No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

This study investigates the problem of access to justice for female victims of sexual violence (SV) in refugee camps, using South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda in a multiple case study. The main argument of this study is that female refugees in refugee camps, are not adequately pro- tected by those responsible to safeguard them against sexual violence and the myriad of perpe- trators of such sexual violations may never be apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted. Thus, refugees who are victims of sexual violence in refugee camps do not even have the opportunity to testify against their assailant. On the order hand, the current UN Refugee Convention 1951 and its Protocol 1967 have no clauses that protect female refugees against sexual violations. Moreover, victims do not have access to justice in the host states, despite the provision of article 16 of the UN Refugee Con- vention 1951, which provides free access to courts in all contracting states. Article 16 of the UN Refugee Convention 1951 further proposes that refugees should be accorded the same treatment like the citizens of host states in this respect. The study reveals that sexual violence perpetrated against citizens of contracting states are prosecuted in courts and victims have the opportunity in domestic courts to testify against the assailants. Whereas, refugees who are victims of SV in the states of study are not treated like the citizens who suffered the similar violation as prescribed by article 16 of UN convention of 1951. Since the cases of SV against refugees in the territory are hardly prosecuted, they do not have the opportunity to testify against their assailant. / Therefore, this study recommends that states should be compelled to address the offence of sexual violence against refugees in camps, as part of their international obligation as signatories to the refugee convention. Through, a thorough investigation and prosecution of SV cases per- petrated against these victims in their territories. So that victims of sexual violence in their territories can also have the opportunity to testify against their assailants like citizens who suf- fer SV in the contracting states. However, if a State is not a party to the convention, that state should be held responsible through the invocation of complicity to crime and customary inter- national law. This is because the general norm in domestic courts is that, states handle the prosecution of crime and the enforcement of the rights of their citizenry. The study in addition, recommends an international legal framework in support of the current international refugee mechanism that offers victims of sexual violations in refugee camps, legal protection, and access to justice. The proposed international refugee instrument provides for the enforcement of the rights of refugees who are victims of sexual violence, and remedy and reparations that could mitigate the effects of such violence and encourage those charged with their care to give both physical and legal protection to refugees, in camps, in their territories. In addition, the study also suggests a one stop facility in refugee camps for handling the cases of sexual violence against these victims, thus facilitating access to justice. In addition, the researcher also suggests that states should assume a victim - oriented approach in dealing with sexual violations in their territory. This is because, the current practice of the domestic laws of states, is that victims of crime are used as prosecution witnesses, since crime is against the State and a challenge of the rule of law. Consequently, victims do not have the needed locus standi to access the courts as an injured party to a suit. This can be achieved through the inclusion of a locus standi clause in their various criminal procedure acts, so that victims will have the requisite access to court, become parties to the litigation, as co-prosecutor of their offenders. This can be done, as a paradigm shift from the current practice of the criminal proceedings, so that while the state prosecutor represents the interest of the public and that of the rule of law, the victim will represent themselves and will be given a fair hearing in oreder to assert their rights against their assailant. In this process, victims can also enjoy the services of legal aid as maintained by article 16 of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Public Law / LLD / Unrestricted

The eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been described as the ‘rape capital of the world’ due to the severity and brutality of sexual violence that Congolese women experience. Sexual violence as a weapon of war in conflict-torn areas takes the form of rape, sexual slavery and the insertion of objects into cavities (such as knives, rifle barrels, pieces of glass, sticks, wood, bottles and pestles coated in chili pepper). It predominantly targets girls as young as two years old and women as old as eighty years old. Perpetrators of such illegal and immoral acts of violence in eastern DRC (North Kivu and South Kivu provinces) include members of the national army, members of rebel groups and United Nations Peacekeeping personnel. Congolese women’s rights are constantly undermined and violated. This is despite the country’s legal obligations to protect Congolese women through its ratification of a number of international and regional conventions and treaties which promote the rights of women and prohibit sexual violence. The Congolese Constitution contains provisions aimed at promoting and protecting women’s rights, including the protection of women against sexual violence. Despite various pieces of legislation and calls by human rights activists to halt acts of sexual violence, Congolese women continue to face unwanted pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, destroyed reproductive organs, injuries and even death. Sexual violence continues unabated in eastern DRC as a tactic used by various armed groups to terrorise and control the population living in conflict-torn eastern DRC. This mini-dissertation is a cry for justice in that it highlights sexual violence crimes and other human rights abuses faced by women in eastern DRC and calls for perpetrators to be held accountable. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Centre for Human Rights / MPhil / Unrestricted

Sexual violence is one of the most pressing social and human rights issues facing Botswana today and as a result Batswana have demanded greater justice and punishment for sex offenders. The Government of Botswana have purportedly found the legislative solution for the problem of sexual violence in sex offender registration laws. This dissertation will consider whether sex offender registration laws can be an effective and a progressive solution to the sexual violence crisis in Botswana. This dissertation aims to show that an effective sex offender registration laws are dependent on the creation and maintenance of valid and reliable registers. With underreporting of sex crimes and if crimes are reported, the subsequent withdrawal and low conviction rates the register cannot be effective as sex offenders may never be registered. A comparative study undertaken between the United States of America and South Africa revealed that the register provides minimal benefits while significant resources are required to implement and maintain the registers. The conclusions drawn from this dissertation is that sex offender registers as a standalone intervention is not the most progressive and effective solution to the sexual violence scourge. This is because sex offender registers do not prevent the commission of the offence as the register only come into play once the offence has been committed and the offender is listed in the register. The fight against sexual violence therefore demands more comprehensive strategies and the Government of Botswana should place the prevention of sexual violence at the centre of all strategies, and not at the tail end of a reactive response.

The MeToo movement, which sought to combat sexual violence, evolved into a partisan problem, where support for or against the movement fell across party lines. This polarization negatively impacted the progress of the MeToo movement, fitting the larger pattern of increasing polarization in the United States. My thesis seeks to understand the politicized nature of sexual violence and to explore what language and themes are drawn on to politicize conversations around sexual violence by using the MeToo movement as a case study. My thesis found that the political polarization of sexual violence increased during the MeToo movement (and especially during and after the Kavanaugh hearing) primarily through detractors' language and framing of the issue. #MeToo detractors employed legalistic, violent, and misogynistic language to victimize the accused and villainize victims and supporters. In contrast, #MeToo supporters consistently used legalistic language to advocate for survivors' rights to state support in the face of actual violence. Insight on these politicizing discourses reveals a need for Democrats and Republicans to take on #MeToo policy reforms that both address due process and human rights while refraining from a victim/villain dichotomy.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine and compare physically and sexually violent juvenile offenders (PVJOs and SVJOs) to determine whether specific factors in their abuse histories, if present, tend to be associated with-the type of violent offense pattern they exhibit. The Youth Experiences and Behaviors Structured Interview (YEBSI)--an instrument which assesses for primary (victimization), secondary (witnessing), and perpetrated abuse of an emotional, physical, and sexual nature, by and/or toward family members, acquaintances, strangers, and animals--was developed by the primary researcher for use in this study. Thirty-six PVJOs and 30 SVJOs were interviewed. Results indicated that the YEBSI demonstrated high levels of internal consistency reliability and a very high level of interrater reliability. Various descriptive statistical, scale, and subscale correlations for the YEBSI were provided. Very high percentages of both groups reported experiencing and witnessing all types of abuse. In all cases, a similar or larger percentage of SVJOs reported histories of primary and secondary abuse. SVJOs reported more severe levels of emotional abuse, similar severity levels of physical abuse, and less extremely severe levels of sexual abuse than did PVJOs. Family members and acquaintances (as compared to strangers) tended to be far more frequently reported as perpetrators by respondents. Composite primary and secondary abuse scores were moderately correlated with abuse perpetration scores for SVJOs and strongly correlated with abuse perpetration scores for PVJOs. For emotional, family, acquaintance, and stranger abuse, reported primary-secondary abuse scores were found to be most highly correlated with abuse perpetration scores of the same nature (e.g., emotional abuse history-witness scores best correlated with physical abuse perpetration scores and family abuse history-witness scores best correlated with perpetration scores against family members) Finally, the classification variables correctly predicted 75% of those in the physically violent group and 67% of those in the sexually violent group, with an overall "hit" rate of 71%. Examination of the discriminant function-variable correlations in this study indicates that it was primarily the emotional, family-perpetrated, and sexual abuse subscales that defined the function. Theoretical interpretations and implications for these results are provided.

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Bakgrund Sexuellt våld förekommer dygnets alla timmar, världen över och är idag ett erkänt jämställdhetsproblem. Sexuellt våld är ett stigmatiserat område med olika attityder kring, på såväl individnivå som samhällsnivå. Vården utgör en central roll i att upptäcka och vårda personer som utsatts. Sjuksköterskan kan vara den första personen en som utsatts för sexuellt våld möter och detta möte kan vara avgörande för patientens välmående och återhämtning. Syftet Syftet var att belysa sjuksköterskors attityder i mötet med patienter som utsatts för sexuellt våld. Metod Litteraturöversikten genomfördes med induktiv ansats baserat på tio sammanställda artiklar; tre kvantitativa och sju kvalitativa från databaserna Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete och Public Medline. Artiklarna sammanställdes med en modifierad tematisk innehållsanalys där resultatet diskuteras utifrån Madeleine Leininger Transkulturella omvårdnadsteori.  Resultat Resultatet presenteras utifrån tre huvudteman och två underkategorier i varje huvudtema. 1. Sjuksköterskors förutfattade meningar om den som utsatts för sexuellt våld, 2. Sjuksköterskors inställning till sin ansvarsroll i vårdandet av den som utsatts för sexuellt våld och 3. Organisatoriska och strukturella förutsättningar för sjuksköterskors synsätt gentemot den som utsatts för sexuellt våld. Sammanfattning Variationen av attityder hos sjuksköterskor i mötet med patienter som utsatts för sexuellt våld är stor. Flertalet sjuksköterskor uppfattar att patienter själva bär ansvar om förövaren ingår i bekantskapskretsen. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor i hög grad har förutfattade uppfattningar gentemot patienterna vilket resulterar i att sjuksköterskor bedömer och riktar tvivel gentemot patientens trovärdighet. Däremot lyfter flera sjuksköterskor vikten av att aldrig misstro, skuldbelägga eller döma patienten oavsett omständigheter. Flertalet sjuksköterskor uppfattar dessutom kunskapsmässiga och organisatoriska brister för att kunna vårda patienter som utsatts för sexuellt våld och ett bristande intresse att ta det vidare. / Background Sexual violence occurs at all hours, all over the world. Sexual violence is an acknowledged cause of gender inequality. Sexual violence is a stigmatized area with various attitudes at both individual and societal levels. Healthcare plays a central role in identifying and caring for individuals who have been exposed to sexual violence. The nurse may be the first individual that a person who has been exposed to sexual violence meets. This interaction can be crucial for the victims well- being and recovery. Aim The aim was to describe nurses' attitudes in the interaction with patients who have been exposed to sexual violence. Method The literature review was conducted with an inductive approach based on ten articles; three quantitative and seven qualitative from the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete and Public Medline databases. The articles were compiled with a modified thematic content analysis, and the results are discussed based on Madeleine Leininger's Transcultural Nursing Theory. Results The results are presented based on three main themes and two subcategories in each main theme. 1. Nurses' preconceived notions about those who have been exposed to sexual violence, 2. Nurses' attitudes towards their responsibility in caring for those who have been exposed to sexual violence, and 3. Organizational and structural conditions for nurses' perspectives on those who have been exposed to sexual violence. Summary The variation in attitudes among nurses in the encounter with patients who have been exposed to sexual violence is significant. Most nurses perceive that patients themselves bear responsibility if the perpetrator is an acquaintance. The results show that nurses have preconceived notions about patients, resulting in nurses assessing and doubting the patient's credibility. However, several nurses emphasize the importance of never distrusting, blaming, or judging the patient regardless of circumstances. Moreover, most nurses perceive a lack of knowledge and organizational gaps in caring for patients who have been exposed to sexual violence and a lack of interest in pursuing it further.

Thesis advisor: Usha Tummala-Narra / Sexual violence is a common experience among women in the United States that can have a number of negative sequalae, including heightened feelings of shame (Feiring & Taska, 2005; Smith et al., 2018). While literature has started to document the effects of shame on some aspects of survivors’ lives (Bhuptani et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2009), less is known about how shame is experienced by survivors in their daily lives. Mexican Americans constitute a notable segment of the U.S. population and are affected by unique contextual factors such as their immigration history, cultural values, religious experiences, and acculturation processes. Yet, there is limited literature examining the experiences of Mexican American survivors of sexual violence. Using Campbell and colleagues’ (2009) ecological model and a mujerista research paradigm (Bryant-Davis & Comas-Díaz, 2016), this study sought to develop a qualitative understanding of the experience of shame among 1.5 and 2nd generation Mexican American women who are survivors of sexual violence, while considering how cultural values and beliefs shape their experience of shame across ecological levels. Twelve 1.5 and 2nd generation Mexican American survivors of sexual violence participated in semi-structured interviews for this qualitative descriptive study. Conventional content analysis of the data yielded eight broad domains: (1) influence of immigration and cultural context on shame; (2) impact of shame on mental health; (3) relational impacts of shame; (4) impact of shame on daily functioning; (5) impact of shame on disclosure; (6) marianismo increased feelings of shame after sexual violence; (7) healing from shame; and, (8) challenges to healing from shame. Results indicate that the effects of shame are pervasive for survivors across multiple areas of their lives (i.e., mental and physical health, relationships, academic and professional lives), religious and cultural messages foster a context of shame for survivors, and survivors’ healing process is shaped by their bicultural context. Limitations and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, along with implications for culturally responsive clinical practice and future research directions. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

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