer Yahner, Jeanette Hussemann, and Erica Henderson

Over the past two decades, as the proportion of older Americans has increased, so too have instances of elder abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; financial exploitation; and caregiver neglect (Ervin and Henderson 2020; NCEA 2021). The most recent national survey estimates show at least 1 in 10 community-residing older adults experience elder abuse each year (Acierno et al. 2010; Rosay and Mulford 2017), which translates to over 7 million Americans annually. Rates of abuse are magnified for older adults with the least financial and social resources, including those with low incomes, living in isolated rural communities, and facing structural barriers such as systemic racism (Jervis et al. 2016; Joseph and Gonzalez 2018). Emerging research on the COVID-19 pandemic prompts even greater concern for elder abuse: the virus has disproportionately affected older adults, resulting in increased social isolation, physical health impairment, and exposure to COVID-related fraud (Makaroun, Bachrach, and Rosland 2020). Recognizing the urgent need to develop and rigorously evaluate programs aimed at preventing elder abuse, the US Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice funded a demonstration from 2017 to 2021 during which researchers from the Urban Institute and practitioners at the Phoenixbased Area Agency on Aging, Region One (“the Area Agency”) co-developed an elder abuse prevention program in Maricopa County, Arizona, which Urban’s team then evaluated through a randomized controlled pilot study. This multiphase demonstration included an initial planning phase (the activities of which are summarized in Hussemann and Yahner [2019]) and a subsequent pilot study, which is the focus of this report.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2022. 21p.

By Beatriz Magaloni, Kerpel Sofía Marinkovic Dal Poggetto, Tommy E. Murphy, Florencia Pucci, Beatriz Serra Fernández

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has become a powerful and effective tool to deal with violence in many at-risk areas in the world. However, its use for gender-based violence (GBV) and dating violence, although promising, has been limited and used as a response service for survivors, rather than for prevention. To understand to what extent such interventions can help provide tools and skills to young people in their impressionable years to produce behavioral changes that prevent GBV, we carried out such an intervention among high school students in the municipality of Ecatepec in Mexico. We assessed the intervention with a randomized control trial. We introduce the novelty of collecting objective measures from automated neuropsychological tests to explore whether CBT might be functioning through the development of subjects' executive functions. Results from this intervention fail to show any clear change in self-reported violence. They do show, however, impacts on executive functions related to violence, such as emotional recognition and inhibitory control skills.

Washington, EC: Inter-American Development Bank Gender and Diversity Division May 2025 79p.