When forensic interviewers reject children's "Don't know" responses, either by repeating questions or pressuring the children to provide different responses, children may change their subsequent responses. The primary objective of the current study was to examine interviewer reactions following preschool-aged alleged abuse victims'…

Seeking help is an essential step for victims of bullying to cope with and possibly stop bullying and thus prevent and reduce the consequences of bullying. Focusing on the group of bullied adolescents, however, shows that many of them do not seek help. This study aimed to: (1) describe the prevalence of help-seeking for bullying victimization; (2)…

Child sex trafficking (CST) is the exchange of something of value for any sexual act with a minor. Public child welfare agencies are responsible for serving CST victims. In response to the critical need for training child welfare workers on engaging survivors of CST, we describe an innovative game-based training model used to train over 1000…

People have difficulty sighting missing persons, partially because the task requires people's limited cognitive resources. We examined whether empathy increases search behaviors and performance. We manipulated empathy felt toward a formerly (E1) and actively (E2) missing person. We measured willingness to volunteer to search for missing people in…

In tackling the widespread problem of bullying victimisation, researchers have acknowledged the value of focusing on changing bullying-related beliefs and using peer-based interventions. In three studies (N = 419, 237 intervention and 182 controls), we tested the effectiveness of the CATZ cross-age teaching programme by inviting small groups of…

Domestic abuse continues to be a growing concern across the globe where the overwhelming majority of victims are women. Women also tend to experience more severe forms of violence, which includes murder. There is growing recognition that children who live in households where domestic abuse exists are directly harmed and often show psychological…

Objective: Examine associations between care seeking reasons in college health and counseling centers and sexual violence (SV). Participants: College students (n = 2,084 baseline, n = 1,170 one-year follow up) participating in a cluster randomized controlled trial of an SV reduction intervention on 28 campuses. Methods: Computer-based survey data…

College-age students are disproportionately impacted by sexually transmitted infections. Campus programs that reduce sexual violence have received recent investment, are increasingly common, and may offer a platform to increase condom use, but this has not yet been investigated. We explore this novel question through a secondary analysis of a…

Researchers have found that sex trafficking in the 21st century is a growing human rights atrocity. This qualitative case study investigates law enforcement professionals' perceived needs as first responders to identify and support sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this study examines resources, training, and support that they perceive to be…

Recent research indicates that children with autism are at increased risk of maltreatment. We examined news media reports on homicide incidents involving children with autism as victims in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Of the 52 victims studied, 47 (90.4%) were male. Age of victims ranged from 2 to 20 years (mean = 10.4 ± 5.3 years).…

Sexual assault is a global threat to adolescent health, but empowerment self-defense (ESD) interventions have shown promise for prevention. This study evaluated the joint implementation of a girls' ESD program and a concurrent boys' program, implemented via a cluster-randomized controlled trial in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya, from…

Sex trafficking of minors is a significant problem across North America, with sizeable numbers of youth being directly or indirectly manipulated into being exploited or trafficked. Identification of these youth remains difficult, in part because of a lack of knowledge about common characteristics and in part because of victims' reluctance engaging…

We present an audience reception study of participant reactions to gender-based violence in Issa López' 2008 film, "Casi Divas," chosen for its nuanced depiction of women grappling with several violences. Over three focus groups with 15 adult participants, we used Galtung's conflict theory to explore what participants identified as…

The goal of this study was to examine the relation between students' perspectives of SEL instruction with SEL skills and peer relationships, and whether experiences of peer victimization moderated these associations. Participants included 288 ethnically and racially diverse 8th-12th grade students from the Southeast region of the USA.…

Limited research exists around the complexities of scholars who identify as survivors and subsequently engage in research about sexual violence and the relationship between their own scholarship and survivor identities. As scholars of color and survivors, who work in higher education, we navigate our own trauma and the trauma of others on a…