Sexual Assault and the Meaning of Power and Authority for Women with Mental Disabilities

The sexual assault of persons with mental disabilities (also described as cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities) occurs at alarmingly high rates worldwide. These assaults are a form of gender-based violence intersecting with discrimination based on disability. Our research on the treatment of such cases in the Canadian criminal justice system demonstrates the systemic barriers these victims face at the level of both substantive legal doctrine and trial procedure. Relying on feminist legal theory and disability theory, we argue in this paper that abuses of trust and power underlie most sexual assaults of women with mental disabilities. We argue that existing Criminal Code provisions in Canada are inadequate to address this type of exploitation because courts have consistently failed to recognize that such abuses of power and trust are fundamentally inconsistent with any notion of voluntary consent.     

Effective Practitioner–Scholar Relationships: Lessons from a Coproduction Partnership

This article presents a continuum of possible coproduction arrangements between scholars and practitioners and suggests that greater engagement is necessary to bridge the commonly cited problems that create the gap between research and practice. Reflections on an Australian case of a major public sector coproduction partnership, the highest degree of interaction on the continuum, are used to argue that successful engagement between practitioners and scholars is possible, while also recognizing the difficulties inherent in this process. The benefits and challenges of this partnership are presented, as well as critical factors that drive effective relationships. Lessons are drawn for the development of future coproduction partnerships, including the importance of recognizing that both scholars and practitioners are, in fact, researchers.     

Local Government Tax Policy: Measuring the Efficiency of New York City's Tax Mix, FYs 1984-1998

This article applies the Markowitz portfolio model to New York City's tax mix to determine whether it is 'mix-efficient,' in the sense that the portfolio minimizes volatility for given levels of growth. The results indicate that New York City's tax-revenue portfolio is very close to being mix-efficient. The analysis also extends the Markowitz portfolio model to consider the impact on growth and volatility of adopting a tax-equity constraint.     

Giving Peace a Chance: Croatia's Branitelji and the Imperative of Reintegration

This article focuses on ex-combatants (branitelji) in the town of Vukovar. It argues that while veterans currently present an obstacle to inter-ethnic reconciliation, this need not be the case; they can potentially play an important role as peace builders. As a first step, however, they need to be reintegrated into society, and to a large extent this has not yet happened. The purpose of this article is thus to reflect on possible ways of advancing the reintegration process, focusing on the core themes of identity and trauma.