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Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is a growing problem. This article explores lifetime victimization experiences of TFA, presenting findings from the first study to establish a reliable national prevalence estimate for victimization in Australia, using a general adult population sample (n = 4,562) and 20 qualitative interviews with adults who have experienced TFA. Key findings include an overall high lifetime victimization prevalence (one in two Australians), high negative emotional impacts and severe mental distress among some marginalized groups. Our findings lend support for the utility of marginalization and intersectional theories in understanding the prevalence and negative impacts of TFA and address gaps in knowledge of how TFA victimization may differentially impact marginalized groups within an adult population. We argue that TFA research, policy and practice must be more attentive to intersecting and marginalized identities including and beyond gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is a growing problem with serious harms and implications, yet laws and legal responses often fail to keep pace. The policing of TFA poses unique operational challenges, such as resourcing and cross-jurisdictional difficulties. But it is further challenged by a fixed belief that physical abuse is more harmful than digital forms of abuse, with reports that police do not treat TFA seriously. This article explores problems with the policing of TFA drawing on a three-stage study examining the extent, forms and impacts of TFA in Australia. The study findings are informed by a survey of workers from support and service sectors (n = 242), including domestic violence, sexual assault, health, behaviour change, legal and specialist diversity services; qualitative interviews with adult victim/survivors (n = 20) and perpetrators (n = 10) of TFA; and a subset of respondents (n = 2,325) from a nationally representative general population survey of victimisation and perpetration (n = 4,562). The study found a reluctance to report TFA to police, or in circumstances where a report was made, overwhelmingly negative experiences from doing so. It also found low levels of confidence in the policing of TFA. We argue that additional police training and resources are needed on how to recognise and understand the harms of TFA, which laws apply to TFA, and importantly, how to respond to disclosures and provide a supportive environment for the diversity of victim/survivors who experience TFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) is a form of technology-facilitated abuse in which intimate (nude or sexual) images of a person are taken, distributed, or threats are made to distribute the images, without a person's consent. It is an increasingly criminalized form of sexual abuse, and yet little is known about the perpetrators of these harms, including the extent, relational nature and correlates of perpetration. This article reports on the first multi-country survey study to comprehensively investigate IBSA perpetration. An online panel survey of the general community (aged 16–64 years) in the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and New Zealand (NZ) (n = 6109) found that self-reported IBSA perpetration was relatively common, with one in six (17.5%, n = 1070) respondents engaging in at least one form of IBSA. Logistic regression analyses identified nine characteristics that significantly increased the odds of having engaged in IBSA perpetration during their lifetime, namely: residing in the NZ as opposed to the UK or Australia, being male, having disability/assistance needs, holding attitudes that minimize the harms and excuse the perpetrators of IBSA, engaging in online dating behaviors, engaging in sexual self-image behaviors, and experiencing IBSA victimization (images taken, images distributed, and images threatened). Policy and prevention implications of the findings, as well as directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies are increasingly being used as tools for the perpetration of domestic violence. Little empirical research to date has explored the nature and impacts of technology-facilitated domestic violence (TFDV), and even less attention has been paid to the experiences of immigrant and refugee women. This article examines the nature and impacts of TFDV as experienced by immigrant and refugee women. Drawing on interviews with 29 victim-survivors and 20 stakeholders, we argue that although immigrant and refugee women may experience TFDV in similar ways to non-immigrant and refugee women, they face unique challenges, such as language barriers, cultural bias from support services, lack of financial resources, lack of trust in state institutions, and additional challenges with justice and migration systems. Immigrant and refugee women also face multiple structural layers of oppression and social inequality. Accordingly, we argue that a multifaceted approach is required to address TFDV that includes culturally sensitive and specific law reform, education, and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the influence of victim-survivors as change agents through the examination of the case of domestic and family violence advocate Rosie Batty. Utilizing public policy and criminological theories, and drawing from interviews with Batty and policy actors, the article examines the "Batty effect" and the convergence of factors that helped drive significant social and policy reforms in Australia. The article considers how Batty reflects characteristics of the policy entrepreneur and ideal victim, and how the sociopolitical context at the time provided the conditions for change. We conclude by exploring the implications for victim-survivor led policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies are increasingly being used to abuse, harass, and victimize women. Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA)—the nonconsensual taking or sharing (including threats to share) nude or sexual images—is one such form of abuse. Various jurisdictions have enacted laws criminalizing IBSA, but Australia is arguably leading the way, with eight of its nine jurisdictions introducing innovative IBSA laws. This article explores the Australian laws, focusing on their capacity to address the gendered nature of IBSA. While highlighting the importance of these laws, we argue that a multifaceted approach is required to combat IBSA that includes law reform, education, and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better understand risk factors associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA), this study examined complainant-specific and contextual factors, as well as the toxicological profile of DFSA in Victoria, Australia. Clinical files and toxicological analysis results collected by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) for all cases of alleged DFSA in Victoria that occurred between 1st January 2011 – 31st December 2013 were reviewed. Two hundred and four cases of alleged DFSA were identified; complainants were predominately female (93%), and their median age was 26 years (range = 18–54). Self-reported premorbid depression (21.1%) and drug and alcohol abuse (9.8%) were four and two times higher than 12-month prevalence rates in Australia, respectively. All assailants were male, half were known to the complainant and half of alleged assaults occurred in private residences. Most (93.6%) complainants reported voluntary consumption of psychoactive substances prior to the alleged DFSA. Alcohol was the most commonly self-reported substance consumed (n = 164; 64%) and concomitant use of alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs was also commonly self-reported (24%). There were 14 cases that produced a positive toxicology result where the complainant did not report voluntary consumption, which suggests these drugs may have been used covertly to facilitate sexual assault. The results of this study indicate that Females in their mid-20's who exhibit higher rates of mental health concerns represent a sub-group of the Australian population with increased vulnerability to DFSA, which typically occurs in a familiar setting in the context of voluntary alcohol and other substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The offence of defensive homicide was abolished in Victoria in November 2014, following a widely held perception that it was being abused by violent men. While primarily associated with battered women who killed in response to prolonged family violence -- but who were unable to establish their offending as self-defence -- a less publicised rationale underpinning the introduction of defensive homicide was to provide an alternative offence for offenders with cognitive impairments not covered by the mental impairment (formerly the insanity) defence. Cognitive impairments are complex and varied in their nature and symptomatology. Offenders presenting with cognitive impairments therefore require an appropriate range of legal responses to capture the nuances and appropriate moral culpability of their conduct. Drawing from an analysis of the cases of defensive homicide heard over its 10-year lifespan, this article contends that the abolition of defensive homicide did not adequately take into consideration the potential impacts on individuals whose mental conditions are not typically covered by the restrictive mental impairment defence. We further argue that the decision to abolish defensive homicide was driven by dominant, populist voices, without sufficient attention given to the offence's potential to achieve the aims underpinning its enactment, including providing an alternative offence for women who kill in response to prolonged family violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unmet demand for legal aid generally and for criminal law matters in particular, has grown in tandem with the expansion of crime control and increased restrictions on funding for publicly funded welfare and support services. This article examines the connection between legal aid, legal representation and the right to a fair trial. It presents an in-depth case study of Victorian case law and policy development to illuminate dilemmas in the prioritised allocation of legal aid resources in serious criminal trials. It then compares the Victorian courts' approach to a fair trial with the tenets of current European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence regarding the scope and timing of an accused person's right to access a lawyer. The comparison underlines the narrow definition of fair trial under Victorian common law, relative to Europe, where a fair trial is interpreted more broadly to include the right to legal representation during police and pre-trial investigations. The article questions whether international developments in access to legal aid for criminal trials and the extension of legal aid and representation to pre-trial procedures, most notably through the Salduz case (heard in the European Court of Human Rights), may inspire change in Victoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) involves three key behaviors: the non-consensual taking or creation of nude or sexual images; the non-consensual sharing or distribution of nude or sexual images; and threats made to distribute nude or sexual images. IBSA is becoming increasingly criminalized internationally, representing an important and rapidly developing cybercrime issue. This paper presents findings of the first national online survey of self-reported lifetime IBSA perpetration in Australia (n = 4053), with a focus on the extent, nature, and predictors of perpetration. Overall, 11.1% (n = 411) of participants self-reported having engaged in some form of IBSA perpetration during their lifetime, with men significantly more likely to report IBSA perpetration than women. With regard to the nature of perpetration, participants reported targeting men and women at similar rates, and were more likely to report perpetrating against intimate partners or ex-partners, family members and friends than strangers or acquaintances. Logistic regression analyses identified that males, lesbian, gay or bisexual participants, participants with a self-reported disability, participants who accepted sexual image-based abuse myths, participants who engaged in or experienced sexual self-image behaviors, and participants who had a nude or sexual image of themselves taken, distributed, and/or threatened to be distributed without their consent were more likely to have engaged in some form of IBSA perpetration during their lifetime. Highlights • 1 in 10 (11.1%) of Australians aged 16–49 years surveyed, engaged in Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA) perpetration. • Men were significantly more likely than women to report engaging in any IBSA perpetration. • Gender, sexuality and disability demographics were significantly related to IBSA perpetration. • Attitudes, sexual 'selfies', and IBSA victimization, were also significantly related to IBSA perpetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, laws regulating the meaning and interpretation of sexual consent have been substantially reformed across Australian and international jurisdictions. Of particular note in an Australian context are the significant changes to the definition of consent introduced in Victoria in 2006 and 2007, which were informed primarily by the Victorian Law Reform Commission's review of legislative provisions relating to sexual offences. In this article, we explore the persistence of traditional rape discourses in the courtroom following the 2007 Victorian reforms by examining meanings of 'sex' and 'consent' in a pilot sample of rape trials. Our analysis suggests that although deeply entrenched societal myths or discourses about rape continue to pervade Victorian courtrooms, there is some evidence of a shift towards a legal focus on the accused's state of mind, in addition to that of the victim-complainant. This shift, however, is only prominent in cases in which the accused testifies. In light of these preliminary findings, we suggest that further comparative analyses of the qualitative impact of law reform on discursive constructions of 'sex' and 'consent' in rape trials may provide alternative measures of the impact of rape law reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]