The boundaries of belonging: gender,human trafficking and embodied citizenship

A ‘victim of trafficking’ is an identity that an individual can adopt to access legal resources that would otherwise not be open to them. However, this identity contains certain implicit assumptions about that individual and their experiences. This article analyses 12 applications for a one-year visa, written by women from the former Soviet Union who were trafficked to Israel and forced to sell sex. To apply for a visa as a ‘victim of trafficking’ applicants assert certain narrative tropes to emphasise their desire to belong in Israel. These tropes obscure the complexities of their experiences by emphasising themes of naivety and innocence, a commitment to familial obligations and a lack of agency. They reject the alternative identity of a migrant sex worker and distance themselves from any implication of a desire to illegally cross national borders. When they describe their hopes for the future, they assert normative gendered desires to marry and have children. This article argues that by closely aligning themselves with gender norms, these women seek to respond to conceptualisations of individuals who transgress gender and moral norms and who pose a threat to national borders and integrity.     

Characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence

Many women are abused by intimate partners, millions of children witness such acts, and many of these children are physically abused. Children who are exposed to violence often evidence difficulties, including violent behavior, as adults. One hypothesized mode of intergenerational transmission is modeling. There is evidence that witnessing and/or experiencing violence are related to different patterns of abusive behavior and, perhaps, psychopathology, but the extent of the relationship is unclear. This study examined differences in generality, frequency, and severity of violent offenses, nonviolent criminal behavior, and psychopathology within a battering population of 1,099 adult males with varying levels of exposure to violence as children. Generality, frequency, and severity of violence and psychopathology all increased as level of childhood exposure to violence increased. Modeling theory was supported by the findings that men who witnessed domestic violence as children committed the most frequent domestic violence, and men who were abused as children were more likely to abuse children. Men who were abused also committed more general violence.     

Fatal Case of Hydrophilic Polymer Emboli

Hydrophilic polymers are used to coat catheters and other intravascular devices. In general, these polymers have many salutary properties; however, in some instances, fragmentation of hydrophilic polymers coating intravascular devices can occur with fatal consequences. This report details the histopathologic changes in the lung seen following polymer fragmentation and embolization from a central venous catheter. Polymer emboli detected microscopically are intravascular and consist of basophilic, lamellated, and nonrefractile elements. Typically, an inflammatory response is present to a variable degree. Embolization can result in severe tissue injury with ischemia and infarction.