An inspectorate report said that the lack of an integrated approach to managing sex offenders in the community was overshadowing positive developments in the way probation staff and police worked with sex offenders.
Source: Managing Sex Offenders in the Community, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (01527 882000) and HM Inspectorate of Probation
Links: Report | Home Office press release | NSPCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report examined the issue of female sex offenders. Offences committed by females could be difficult for child welfare professionals to identify, because they were sometimes carried out under the guise of childcare.
Source: Lisa Bunting, Females Who Sexually Offend Against Children, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500)
Links: Summary | NSPCC press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that the sex offender treatment programme produced observable benefits, as self-reported in prison by rapists and sexual murderers: but it should not necessarily be regarded as sufficient treatment to reduce risk in these offenders.
Source: Anthony Beech, Caroline Oliver, Dawn Fisher and Richard Beckett, STEP 4: The Sex Offender Treatment Programme in Prison: Addressing the offending behaviour of rapists and sexual murderers, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A survey found that more than 1 in 3 young women said they had been sexually assaulted after getting drunk.
Source: Anatomy of a Big Night Out, Portman Group (020 7907 3700)
Links: Portman Group press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Sep
A survey found that virtually all victims of stalking suffered severe emotional and physical effects.
Source: Press release 23 September 2005, School of Psychology/University of Leicester (0116 252 2522)
Links: University of Leicester press release | ACPO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Sep
The government began consultation on proposals to ban the possession of extreme pornographic material, including material depicting scenes of serious sexual violence.
Source: Consultation: On the Possession of Extreme Pornographic Material, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | IWF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Aug
A new book sought to explore sex offenders' perspectives of the way they were treated and managed.
Source: Kirsty Hudson, Offending Identities: Sex offenders' perspectives on their treatment and management, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-May
A new book described and discussed the ways in which various sexual activities were controlled, regulated, and made illegal and/or deviant and illicit.
Source: Joanna Phoenix and Sarah Oerton, Illicit and Illegal: Sex, regulation and social control, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
A new book provided an account of the nature and extent of sex crime and offending, and the policies and legislative actions taken to combat it.
Source: Terry Thomas, Sex Crime: Sex offending and society (second edition), Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Feb
Researchers evaluated the STAR (Surviving Trauma After Rape) Young Persons Project. The project was initiated in West Yorkshire in 2000 as part of the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme Violence Against Women Initiative.
Source: Tina Skinner and Helen Taylor, Providing Counselling, Support and Information to Survivors of Rape: An evaluation of the STAR Young Persons Project, Online Report 51/04, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A report examined two evaluation projects funded by the Crime Reduction Programme Violence Against Women Initiative. The primary aim of the study was to increase understanding of attrition, with an emphasis on early withdrawal from the criminal justice system process by complainants.
Source: Liz Kelly, Jo Lovett and Linda Regan, A Gap or a Chasm?: Attrition in reported rape cases, Research Study 293, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Feb