Understanding the new context of the male sex work industry

The article reviews past and recent research on male sex work to offer a context to understand violence in the industry. It provides a critical review of research to show, first, the assumptions made about male sex workers and violence and, second, how such discourses have shaped thinking on the topic. The article presents a case study and original findings from two studies conducted by the authors in Australia and Argentina on violence in the male sex industry. Finally, the article reviews examples of legislative reforms to show how the sex industry is being regulated.     

Courting Rwanda: The Promises and Pitfalls of the ICTR Outreach Programme

This article aims to assess the contribution of the OutreachProgramme at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR). The author introduces and discusses two general approachesor models of outreach that international criminal tribunalsmay pursue. The transparency model of outreach seeks to makea tribunal's opaque legal process more visible by disseminatingbasic information about the court to communities recoveringfrom human rights abuses. The engagement model goes beyond onlyinforming these communities by facilitating frequent and extensivetribunal interaction and dialogue through seminars, town hallpresentations, and training of legal professionals. Despitesome progress with limited resources, the efforts of the OutreachProgramme of the ICTR to engage the Rwandan population and tomake the Tribunal more transparent have been ineffective. Thearticle recommends that the ICTR bolster its outreach effortsby helping to train Rwanda's judiciary, appointing more Rwandansto serve in positions of authority at the Tribunal, and engagingdomestic and international non-governmental organizations inoutreach programme partnerships.     

Responses

This essay is a response to the excellent contributions to the double special issue of Law and Philosophy on my book The Ends of Harm. I further defend the Duty View of punishment outlined in the book, responding to criticisms of that view. I also challenge the plausibility of retributivist accounts offered in response to the challenges to that view developed in The Ends of Harm.     

Establishing Likelihood Ratios for Patterned Garment Comparisons from Seam Measurement Data,

It is often challenging to ascribe an objective measure of confidence for identifications based on surveillance imagery from a crime scene. The present work seeks to address this deficiency in the case of garment comparison evidence by developing a quantitative method for establishing a conservative lower bound on the likelihood ratio (LR) for identifications involving patterned garments. The method is based on statistical analysis of pattern offset measurements taken from a sample of garments of the same type (manufacturer, style, and size) as the seized evidence. The developed analysis framework was demonstrated on different types of garments over a range of modeled surveillance imaging scenarios with variable image quality; the lower bounds on the LRs ranged from approximately 10–1 to over 400–1. The statistical model was tested and validated through a large‐scale empirical study involving both simulated and human observer‐performed garment comparisons.     

Portfolio Behaviour in a Flow of Funds Model for the Household Sector in India

We estimate a flow of funds model for the household sector in India, within the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) framework, and examine the demand for money and the substitution effects between money and other financial assets. The restricted long-run model, obtained using cointegration techniques, provides stable equilibrium relationship between I(1) variables and broadly satisfies the axioms of rational choice in consumer demand theory. We find that financial sector reform exerts a significant impact on the interest rate structure and household portfolio preferences; specifically, there is strong substitutability among risk-free assets and a possible speculative effect in the stock market, while the exchange rate strongly influences the demand for money. These findings all have important policy implications.     

One Year After the Collapse of the USSR: A Panel of Specialists

Six senior American specialists in Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian affairs reflect on economic and political developments in light of apocalyptic expectations articulated in the West after the collapse of the USSR. Presentations, formulated in November 1992, focus on the lot of the consumer during the winter, a survey of direct foreign investments, the leadership of Yel'tsin, military and security considerations, and Russian-Ukrainian relations. Coverage of economic issues also includes discussion of food shortages, pervasive corruption, and Russian nationalist views of pro- or anti-market orientations. A concluding afterword embraces the December Congress of People's Deputies and Gaydar's departure. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D19, F21, K42, P26.     

Publisher's Comment

The extent to which post-communist European and Eurasian countries have instituted democratic politics varies widely. The countries possessing the generally accepted attributes of a democratic polity are without exception members of the European Union and most of the countries that have moved in that direction in recent years are prospective members. This article examines the association between membership in the EU and the development of a democratic polity. It suggests the aspiration to membership and awareness of the EU's political condition for membership contributed, along with attributes related to spatial location, political antecedents, transitional politics, and economic ties, to the development of a democratic polity.     

Space Engagement with Russia and Ukraine: Preventing Conflicts and Proliferation

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about a number of serious concerns that space and missile technologies—including weapons-related technologies—might be exported by Russia and Ukraine to states that might use them for hostile purposes. In fact, inadvertent contribution to ballistic missile programs through space collaboration and technology sharing is considered one of the major “routes” of missile technology proliferation. Incidentally, in the case of Russia and Ukraine, out of all the potential risks associated with technology transfers, proliferation of ballistic missile technologies has been the major concern for the Western nations, and engaging these two countries in joint space projects has been viewed as a powerful incentive to comply with missile nonproliferation norms and ideals.