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- Title
YOUTH SEXUAL AGGRESSION AND VICTIMIZATION: A EUROPEAN AGENDA?
- Authors
Diesen, Christian; Lainpelto, Katrin; Vanwesenbeeck, Ine
- Abstract
During the period 2010-2013 an EU research project "Youth Sexual Aggression and Victimization" (Y-SAV) -- has investigated the problem of sexual aggression towards young people (12-25 years). The first aim of the project was to create a knowledge base of studies on the prevalence, incidence and risk factors of sexual aggression as well as legal and public health responses, covering all 27 EU states. The collection of these data shows that there seems to be a great variety between different regions and cultures in Europe. The awareness of the problem, the reporting of rape, the legal, research and policy standards vary. In general it can be stated that the attention to the problem is proportional to the incidence, i.e., that the countries that have most rape reports per capita also have most research and policies on the issue. The relation between attention to the problem and the amount of police reports also works in the opposite direction; with more awareness more victims turn to the legal system (and other institutions) for assistance. The prevalence research on national levels indicates that the risk for a young person of being sexually abused seems to be relatively high in all European countries. A problem in making comparisons between countries has been the use of different methods and criteria. Therefore, another aim of the project was to create a standard set of indicators and standards for prevalence studies that will, in the future, make it possible to compare the extent of youth sexual aggression in different countries. A third aim of the Y-SAV project was to establish an international interdisciplinary network for exchange on best practices, state responses and legal rules to prevent youth sexual victimization. This article concentrates on the governmental issues and concludes that legal harmonization would be difficult to obtain, but that some legal standards, e.g., a rape law based on non-consent, would improve the teenagers' situation. A discussion within the European community about the age of consent, which varies from 13 to 18 years, could be a way to get the sexual victimization of teenagers on the agenda.
- Publication
Journal of Current Issues in Crime, Law & Law Enforcement, 2013, Vol 6, Issue 4, p453
- ISSN
1935-3545
- Publication type
Academic Journal