Most people get information about child sexual abuse from media coverage, social movements, or conversations with family and friends. Confronting Child Sexual Abuse describes how these forces shape our views of victims and offenders, while also providing an in-depth look at prevention efforts and current research. Sociologist Anne Nurse has synthesized studies spanning the fields of psychology, sociology, communications, criminology, and political science to produce this nuanced, accessible, and up-to-date account. Topics include the prevalence of abuse, the impact of abuse on victims and families, offender characteristics, abuse in institutions, and the efficacy of treatments. Written for people who care for kids, for students considering careers in criminal justice or human services, and for anyone seeking information about this devastating issue, Nurse’s book offers new public policy ideas as well as practical suggestions on how to engage in prevention work. Interactive links to studies, videos, and podcasts connect readers to further resources. 

Contents Page:

• Member Institution Acknowledgments  

• Preface  

• Section One: Knowledge

• Chapter One: The Social Context of Child Sexual Abuse  

• Chapter Two: Child Sexual Abuse Definition, Prevalence, and Harm  

• Chapter Three: Victims and Offenders

• Section Two: Action

• Chapter Four: Legal Responses in the Wake of an Allegation

• Chapter Five: Legal Restrictions Postprison

• Chapter Six: Preventing Abuse in Organizations and Workplaces

• Chapter Seven: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training

• Chapter Eight: Looking to the Future

• Acknowledgments

• Bibliography

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The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, associated with the United Nations Security Council resolutions of a similar name, is widely recognized as the most significant and wide- reaching global framework for advancing gender equality in military affairs, conflict resolution and security governance. The first of these resolutions, UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, bound the international community to ensure, among other provisions, greater participation of women in decision making in national, regional and international institutions; their further involvement in peacekeeping, field operations, mission consultation and peace negotiations; increased funds and other support to the gender work of UN entities; enhanced state commitments to the human rights of women and girls and the protection of those rights under international law; the introduction of special measures against sexual violence in armed conflict; and due consideration to the experiences and needs of women and girls in humanitarian, refugee, disarmament and postconflict settings. 

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The Global Study on UNSC resolution 1325 of 2000 reviews the challenges and lessons learned across regions in implementing the Women, Peace and Security [WPS] agenda over the past 15 years. The Study provides a comprehensive evidence base demonstrating that women’s equal and meaningful participation in peace and security efforts is vital to sustainable peace.

The review followed the adoption of UNSC resolution 2122 of 2013, which marked the 15th anniversary of resolution 1325 and effectively mandated the Secretary-General to report to the UNSC on “…identified gaps and challenges, as well as the emerging trends and priorities for action”.

The review progressed along the lines of a series of global and regional consultations, commissioned research papers, online submissions via a dedicated public website and a survey, which gauged the responses of 317 organisations across 71 countries. Spanning more than 400 pages, The Global Study illustrates in great detail the various issues and key considerations that global policymakers and practitioners ought to examine in their cross-cutting implementation of this watershed resolution. The report makes key findings on how to build sustainable peace through participation, protection, justice, prevention and much more. Each chapter details these recommendations and contextualizes core issues of peace and security within the needs and concerns of women in specific situations of conflict.

The WPS report presents a set of valuable contributions in moving the WPS agenda forward, by providing a comprehensive and candid assessment of what has and has not been achieved, the reasons behind this, and what should be done to strengthen the WPS agenda through the implementation of resolution 1325. What is disconcerting, however, is just how far removed many of these final conclusions are from the report’s very own first chapter, which details the broader international context and climate in which these must be understood.

The WPS report’s first chapter clearly articulates a sense of a deep, pervasive and far-reaching change that has occurred throughout the international system in recent years. From the nature and root causes of conflict and the nature of multilateral processes, to the fragility of the conception of the nation-state and the very nature of peace and security and the UN itself, the WPS report expertly delineates and elaborates on the fundamental dimensions upon which such change has been perceived and felt throughout the global order. 

What is surprising is that having displayed such a breadth of understanding of the changing nature of the international system, the report offers only two general prescriptions to account for and address this:

• that prevention must be prioritised over militarisation; and

• that the “local” must “…clearly be the most important factor in our analyses”13 – in reference to the fact that local experiences and situation-specific analyses, interventions and responses must be emphasised.

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This book offers a comprehensive guide to the international policies developed to stop rape, together with case studies on their effectiveness in practice. Engaging with the legal and criminal justice systems, health services, specialised services for victim-survivors, educational and cultural outreach, and more, it brings together both theory and real-world evidence to build a thorough picture of worldwide efforts to fight rape in all its contexts.

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