The Director of Public Prosecutions announced a change in the way that the Crown Prosecution Service dealt with cases against women who withdrew rape claims. He said any decision to prosecute in such cases would in future require his personal approval.
Source: Press release 16 December 2010, Crown Prosecution Service
Links: CPS press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2010-Dec
The government announced that it had abandoned plans to grant anonymity to defendants in rape trials, following publication of an evidence review.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 12 November 2010, columns 27-28WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO | Rebecca Endean, Providing Anonymity to Those Accused of Rape: An assessment of evidence, Research Report 20/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Hansard | Report | Labour Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Nov
A collection of essays reviewed existing research data, clinical assessment, and treatment techniques in relation to female sexual offenders.
Source: Theresa Gannon and Franca Cortoni (eds.), Female Sexual Offenders: Theory, assessment and treatment, Wiley
Links: Summary | Kent University press release
Date: 2010-Sep
A briefing note described the child sex offender disclosure scheme, enabling members of the public to ask the police whether an individual (such as a neighbour or family friend) was a convicted sex offender.
Source: Sally Almandras, Sarah's Law: The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, Standard Note SN/HA/1692, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Sep
The national roll-out was announced of the child sex offender disclosure scheme (also known as 'Sarah's law'). The scheme was designed to help keep children safe by allowing parents to ask the police whether people with access to their family had been convicted of a sex offence.
Source: Press release 2 August 2010, Home Office
Links: Home Office press release | Kidscape press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Aug
An article examined sexual violence policy in England and Wales. Criminal justice proceedings could intensify or create further trauma for sexual violence survivors.
Source: Alison Phipps, 'Violent and victimized bodies: sexual violence policy in England and Wales', Critical Social Policy, Volume 30 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
A report examined the nature and extent of the trafficking of foreign nationals for sexual exploitation. Around 17,000 of the estimated 30,000 women involved in off-street prostitution in England and Wales were migrants. Approximately one-half come from eastern Europe and one-third from Asia.
Source: Keith Jackson, Jon Jeffery and George Adamson, Setting the Record: The trafficking of migrant women in the England and Wales off-street prostitution sector, Association of Chief Police Officers
Links: Report | Home Office press release | Amnesty press release
Date: 2010-Aug
A joint inspectorate said that there were a number of areas where both the police and probation services in England and Wales could improve the management of sexual offenders in the community.
Source: Restriction and Rehabilitation: Getting the Right Mix – An inspection of the management of sexual offenders in the community, HM Chief Inspector of Probation/HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary
Links: Report | People Management report
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined three social reactions to the sexual violence of men – moral panics, risk assessments, and denial. It suggested a wider approach to community safety that incorporated education and a critical perspective on dominant ways of being male as a key part of preventing and reducing male sexual coercion.
Source: Malcolm Cowburn, 'Invisible men: social reactions to male sexual coercion – bringing men and masculinities into community safety and public policy', Critical Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-May
A literature review examined the investigation and prosecution of rape cases.
Source: Jennifer Brown, Miranda Horvath, Liz Kelly and Nicole Westmarland, Connections and Disconnections: Assessing evidence, knowledge and practice in responses to rape, Government Equalities Office
Date: 2010-Apr
The Supreme Court ruled that the indefinite inclusion of people on the register of sex offenders, with no opportunity for them to demonstrate that they had reformed, was a breach of their human rights.
Source: F & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, UKSC 17 (2010), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report | Ekklesia report
Date: 2010-Apr
A study examined evidence of attitudinal changes to rape over time, based on a comparison of two opinion polls taken in 1977 and 2010. Rape continued to be seen as the most serious crime after murder. The opinion that rape law was unfair to victims, and that the charge of rape was difficult to prove, remained strongly held.
Source: Jennifer Brown, Miranda Horvath, Liz Kelly and Nicole Westmarland, Has Anything Changed? Results of a comparative study (1977-2010) on opinions on rape, Government Equalities Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Apr
An independent review examined the way in which rape complaints were handled by public authorities in England and Wales – from the moment a rape was first disclosed until the court had reached a verdict. It said that there had been substantial improvements in recent years in the way in which rape complaints were handled, and that the basic policies being followed were the right ones. But implementation of these policies was patchy and needed to be improved.
Source: The Stern Review, Home Office
Links: Report | Interim government response | Hansard | Home Office press release | WNC press release | Fawcett Society press release | ACPO press release | Amnesty press release | Durham University press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Children & Young People Now report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government announced, following a pilot, the national roll-out by the end of March 2011 of a scheme designed to improve protection for children by giving members of the public a formal mechanism to make enquires about people who were in contact with children.
Source: Press release 3 March 2010, Home Office | Hazel Kemshall and Jason Wood with others, Child Sex Offender Review (CSOR) Public Disclosure Pilots: A Process Evaluation, Research Report 32, Home Office
Links: Home Office press release | Research report | Summary | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the expansion of commercial sex through processes of 'mainstreaming' in economic and social institutions. It used the case studies of Leeds (northern England) and Las Vegas (United States of America) to identify various social and economic dimensions to the mainstreaming process and the ways in which these played out in law and regulation.
Source: Barbara Brents and Teela Sanders, 'Mainstreaming the sex industry: economic inclusion and social ambivalence', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 37 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the role of modern law in regulating sex work. The frequently drawn distinction between prohibitionism and legalization was less significant than was often assumed
Source: Jane Scoular, 'What's law got to do with it? How and why law matters in the regulation of sex work', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 37 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the background to the new laws on the provision of information about child-sex offenders to parents in England and Wales, and how they might work in practice.
Source: Terry Thomas, 'A presumption to disclose: new laws on the provision of information about child sex offenders to parents in England and Wales', Child Abuse Review, Volume 19 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Mar
A new book examined the measures in use or being considered for managing high-risk sex offenders in the community – including drug treatment, multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPAs), the use of the sex offender register, restorative justice techniques, and treatment programmes.
Source: Karen Harrison (ed.), Managing High Risk Sex Offenders in the Community: Risk management, treatment and social responsibility, Willan Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the use of anti-social behaviour powers in relation to street sex workers. The use of legal tools – anti-social behaviour orders and public nuisance injunctions – against sex workers had been both misplaced and ineffective.
Source: Tracey Sagar, 'Anti-social powers and the regulation of street sex work', Social Policy and Society, Volume 9 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jan
A joint watchdog report said that human trafficking was an active but largely hidden problem in Northern Ireland. It called for a co-ordinated response to human trafficking and more support for its victims.
Source: Agnieszka Martynowicz, Sarah Toucas and Anne Caughey, The Nature and Extent of Human Trafficking in Northern Ireland, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland/Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | ECNI press release
Date: 2010-Jan