The opposition Conservative Party published a strategy document on violence against women. It included proposals to build 15 new rape crisis centres; ensure that all police recruits received training in domestic violence, stalking, female genital mutilation, rape, and forced marriage; encourage schools to tackle violence and bullying; introduce a three-month grace period for women housed in refuges as a result of domestic violence, during which they would not be required to seek work in order to quality for jobseeker's allowance; and making the teaching of consent compulsory in the sex education curriculum.
Source: Ending Violence Against Women, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Dec
Two convicted sex offenders won a High Court ruling that being put on the sex offenders register with no chance of review breached their human rights, on the grounds that the system denied them the chance of proving they no longer posed a risk of reoffending.
Source: Queen on the application of F and Angus Aubrey Thompson v Secretary of State for the Home Department, High Court 19 December 2008
Links: Text of judgement | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Dec
A new book examined the relationship between violence, gender, crime, and justice. It explored the experiences and treatment of men and women as victims and criminals; whether and how offending patterns differed according to gender; and the connexions between gender, offending, and victimization.
Source: Maggie Wykes and Kirsty Welsh, Violence, Gender and Justice, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published the findings of a review into tackling demand for prostitution. Specific legislative recommendations includes: creating a new strict liability criminal offence of paying for sex with someone who was controlled for another person's gain; removing the need to prove that a person had acted persistently in order to be prosecuted for kerb crawling; and powers to close premises associated with sexual exploitation. Non-legislative recommendations included a marketing campaign to raise awareness among sex buyers about trafficking for sexual exploitation, and a national anti-kerb crawling campaign, to support the police in their efforts to reduce street-based prostitution. The government said that it accepted the report's recommendations and would take forward action to implement them as soon as possible.
Source: Tackling the Demand for Prostitution: A Review, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Hansard | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Womensgrid report
Date: 2008-Nov
A new book examined violence and homicide in the context of sex work, and how the law and police tactics exacerbated sex workers' vulnerability. Inadequacies in the criminal justice system led to failures in investigations and prosecutions, and a failure to prevent violence from known offenders. The 'radical feminist ideology' that drove government policy stigmatized sex workers' clients, and ignored sex workers' own experiences and testimony, while colluding with policies that made sex work more dangerous.
Source: Hilary Kinnell, Violence and Sex Work in Britain, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Oct
The Court of Appeal ruled trial judges could tell jurors that an alleged rape victim could have delayed making a complaint to police because they felt 'shame and guilt' about being sexually assaulted. (This was likely to strengthen prosecution cases in trials where the alleged victim did not report their ordeal immediately.)
Source: R v John Arthur Doody, Court of Appeal 24 October 2008
Links: Text of judgement | Attorney General press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Oct
The government announced plans to shift legal responsibility to those who paid for sex where the prostitute involved had been forced into that role: the changes would make it illegal to pay for sex with someone 'controlled for another person's gain'. The police would be given powers to close brothels for a period of three months, even without evidence of anti-social behaviour or use of 'class A' drugs. Restrictions would be removed which prevented the prosecution of kerb-crawlers and men soliciting sex on the street after a first offence.
Source: Press release 22 September 2008, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | Speech | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
Campaigners criticized the lack of a joined-up response by government to tackling violence against women. Resources were focused on the criminal justice system even though most victims did not report to the police; and there was no equivalent focus on supporting victims, or doing more to prevent violence and challenge attitudes that condoned violence.
Source: Maddy Coy, Jo Lovett and Liz Kelly, Realising Rights, Fulfilling Obligations: A template for an integrated strategy on violence against women for the UK, End Violence Against Women (020 7033 1559)
Links: Report | EHRC press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined how crimes such as sex work, domestic violence, and rape and sexual assault had risen up the government agenda. Chapters included discussions of the impact of street sex on community residents; the use of the internet by men who paid for sex; sexual violence and identity; sex crimes against children; and working with sex offenders. Other chapters explored the reasons for offending behaviour.
Source: Gayle Letherby, Philip Birch, Maureen Cain and Kate Williams (eds.), Sex as Crime?, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
Campaigners criticized 'huge deficiencies' in police responses to rape in many parts of the United Kingdom. In some areas women who reported rape were almost five times less likely to achieve a conviction than in others.
Source: Press release 7 July 2008, Fawcett Society (020 7253 2598)
Links: Fawcett Society press release | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
An article examined public attitudes towards the reintegration of sex offenders into the community. People were not as punitive towards sex offenders as was assumed: but feelings of insecurity were expressed, in relation to the way sex offenders were managed in the community.
Source: Steven Brown, Jo Deakin and Jon Spencer, 'What people think about the management of sex offenders in the community', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 47 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
The Scottish Government introduced a Bill to reform the law on rape and sexual offences, based on proposals from the Scottish Law Commission. For the first time it defined 'consent' in law, and replaced the common-law offence of rape with a broader statutory offence (including male rape). It introduced new statutory offences dealing with sexual exposure, particularly in non-public places; the 'spiking' of drinks for sexual purposes; and coercive sexual conduct, including sexually offensive emails or texts.
Source: Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
An article examined the use of evidence by actors involved in the policy debate on sex offender community notification in the summer of 2000. It examined what was considered as evidence, how it was used and by which actors. It highlighted the wide and fluid nature of evidence and the rapidity with which it could infuse policy debates. The relationship between evidence and policy that emerged was a far cry from the 'two communities' view of evidence-providers and evidence-users.
Source: Tobias Jung and Sandra Nutley, 'Evidence and policy networks: the UK debate about sex offender community notification', Evidence & Policy, Volume 4 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
A report drew together work being done across government to tackle violence against women.
Source: Tackling Violence Against Women: A cross-government narrative, Government Equalities Office (ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk)
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book examined the 'justice gap' in sexual assault cases – the dramatic gap between the number of offences recorded by the police and the number of convictions. It considered different ways in which rape trials could be improved, and suggested steps that could be taken to change public attitudes about sexual assault.
Source: Jennifer Temkin and Barbara Krahe, Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A question of attitude, Hart Publishing (01865 517530)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book examined the usefulness of drawing on a 'human rights discourse' in order to understand the issues of gender, crime, and criminal justice.
Source: Marisa Silvestri and Chris Crowther-Dowey, Gender and Crime, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book examined the development of policy and legislative measures to control sex offenders. The response to a wave of child sexual abuse revelations had been to introduce increasingly punitive legislation: but this response had developed in a reactive way to media and public anxiety.
Source: Julia Davidson, Child Sexual Abuse: Media representations and government reactions, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Mar
A report examined the funding and sustainability of rape crisis centres in England and Wales, together with political and public awareness of their work. It said that the centres were 'spectacularly under-funded'.
Source: Darlene Corry, Tania Pouwhare and Macarena Vergara, The Crisis in Rape Crisis, Women's Resource Centre (020 7324 3030) and Rape Crisis
Date: 2008-Mar
A report examined the scale of advertising of women, and services offered by women, in personal classifieds in the English regional and local press. The advertising of women, either discreetly or overtly, for sex or sexual services was commonplace. Typically, these advertisements were sandwiched between innocuous advertisements for other services and goods.
Source: 'Women Not for Sale': A report on advertising women in small ads in local newspapers, Government Equalities Office (ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jan