Thesis advisor: Alyssa Goldman / This study analyzes the narratives that emerged in the news media’s coverage of violent crimes against women during the #MeToo Movement. Additionally, it seeks to uncover if and how news media crime coverage differed based on the race of defendants. I conduct a content analysis of the news media coverage of the criminal cases State of Michigan v. Lawrence Gerard Nassar and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. William Henry Cosby, Jr. during the #MeToo Movement. I find that news media coverage of violent crimes against women typically exhibits an inverse relationship in which supportive portrayals of victims predict unsupportive portrayals of defendants, and vice versa. I also find some evidence to suggest that Black male defendants receive more lenient news media coverage than white male defendants. The results of this study demonstrate the power of social movements in influencing criminal justice outcomes and the news media’s role in shaping public opinion on criminal cases. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

This study's focus is aimed at determining the effectiveness of a protection order (PO) in South Africa obtained against gender-based violence (GBV). This legal instrument's function is to protect victims against further violation from the perpetrator. The Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 (DVA), grants victims the right to a PO. However, the enormous number of GBV cases in South Africa continues to increase. This alludes to South Africa's lack of adequate implementation and enforcement, in contradiction of its constitutional obligation to protect. The continued prevalence of GBV requires an investigation of whether preventative legal instruments, such as the PO, are fulfilling their purpose and the judicial implications of failure to provide protection. This study examined the international human rights law obligation South Africa has to promote and fulfil the right to protection against GBV. Extensive existing research confirms that victims of GBV, statistically, are likely to be female. It was vital to examine obligations that South Africa has assumed through regional legal mechanisms, as they similarly guide implementing protective measures against GBV. The national legal framework was revisited and the provisions in the DVA were reassessed to give a clear indication of the PO processes. The outcome of the study revealed that South Africa's PO process provisions in the DVA, have enabled South Africa to comply with its international, regional and domestic obligation to safeguard victims against GBV. However, there are glaring shortcomings in the implementation of the PO machinery. Law enforcement and prosecuting authority were found to be major contributors to these shortcomings. The research found that several of these essential service providers are challenged with full adherence to the provisions regarding the granting of the PO. These shortcomings have the effect that, in practice, South Africa has failed to comply with its obligations to international and regional human rights treaties and the South African Constitution. This study recommends ways in which POs can be applied more successfully in South Africa. The study suggests revised and strengthened legal processes, and more effectively informed intervention strategies.

Beyond the material consequences, violence can have a great psychological impact on the individual. Violence can cause institutional and interpersonal distrust, and in turn harm economic growth and political stability. As of today, there is more knowledge about the consequences of trust than its determinants, and longitudinal studies are scarce. This paper exploits survey data and disaggregated data on violence from Mexico, a country which since 2007 has experienced a rapid increase in violence. With the use of a Linear Fixed Effects Model, I analyse the impact of municipal level violence on trust in crime-related institutions and in other individuals. I find a significant relationship, robust across different model specifications, between exposure to battles and trust in the federal, state, and municipal police forces. This positive effect is also found for battles involving police forces. Furthermore, I find evidence of a negative relationship between riots and interpersonal trust.

Violence against women (VAW) is the most prevalent human rights violation of our time, rooted in women’s unequal status in society. Aim: The present study investigated women´s awareness of preventative and protective legislation on domestic violence and women´s awareness of campaigns against VAW across the EU. Further, it explored how EU state members´ political efforts to combat VAW might affect women´s awareness. It also examined the correlation between gender equality within EU state members and women´s awareness. In addition, the relationship between socio-demographic factors and women´s awareness was examined, including possible affects correlated with states members’ political efforts. Method: A secondary data analysis was conducted with data drawn from the 2012 FRA-VAW Survey, carried out in all 28 EU member states. Results: Results indicated that women across the EU were more aware of protective legislation than preventative regarding domestic violence, and that almost 1 in 2 women were unaware of recent campaigns against VAW in their country of residence. Results indicated that defined legislation and higher levels of gender equality within EU member states were associated with higher levels of awareness among women. Results further suggested that women with socio-demographic characteristics previously associated with inter-partner violence had particularly low awareness. Conclusion: As political and legal norms are required for VAW to be perceived as a crime, an increased emphasis on clear definitions of VAW is essential. Legal definitions of VAW and awareness of legislation are undervalued key factors in societies’ attempts to fulfil the goal of total eradication of VAW.

El objetivo del estudio fue realizar un análisis bibliométrico de las tesis de grado de la base de datos Alicia, para establecer información actual de la variable violencia contra la mujer en la Psicología. Para ello, se realizó una búsqueda de la variable en la base de datos mencionada, encontrándose 136 tesis de grado, de las cuales fueron seleccionados 10 estudios relacionados al ámbito de Psicología, conformando así la muestra total. Posteriormente, se realizó un análisis de datos y de la información obtenida. En los resultados, destaca que sólo el cuarenta por ciento de las investigaciones presentan hipótesis. En suma, se observa la equidad en cantidades de las investigaciones cuantitativas y cualitativas. De igual forma, los estudios presentaron en su totalidad resumen, palabras claves, introducción y objetivos. En conclusión, el presente estudio bibliométrico contribuyó a la tangibilización y revisión de la información de los estudios analizados. / The aim of the study was to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the degree dissertations found in the Alicia database, to establish current information on the variable violence against women in Psychology. Therefore, a research of the variable was carried out in the database, finding 136 dissertations. Out of those, 10 studies were related to the field of Psychology; hence they were selected forming the study sample. Subsequently, an analysis of the data and methodologies used and information was carried out. In the results, it stands out that only forty percent of the investigations present hypotheses. In addition, they were equity in the amounts of quantitative and qualitative researches. Furthermore, one hundred percent of the studies included summary, keywords, introduction and objectives. In conclusion, the present bibliometric study contributed to the tangibilization and revision of the information of the analyzed studies. / Trabajo de investigación

The issue of child soldiering continues to be a significant part of armed conflicts. The research on children in conflict has not fully been able to understand how children not only experience but also actively participate in war. This thesis is premised in the pre-condition of low civilian support which in varying rates of child soldiering are expected to explain different outcomes in rebel violence against civilians. The examination is done through the lens of socialization theory. During the 1990’s the rates of child soldiering were extreme, causing rise to groups such as the RUF, AIS and brought attention to the KNU. These three cases are compared using Mill’s method of difference and structured focused comparison. The thesis finds that low civilian support is instrumental but ultimately inefficient to explain the variation in outcomes and proposes to look further into the influence of natural resource dependency and political ideologies.

The aim of this thesis is to observe and analyze the effects of religious dimensions in armed conflict on violence against civilians. Focusing on rebel groups in intra-state conflicts, quantitative statistical analysis in form of Ordinary Least Squares multivariate regression, is utilized to examine data onreligious wars, one-sided violence, and conflict-related sexual violence. Two hypotheses are formulatedand tested; that (1) higher significance of religion in armed conflict leads to higher levels of one-sidedviolence, as well as that (2) higher significance of religion leads to higher levels of conflict-related sexual violence. The results, relying on four different datasets and 1107 observations, empirically support both hypotheses. The conclusion of this thesis suggests that civilians are found to be particularly vulnerable in religious armed conflict, pointing to the importance and urgency of further and closer examination of civilian victimization in these types of wars.

The popularity of true crime podcasts has increased in recent years. The majority of truecrime content consists of stories with female victims and male perpetrators, and can therefore be described as portraying men’s violence against women. This study aimed to identify what discourses about men’s violence against women that are constructed in true crime podcasts. The study has utilized critical discourse analysis, focusing on three dimensions of men’s violence against women: the female victim, the male perpetrator and the nature of the violence. The results of the study showed, among other things, that the male perpertrator was constructed as a deviant being, striving for sexual satisfaction. At the same time, the female victim was idealised, described as beautiful and caring. The podcasts also constructed a discourse of men’s violence against women as primarly consisting of phsysical and sexual violence. The results of the study have been analyzed using Connell’s theory on gender, which demonstrated that true crime podcasts reconstruct many gender norms that confirm the prevailing gender order. Furthermore, the results have been analyzed using Rafter’s theory on popular criminology, which presents true crime podcasts as an important dimension of our cultural understanding of crime. From the perspective of popular criminology, the discourses found in the result of this study contribute to the understanding of our society’s political direction and implementations of policies regarding men’s violence against women. / <p>2022-01-31</p>

This thesis will investigate to what extent the midwifery programme atselected Swedish universities is including the issue of female genitalmutilation (FGM) into their education and curriculum. This is an importantsubject to do research on since a lot of existing literature on the topic showsthat midwives in Sweden are seriously lacking in knowledge regarding thepractice of FGM. According to a study done by Tamaddon et al. (2006) lessthan 30% of the Swedish midwives believed that they had adequateknowledge of FGM. Another study of the issue of FGM showed thatSwedish midwives felt that their knowledge of FGM was lacking and that itwas a marginalized issue on their place of work (Widmark et al. 2002).The reason to why the focus of my research will be on midwifery studentsand teachers within the midwifery program is because the healthprofessionals who is most likely to meet circumcised women are midwives.According to Dawson et al. (2015) “Midwives are often the first providerswomen will see for their maternal health needs and therefore play a criticalrole in providing quality care and preventing the practice” (Dawson et al.2015 p 230).The chosen research topic fits smoothly into the broader peace anddevelopment area due to what has been mentioned earlier, the increase inpeople movement in the world today makes some issues a global challenge.Which has been the case of the practice of FGM, it is now time to understandthat this is no longer an issue only in the countries were FGM is traditionallypracticed, it is an issue and especially a challenge even in high incomecountries.The method to be used in this research is semi-structured interviews with acareful sampling process of participants, done by a purposive sampling. Itwill be a qualitative study based on a cross-sectional design.

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