‘I Just Wanted Him to Hear Me’: Sexual Violence and the Possibilities of Restorative Justice

The use of restorative justice in cases of sexual violence is highly contentious. Some argue that it may trivialize violence against women, revictimize the vulnerable, and endanger the safety of victim‐survivors. On the other hand, from the perspective of victim‐survivors, it may enable us to hear their stories more holistically, offering greater control and validation, and reduce victim‐blaming. It may also provide an additional opportunity to secure some form of justice. Debate over the validity of these competing claims has largely taken place in an empirical vacuum. This article considers the results of an exploratory study of a restorative justice conference involving an adult survivor of child rape and other sexual abuse. The results, while necessarily tentative, provide good ground to consider afresh the possibilities of restorative justice in cases of sexual violence. We suggest that for those victim‐survivors who wish to pursue this option, restorative justice may offer the potential to secure some measure of justice.     

A Pilot Study Comparing Postmortem and Antemortem CT for the Identification of Unknowns: Could a Forensic Pathologist Do It?

Forensic pathologists are commonly tasked with identifying human remains. Although DNA analysis remains the gold standard in identification, time and cost make it particularly prohibitive. Radiological examination, more specifically analog imaging, is more cost-effective and has been widely used in the medical examiner setting as a means of identification. In the United States, CT imaging is a fairly new imaging modality in the forensic setting, but in more recent years, offices are acquiring CT scans or collaborating with local hospitals to utilize the technology. To broaden the spectrum of potential identifying characteristics, we collected 20 cases with antemortem and postmortem CT images. The results were qualitatively assessed by a forensic pathologist and a nonmedically trained intern, and all cases were correctly identified. This study demonstrates that identification of human remains using visual comparison could be performed with ease by a forensic pathologist with limited CT experience.     

The Voices of Youth in Out-of-Home Care Regarding Developing Healthy Dating Relationships

Minimal attention has been focused on difficulties for youth in residential care regarding building healthy dating relationships, despite the significant risks to this group of adolescents. This study provided a unique opportunity to conduct focus groups with youth in residential care on issues surrounding dating relationships. The majority of youth feedback centered on the themes of desiring support developing relationship boundaries, establishing trust in relationships, understanding the consequences of sexual activity, and having real world examples regarding dating relationships. The data were examined for differences between the genders and recommendations for next steps provided.     

Women in Iran: An Online Discussion

This debate on the role of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran was conducted early in 2001 as part of the Gulf/2000 project at Columbia University, directed by Gary Sick. Normally these online discussions are reserved for members, but this topic is of such general interest and aroused such intense emotions that two of the participants were asked to edit the discussion for a wider audience. The final version was edited by Nikki R. Keddie, professor emerita of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, based on the selection and organization of the texts by co-editor Azita Karimkhany, alumna of Columbia University and researcher in Middle Eastern studies. For additional information on Gulf/2000, see the project website at http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/.     

Queer pleasures: Some thoughts

Queer praxis is often conceptualized as a creative construction of alternative ways of being; a strategic practice of self‐(trans)formation. The practice of queer pleasures constitutes one such mode of possibility. Within this model, queer pleasures represent the threshold of a politics that promises a radical confrontation with inhibiting normalities. Yet by applying political priorities to pleasure, and by incessantly equating pleasure with the sexual, there is a risk of re‐establishing hierarchies and conventions, and, moreover, of reinforcing a notion of the subject as self‐transparent, autonomous and intentionally motivated. This paper explores some of the dimensions of pleasure that this politics tends to ignore—the trivial, quotidian, accidental, embarrassing, boring, insignificant, mediocre—and asks whether this overlooking is accidental or a structural inevitability. I will explore queer's investment in the politics of pleasure, and speculate about alternatives     

The influence of contextual information regarding the breakdown of relationships and perpetrator-target sex composition on perceptions of relational stalking

ABSTRACT

The present study examines the influence of prior relationship (with contextual information regarding the breakdown of the relationship) and perpetrator-target sex composition on perceptions of relational stalking. The study employed an experimental 7?×?2 independent measures design, and the sample comprised 1,260 members of the community residing in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Participants received one of 14 versions of a hypothetical scenario and responded to scale items concerning the situation described. The situation was perceived to be most serious when the perpetrator was a stranger or a physically violent ex-partner and least serious when the perpetrator was an ex-partner of an unfaithful target. Scenarios involving a male perpetrator and a female victim were also perceived to be more serious than scenarios involving a female perpetrator and a male target. It is apparent therefore that the context of the relationship breakdown and the sex of the perpetrator and target significantly influence perceptions of relational stalking.