Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is not a recent phenomenon. What is new is the additional increasing threats that millions of women and girls face because of the rapid spread of ICTs and the expansion of social media. Cases of VAWG wherein ICT and social media are used as platforms by cybercriminals can be seen in the news media coverage.…

Children who have been commercially sexually exploited are a vulnerable population, often in need of housing services. However, little is known about housing services for this population. To address this gap, the current study aims to further the understanding and knowledge about housing services for children who have experienced commercial sexual…

Child maltreatment and exposure to violence are pervasive in South African townships. Coupled with economic hardships, many youth turn to drugs and crime, and eventually come in contact with the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how one young man perceives aspects of his life prior to,…

As trusted health care providers in the school setting, school nurses are positioned uniquely to identify children at risk for or victims of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Nevertheless, many victims go unrecognized and unaided due to inadequate provider education on victim identification. This review provides a comprehensive…

Globally, children with intellectual disabilities are at an increased risk of being victims of maltreatment compared to those without disabilities. Among the children who do disclose the abuse, limitations with communication and working memory can result in their allegation being perceived as not credible. There are several evidence-based…

This conceptual article synthesizes the empirical research on punitive environmental norms of schools and the disproportionate effects on certain child and adolescent groups, particularly within urban schools. This involvement has come to be known as the school-to-prison pipeline. The young people affected by harsh school discipline protocols and…

Advances in technology such as the growth of the Internet, increased use of mobile devices, and the popularization of mobile applications, have given rise to new types of Internet-based crimes, including child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data, and libel. As the largest group of Internet users and the segment of the population…

The current wave of interest in human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children has exposed a lack of knowledge about the vulnerabilities leading to underage entry into sex work. This knowledge is necessary for the development of effective prevention programs to identify girls who are most at-risk, especially in Latin America,…

Providing treatment to survivors of human trafficking requires mental health professionals to understand complex layers of multiple traumas. These layers include an understanding of how trafficking occurs; what gender, ages, sexual orientations, life circumstances, and ethnicities are most at risk to be trafficked; the lasting impact of…

This bulletin discusses the second National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV II), which was conducted in 2011 as a followup to the original NatSCEV I survey. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sponsored both surveys. The Crimes against Children Research Center of the…

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has emerged as one of the world's most heinous crimes. The problem affects millions of children worldwide and no country or community is fully immune from its effects. This paper reports first generation research of the relationship that exists between CSEC and the phenomenon of missing…

While only a minority of children who have been abused or neglected engage in delinquent behavior, they are at a significantly higher risk. When youth do become involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, they present unique needs that require collaboration between the numerous systems and people involved in their lives. The…

The study explored the predictive validity of "Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents (Ages 4 to 19)" ("MEGA"[eighth note]; Miccio-Fonseca, 2006b), a comprehensive developmentally sensitive risk assessment outcome tool. "MEGA"[eighth note] assesses risk for coarse…

Most sexual offense research focuses on offender motivation and individual risk factors rather than the criminal events themselves. This article provides an analysis of data from two studies on child sexual abuse by Catholic priests to help understand the opportunities clergy had or created to abuse youth. Findings show that situational factors…

Most reports of the criminal behaviour of individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) have been case studies, and few have empirically examined the risk factors of criminal behaviour among these individuals. This study examined 175 individuals with HFASD, including 36 individuals who had a prior history of criminal…