A report by a committee of MSPs said that high-risk sex offenders who failed to co-operate with the relevant authorities on matters of significance should have their details provided to local communities and made more widely available on the internet.
Source: Justice System (Child-Sex Offenders), Scottish Parliament Justice 2 Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release
Date: 2006-Dec
Researchers found that jurors in rape cases often took the view that it was 'reasonable' for a man to assume that silence represented sexual consent, even if the silence was due to the fact that the woman was totally intoxicated.
Source: Emily Finch and Vanessa Munro, From Sobriety to Stupefaction: Intoxication and jury decision-making in rape trials, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report | ESRC press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The government announced that it intend to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce robust new indeterminate and extended public protection sentences that would in future put an end to automatic 50 per cent. remission for dangerous violent and sexual offenders.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 5 December 2006, column 11WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2006-Dec
A report presented the results of a detailed study of juvenile sexual abusers referred to a specialist child and adolescent mental health service, in order to provide a detailed description of this population. It highlighted the need for specialist services, integrated governmental approaches, and research on treatment efficacy. A linked report provided a baseline of evidence on the needs and effective treatment of young people who displayed sexually abusive behaviour.
Source: Nicole Hickey, Eileen Vizard, Eamon McCrory and Lesley French, Links Between Juvenile Sexually Abusive Behaviour and Emerging Severe Personality Disorder Traits in Childhood, Department of Health (08701 555455) | Nathan Whittle, Susan Bailey and Zarrina Kurtz, The Needs and Effective Treatment of Young People who Sexually Abuse: Current evidence, Home Office (0870 000 1585) and Department of Health
Links: Report | Evidence report
Date: 2006-Nov
Campaigners called on the government to use lie-detector tests and satellite tracking to monitor sex offenders. It said that these would be more effective in protecting children than the introduction of 'Sarah's law', under which a local community would be told of the presence of an offender.
Source: A Risk Too High? Would public disclosure (Sarah s Law) protect children from sex offenders?, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Barnardo's press release | Nacro press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the trafficking of women and children had become 'one of the most serious human rights issues in the modern world', and called for tougher action from government.
Source: Human Trafficking, Twenty-sixth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1127 and HL 245, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Amnesty press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
The Scottish Executive published a Bill to criminalize the nuisance caused by those who purchased sex on the streets.
Source: Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SE press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A new book provided an overview of sex work; considered the impact of recent legislation and policy, especially the Sex Offences Act 2003; and examined the lives and experiences of sex workers themselves.
Source: Rosie Campbell and Maggie O'Neill (eds.), Sex Work Now, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Sep
The government announced plans to make the possession of violent and extreme pornographic material a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison.
Source: Press release 30 August 2006, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | Times report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
A new book examined a range of issues relating to the sex industry - including the demand by customers who buy sex, the policing of women working in the street sex industry, and the violence pervading prostitution. It showed how these issues had been addressed in policy terms, the problems that had emerged, and how a social policy might be formulated to minimize harm and enhance public understanding.
Source: Belinda Brooks-Gordon, The Price of Sex: Prostitution, policy and society, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Aug
The Northern Ireland Office began consultation on proposals to reform the law on sexual offences.
Source: Reforming the Law on Sexual Offences in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Office (028 9052 0700)
Links: Consultation document volume 1 | Consultation document volume 2 | NIO press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that child sex abuse images on the internet were increasing in number, and that international efforts to bring the situation under control were failing.
Source: John Carr, 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind': Tackling child sex abuse images on the internet A global challenge, NCH (020 7704 7000)
Links: Report | NCH press release | IWF press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that proposed new sentencing guidelines for sex offenders (which said rapists should be punished less severely if their victim had been sexually familiar with them immediately before the attack) could result in unduly lenient sentences. It said that any reduction of sentence should be small, and might not apply in all such circumstances. It also said that the guidelines should be altered to make clear that "provocation", or being under the influence of drugs or drink, should not be a mitigating factor in rape cases.
Source: Draft Sentencing Guidelines: Sexual Offences Act 2003, Sixth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1582, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
The education inspectorate strongly criticized inadequacies in the vetting arrangements in schools, designed to prevent access to children by known sex offenders. Some schools "disregarded" official recommendations not to hire staff where records checks raised fears that they posed a risk. Neither headteachers nor local councils could prove that teachers were vetted properly. And the government had "no way" of ensuring the recommended checks were conducted in thousands of schools. The government responded by announcing new measures to tighten the procedures. It also announced that probation hostels that happen to be located near schools would no longer hold released prisoners who were convicted of sex crimes against children.
Source: Safeguarding Children: An evaluation of procedures for checking staff appointed by schools, HMI 2647, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833) | Press release 20 June 2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | Press release 19 June 2006, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | DfES press release | Hansard | Home Office press release | NAHT press release | NSPCC press release | ASCL press release | PAT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | TES report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
An official advisory body began consultation on guidelines to assist sentencers to deal with more than 50 offences contained in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It said that date rape and rape within marriage were as serious as attacks carried out by strangers. Rapists would receive lighter jail sentences if their victims withdrew their consent to sex at the last minute.
Source: Sexual Offences Act 2003: Consultation Guideline, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Consultation document | SAP advice note | SAP press release | Times report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report set out a programme of work to equip services and professionals to identify and respond to the health and mental health needs of individuals affected by domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, rape, oblique sexual assault, and sexual exploitation - both victims and abusers, male and female.
Source: Catherine Itzen, Tackling the Health and Mental Health Effects of Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse, Department of Health (08701 555455) and National Institute for Mental Health in England
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that more support was needed for children who were sexually exploited. Victims of child sexual exploitation who received intensive support had their risk of continuing to be exploited dramatically reduced.
Source: Sara Scott and Paula Skidmore, Reducing the Risk: Barnardo s support for sexually exploited young people - A two-year evaluation, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Summary | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A study found that rules introduced in 2000 to ban defence barristers from depicting rape victims as promiscuous had been "evaded, circumvented and resisted", with the result that the reform had failed to have any impact.
Source: Liz Kelly, Jennifer Temkin and Sue Griffiths, Section 41: An evaluation of new legislation limiting sexual history evidence in rape trials, Online Report 20/06, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report | Bar Council press release | Guardian report | Times report
Date: 2006-Jun
A study examined how residential areas characterized as being used by female street sex workers were shared by different sections of the community. It concluded that an integrated, multi-stakeholder response to street sex work was essential. Involving sex workers in local governance could help to ensure consideration of their needs when addressing community conflicts and managing the street scene.
Source: Jane Pitcher, Rosie Campbell, Phil Hubbard, Maggie O'Neill and Jane Scoular, Living and Working in Areas of Street Sex Work: From conflict to coexistence, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2006-May
An article described the views of women street prostitutes in Scotland of their work, their reasons for working, their views as to the impact of their work on their lives, and whether it would be beneficial to provide tolerance zones to enable them to work without fear of prosecution.
Source: Neil McKeganey, 'Street prostitution in Scotland: the views of working women', Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, Volume 13 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
An article examined variations in service offered to people who complained of sexual assault in 2005. Very wide disparities in service were found, most markedly between sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) and non-SARC services. In the non-SARC services, lack of co-operative working with local health services, lack of equipment, and lack of ?in-house? medical follow-up arrangements were the norm.
Source: Mary Pillai and Sheila Paul, 'Facilities for complainants of sexual assault throughout the United Kingdom', Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, Volume 13 Issue 4
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
An article examined the evidence on the relevance of gender to the prevalence and impacts of sexual abuse in childhood.
Source: Carol-Ann Hooper and Ian Warwick, 'Gender and the politics of service provision for adults with a history of childhood sexual abuse', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An article highlighted the gap between policy and practice in the effective risk management of sex offenders. It said that a restorative community justice approach should be used in order to manage better the risk presented by sex offenders in the community.
Source: Anne-Marie Mcalinden, 'Managing risk: from regulation to the reintegration of sexual offenders', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 6 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
A report condemned the fact that the proportion of rapes reported to police that ended in a conviction varied between 1 per cent and 14 per cent, depending on geographical area. It called for a new integrated approach to address all forms of violence against women, and protect all women wherever they lived.
Source: Justice and Equality: Second annual review of the Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System, Fawcett Society (020 7253 2598)
Links: Report | Fawcett Society press release | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
The government announced that new regulations would be introduced, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that any individual working with children who had been convicted or cautioned for sex offences against children would be automatically barred from working in schools. The announcement followed an internal review, prompted by revelations that a small number of such people had been permitted to work with children.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 19 January 2006, columns 966-981, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Review of the List 99 Decision Making Process and Policy Implications, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Hansard | Review | DfES press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A report said that people who were no risk to children or vulnerable adults were being refused employment, suspended and dismissed on the basis of "wholly irrelevant" cautions or convictions. It called for the government to urgently reform the way people with criminal records were treated in the labour market, by introducing an independent licensing authority which would hold ultimate responsibility for clearing people for employment.
Source: Getting Disclosures Right: A review of the use and misuse of criminal record disclosures, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: NACRO press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The government announced (following consultation) a strategy for dealing with prostitution. It proposed better enforcement of laws against kerb-crawling, including penalties such as removal of driving licences from repeat offenders. It also offered more opportunities for women to leave prostitution, including ensuring that drug treatment programmes, other health services, and supported accommodation were available. It ruled out the idea of 'managed zones' for prostitution: but it proposed to permit prostitutes to work in pairs from a house or flat, on safety grounds.
Source: A Coordinated Prostitution Strategy, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Strategy | Home Office press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan