Sexual violence is a widespread issue on university campuses. Although not a new concern, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom (UK) have only recently implemented prevention strategies. Many approaches focus on increasing knowledge of consent and related harms, but are rarely evaluated, or sit outside of the curriculum. While…

This study examined whether the implementation of Section 28 (S28) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act and the introduction of mandatory ground rules hearings reduced the complexity of the questions English lawyers asked when examining child witnesses. This study compared cases with (n = 43) and without (n = 43) the S28 special measures…

Programmes for sexual violence prevention have focussed historically on university, school or college students rather than staff working at these institutions. The "Universities Supporting Victims of Sexual Violence project" (USVreact), co-funded by the European Commission, worked across universities in Europe to address this gap in the…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people are subject to high rates of sexual violence globally, significantly impacting their lives and psychological wellbeing. However, service use for sexual violence support is low for LGBTQ+ groups and there is no current research exploring LGBTQ+ young peoples'…

This article introduces our "Sector Guidance" to "Address Staff Sexual Misconduct in UK Higher Education." The problem that the guidance seeks to address is that existing student complaints and staff disciplinary procedures relating to student complaints in this area fail to offer similar protections and privileges to the…

Purpose: Half of British university students experience assault and harassment behaviours; few report them. Bystander intervention training has been recommended as a means of reducing these behaviours, but there is little evidence about their potential effectiveness in UK contexts. The purpose of this paper is to understand UK students' attitudes…

Understandings of disability are situated within social, political and economic circumstances. Internationally, medical conceptualisations of disability prevail, influencing policy and practice, creating a discourse which encourages categorisation, diagnosis and prescribed ways of understanding behaviour. This body of knowledge has a profound…

In May 2012, nine men from Rochdale were convicted and jailed for grooming girls with alcohol, drugs and gifts before forcing them to have sex with multiple men. Following the case in Rochdale similar cases of grooming and sexual abuse/exploitation of young girls came to light in various towns and cities across the UK. In 2017, the BBC aired the…

The impact and meanings of homophobic violence on gay men's identities are explored with a particular focus on their identities as men and as gay men. Homosexuality can pose a challenge to conventional masculinities, and for some gay men, being victimized on account of sexual orientation reawakens conflicts about their masculinity that they…

Sexual offences by multiple perpetrators are more violent and involve more severe forms of sexual violation than those perpetrated by a lone offender. Often a clear leader exists within these groups. Questions have been raised as to the relative risk of reoffending and the potentially differing criminogenic needs of leaders and followers. However,…

This report summarises the evidence considered by the Universities UK (UUK) Taskforce to examine violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students, and makes a series of recommendations for universities and UUK. These recommendations cover both prevention activities and how universities can respond to these issues…

The current study explored the expected consequences of disclosure discussed by 204 5- to 13-year-old suspected victims of child sexual abuse during the course of investigative interviews conducted using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol. Expected consequences were mentioned in nearly half of all interviews, with older children and those…

There is a dearth of knowledge about those who sexually abuse children while working in organizations. Here, we adopt a case study approach to examine this problem. We focus on eight adult males who had been imprisoned for abusing a total of 35 children while working in educational and voluntary settings. We provide a detailed account of abusers'…

This study investigated victim culpability, credibility, and assault severity in a hypothetical sexual abuse case. A 2 (respondent gender) x 3 (victim age) x 3 (perpetrator type) between-subjects design was employed. Members (391) of the U.K. general public read the depiction of a female child assaulted by an adult male perpetrator. Respondents…

This paper reviews the development of online technologies over the last 40 years in the context of the perceived risks to children. It reviews the literature on the main research, legislation and guidance and their role in the development of responses to safeguard children from the perceived threat of harm online. Significant gaps are found in the…