Suchergebnisse

The recent judgment of the Corte di cassazione, Italy's highest appeal court in civil and criminal matters, in the so-called "jeans rape case" has caused much controversy and attracted much media attention both in Italy and abroad. The Corte di cassazione has been showered with criticism for purportedly establishing a "jeans alibi", according to which a woman cannot be raped if she is wearing jeans as she must have consented to their removal. However, this judgment is of significance not merely for this statement but because it is particularly demonstrative of the difficulties faced by the Corte di cassazione in separating law from fact in an appeal on the grounds of illogicality of the reasoning given by the lower court. The Corte has been subject to academic criticism recently for exceeding its competence to review on a question of law and entering into the realm of the merits, criticism which this judgment has undoubtedly fuelled. The aim of this article is to explore the nature of the Corte di cassazione and, in providing a critical analysis of the "jeans rape" judgment, to examine the difficulties inherent within this particular ground of appeal.

A growing body of research indicates that gender-based violence is a public health problem for UK universities. To date, there is a paucity of knowledge about beliefs regarding gender-based violence among UK university students and how receptive they are to help change university culture by participating in prevention programmes. This article uses findings from the first cross-sectional study in England that measured beliefs, including rape and domestic violence and abuse (DVA) myth acceptance, and readiness for change. A survey was given to 381 incoming undergraduate students attending a university in the South West of England. The findings suggest that men endorse rape and DVA myths more than women. Rape myths were associated with DVA myths and further analyses indicated that the subscales He didn't mean to and It wasn't really rape predicted DVA myths. Denial of the problem of sexual violence and DVA was predicted by myth endorsement but assuming responsibility for change was not. These findings provide insight into the particular myths held by incoming undergraduates and how they operate together to scaffold gender-based violence in university settings. Rape and DVA myths need to be targeted in the development of effective prevention programmes in English Universities.

Bystander intervention is showing promise as a strategy for violence reduction. Following successful preliminary evaluation of The Intervention Initiative (TII), a bystander programme for universities, a Public Health department in a local authority commissioned a DVA-specific version of TII for communities which became Active Bystander Communities (ABC). This paper documents, in narrative and reflexive form, the challenges and complexities faced by the research team and practitioners in translating TII into a new context for a new audience. We review findings from research, document the theoretical rationale underpinning the new programme, and its content and adherence to effective prevention criteria. We discuss the community readiness model and results of our engagement with a wider practitioner base and how feedback informed further programme development. We document the importance of the intersect and interplay of academic work with practitioner 'real world' realities. We discuss two fundamental theoretical issues: the meaning of 'communities' in this context, and the safety of interventions expressing social disapproval of problematic male behaviour to perpetrators designed to shift social norms. Government cuts have affected the structures and the staffing required to pilot the intervention in communities. Further research into effectiveness of the intervention and barriers to implementation is needed.

Theories have been used to explain gender-based violence (GBV) in U.S. universities (e.g. Gervais, DiLillo and McChargue, 2014; Tewksbury and Mustaine's, 2001) but they have limited utility in UK universities, as the history, composition, geography, and culture of UK universities differs (Phipps and Smith, 2012; Stenning et al., 2012). Due to these differences, a theoretical framework relevant to UK universities is needed that can guide studies and contextualise findings. As a starting point, this working paper adapted Hagemann-White et al.'s (2010) framework, which was developed for the European Union (EU). To date, this framework is the most researched, demonstrated and wholistic model for the EU. The framework used an ecological model to identify and categorise factors facilitating and scaffolding GBV, including policies, sanctions, redress and implementation of laws, to provide nation states with a framework to guide developing and implementing policies that would more effectively prevent and combat GBV. This working paper aimed to tailor Hagemann-White et al.'s model to UK universities, using a more sophisticated understanding of intersectional (dis)advantage (such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, class, age), men and masculinities, peer-group support for violence, environmental time-space and power relations, and legal duties in prevention and response.

This article seeks to understand the experiences of bystanders to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. Globally, professionals voiced concern over the COVID-19 restrictions exacerbating conditions for DVA to occur. Yet evidence suggests this also increased opportunities for bystanders to become aware of DVA and take action against it. This mixed methods study consists of a quantitative online survey and follow-up interviews with survey respondents. Conducted in Wales, UK, during a national lockdown in 2021, this article reports on the experiences of 186 bystanders to DVA during the pandemic.
Results suggest that bystanders had increased opportunity to become aware of DVA due to the pandemic restrictions. Results support the bystander situational model whereby respondents have to become aware of the behaviour, recognise it as a problem, feel that they possess the correct skills, and have confidence in their skills, before they will take action. Having received bystander training was a significant predictor variable in bystanders taking action against DVA; this is an important finding that should be utilised to upskill general members of the community.