Multiple perpetrator sexual assault: how does it differ from assault by a single perpetrator?

Research that attempts to identify characteristic features of multiple perpetrator sexual assault (MPSA) is limited. This study compared demographic and assault related characteristics of 135 cases of MPSA with 139 cases of single perpetrator sexual assault (SPSA) reported to the Haven sexual assault referral centre, Camberwell, London, over a 4-year period, and aimed to identify any unique features of MPSA victims, perpetrators and assault type. Victims of MPSA were younger, less likely to be White, more likely to report previous self-harm and more likely to sustain injuries than victims of SPSA. Multiple perpetrators were younger, less likely to be White and more likely to be strangers to the victim than single perpetrators. The nature of the assault was different in single and multiple perpetrator cases; in MPSA, there were more completed rapes and more multiple rapes, and perpetrators were more likely to meet the victim in an outside location before carrying out the assault in a place of residence that was not the victim's. These findings add to a scant but growing evidence base.     

Behind the burka

After the horrendous events of 11 September 2001, when the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed by terrorists, a war against terrorism was declared by the American President, George W. Bush, who is building an international coalition to focus on this issue. In particular, the key man thought to be the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden, is believed to be hiding somewhere in Afghanistan. Attempts are being made to bring him to justice. This article, which first appeared in The Guardian on 28 February 2001, considers the plight of the Afghan women who, it is argued, are oppressed by the ruling Taliban regime and by the opposition grouping the Northern Alliance, which may become American's ally and form a new government. It is suggested that it is imperative for a human rights contract to be drawn up, which the Alliance leaders should sign, which would include equality for women.     

Personnel Discipline and Industrial Relations on the Railways of Republican China

The Chinese National Railways of Republican China (1912-37) had a personnel administration the equal of any of the major railway systems of the period. Railways require a sophisticated personnel bureaucracy to train, monitor and enforce codes of conduct which would ensure the safety of passengers, freight and the huge investment in rolling stock and fixed capital. Only the military had previously administrative structures approaching the modern railway companies, the first modern business to organise on such a scale large numbers of employees over vast geographic areas. In China the railway introduced not only a new transport technology but also played a major role in creating the new industrial working class through the regimes of work and discipline their administration created. Drawing on neglected railway personnel archives, this paper examines the work organisation and structures of discipline that governed the working day of Chinese railway employees.     

The Alchemists' Search for the Philosophers' Stone: The Status of Registered Social Landlords under the Human Rights Act

Social housing in Great Britain is undergoing a radical transformation with the transfer of local authority housing to housing associations, more particularly registered social landlords (RSLs). While the former are clearly 'public authorities' for the purposes of the Human Rights Act (HRA), the status of the latter is less clear. The first part of this article addresses the increasingly important role played by housing associations in the provision of social housing, and the significant implications of the stock transfer process. It goes on to explore the meaning of 'public authority' for the purposes of claims under the HRA, taking into account available approaches to interpretation as well as the tests traditionally used to determine amenability to judicial review. It concludes that there is a strong case for acknowledging that RSLs are hybrid authorities for the purposes of the HRA, given in particular their 'publicness' and the fact that they are often carrying out the same functions as local authorities.