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This study examines the legal uncertainty related to the implementation of restitution as a form of legal protection for child victims of sexual violence. The issues raised include unclear regulations, complicated administrative procedures, and lack of support from law enforcement officers in the process of submitting and fulfilling restitution. These conditions often prevent victims from obtaining compensation that is their right according to court decisions that have permanent legal force. This study aims to analyze the legal uncertainty related to the implementation of restitution for child victims of sexual violence in Indonesia, identify obstacles in its implementation, and provide recommendations for improving the existing legal system to create better legal certainty. This study uses a normative legal method with a statute approach and a case approach. The results of the study indicate that legal uncertainty regarding restitution for child victims of sexual violence is caused by ambiguous regulations, inconsistencies between applicable regulations, and complicated administrative procedures. Support from law enforcement officers, especially public prosecutors, is often less than optimal in facilitating restitution applications by victims. In addition, limited socialization regarding victim rights exacerbates uncertainty in the implementation of the law. This study provides theoretical and practical implications in the development of criminal law and child protection. Theoretically, this study enriches the criminal law literature related to victims' rights and the implementation of restitution. Practically, the results of this study can be a reference for policy makers in formulating clearer and more implementable regulations. The proposed recommendations include simplifying administrative procedures, strengthening the role of prosecutors, and increasing the socialization of victims' rights to create a more responsive and equitable legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing subset of peacekeeping literature focuses on explaining peacekeeper sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of civilians within postconflict protection. However, what happens after the abuse has received limited attention. Most of the time, peacekeepers do not receive any type of punishment following abuse allegations. What explains why peacekeepers are punished for abuse allegations? I argue that the presence of child victims increases the chances that peacekeepers are punished. Two mechanisms are highlighted through which the presence of child victims increases the chance of punishment: (i) the increased moral and legal obligation of UN member states to protect children and (ii) the increased shaming and media focus on child victims, which heightens public focus. The empirical analyses of UN and Troop-Contributing Country punishment actions between 2007 and 2017 provide robust support for the argument that the presence of child victims increases peacekeeper punishment. This research builds on studies of SEA, peacekeeping dynamics, and victimhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social protection (SP) programs for children who are victims of violence have been provided through Child Protection (CP) services, but there are still gaps in meeting the needs in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. This study aims to determine the quality of CP services and their integration with SP services for child victims of violence in Indonesia. Using a qualitative case study method, this study was conducted in 4 provinces and 10 districts/cities, 5 cases of child victims of violence, and a number of informants from parents of victims, and stakeholders in the regions who are responsible for the issue of child victims of violence. Using qualitative methods, the results of the study indicate that there is no integrated policy between CP and SP services for child victims of violence. The lack of integration of CP and SP occurs both among institutions and within the Ministry that has the main tasks and related functions. In some policies related to SP in the form of social assistance under the social rehabilitation program, it is only intended for the poor, so that only children who are victims of violence and are poor can get this service. Integration of child protection and social protection is very important to create a comprehensive framework to address the needs of children who are victims of violence and their families. This paper recommends the integration of social protection and social protection programs by including violence against children as part of the poverty indicators.

Law No. 35/2009 on Narcotics explains that drug abuse is considered a crime without victims. In handling children who are involved in drug cases, the main principle that must be considered is the best interest of the child. This principle is contained in the Juvenile Justice System Law, which emphasizes that every decision must consider the welfare of the child's life and development. The legal protection of children caught up in drug abuse causes the boundaries between perpetrators and victims to become blurred, because according to the law, drug abuse is considered a criminal offense. Therefore, the legal establishment of both the Police, the Prosecutor's Office and the Judiciary needs harmonization so that the application to children who abuse drugs can be put forward, so that children can be given legal certainty in terms of justice. This study is to analyze the harmony of legal confirmation on children as victims of drug abuse. The method used is normative juridical research with a focus on literature study which uses secondary data. The conclusion of the research is that children as victims of narcotics abusers must be given sanctions in the form of rehabilitation, not imposed criminal sanctions because what children do is a crime but without causing victims (crime without victim), harmonization of law enforcement agencies (APH) in cases of children becoming victims of drug abusers must be aligned for the welfare of children.

In recent years, violence against women and children has markedly increased in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Numerous cases underscore a significant potential for sexual violence against children, particularly those enrolled in non-formal education institutions. This pressing issue necessitates a thorough examination of current implementation practices, the identification of existing constraints, and the formulation of prospective criminal policies aimed at protecting children from sexual violence in these educational settings. This study utilises a socio-legal framework with a normative-empirical approach, drawing on data from Bantul Regency and Yogyakarta City. It also critically reviews pertinent regulatory frameworks and implementation practices within this context. Findings indicate that both preventive and repressive measures have been enacted to combat sexual violence against children, primarily through the empowerment of law enforcement officials and related government officers at the district, city, and provincial levels. However, the effectiveness of preventive measures is impeded by current regulations and prevailing social norms. Future initiatives to protect children from sexual violence in non-formal education institutions should prioritise non-penal approaches, including the enhancement and harmonisation of the Criminal Acts of Sexual Violence legislation at both national and regional levels. Furthermore, it reveals that local government agencies have yet to establish effective coordination mechanisms to promote better norms for preventing sexual violence in these institutions. Enhancing community empowerment and bolstering the coordination and roles of stakeholders will be pivotal in mitigating the stigma faced by child victims of sexual violence.

Despite the improvements in enhanced child protection, there is an increasing concern about the vulnerability and cases of child trafficking in Spain, the southern gateway to Europe from the African continent. Analyzing 23 interviews with professionals in the field, this article identifies the factors that contribute to high levels of child trafficking in Spain. This study identifies three primary results: (1) The dangers of residential childcare as places of recruitment; (2) The southern European and Spanish border as a place of elevated risk for the recruitment of children; (3) The stereotypes regarding child trafficking make invisible male victims, other types of trafficking for non-sexual purposes, domestic trafficking, and individual trafficking. Therefore, it remains imperative to advance a set of policies that: (i) invest in specific residential childcare resources for child victims either alone or with family members; (ii) invest in smaller residential childcare to prevent abuse; (iii) invest in mentoring programs for children previously under state guardianship; (iv) improve the working conditions and the training of residential childcare staff; (v) increase the visibility and diversity of child trafficking while avoiding stereotypes; (vi) improve the regional coordination; (vii) invest in campaigns to inform children about the dangers involved in running away, exploitation and abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the issue of sexual aggressors with underage victims. The research question that formed the basis of the present study was: What are the factors that contribute to committing sexual abuse with an underage victim? The interviews carried out in the Rahova Penitentiary (July−August 2021) with definitively convicted persons aimed at: identifying the factors that lead to the perpetration of crimes of rape or sexual assault with a child victim, the analysis of the characteristics of sexual aggressors and the analysis of the relationship between the aggressor and the victim. The research was conducted from the perspective of the ecological theory of risk factors developed by Etienne G. Krug et al. (2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, children's involvement in County Lines drug trafficking (CL) has been of increasing concern to national government, the police and safeguarding agencies. However, few studies have explored how child victims of county lines are identified by the police. This exploratory research study provides insights into the police decision-making process for identifying child victims of CL. Interviews with eight police officers from three police forces in South England were conducted to understand how they came to recognise children involved in CL as victims and in turn, how this related to decisions to refer children into the UK's formal victim-identification system – the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The research found decisions to recognise children as victims and later refer them into the NRM varied amongst the police officers in the sample. This was because officers had different understandings of what constitutes modern slavery, considered different factors in their decisions about signs of exploitation, displayed varying attitudes towards children involved in CL and viewed their duties in CL cases differently to one another. The research also identifies various barriers in the process of victim-identification. The most significant barrier appeared to be the over-reliance on victim accounts, compounded by the inability of children to disclose exploitation. The notion that children involved in CL may have experienced differing levels of exploitation and display varying levels of willingness to facilitate CL drug dealing, further complicated understandings of what constitutes a victim and in turn an NRM referral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal protection for children has not been effective and there are still children who are victims of bullying. Bullying is an action that hurts the victim both physically and psychologically. The occurrence of bullying is a form of violation of children's rights which is regulated in the Child Protection Law, so perpetrators must be dealt with firmly by imposing criminal sanctions which are also regulated in the Child Protection Law. The purpose of this writing is to find out legal protection for children who are victims of bullying, especially repressive legal protection. It uses a normative juridical method that prioritizes primary legal material of the Child Protection Law. The final result is that the regulation of criminal sanctions in the Child Protection Law is cumulative and there are regulations for minimum and maximum criminal threats, so that judges in giving decisions on criminal sanctions can be minimal. This lack of firmness in setting sanctions does not provide a deterrent effect for perpetrators and other people who continue to carry out bullying actions against children.

Mass trauma events affect everyone including children. Resulting symptomatic problems for children can be addressed by clinical professionals yet at some point following these mass trauma events children must return to school but their teachers are seldom prepared to work with them to facilitate a return to learning, though they undoubtedly spend much more time with children than do clinical professionals. Workshops held in Spain and Ireland brought together educators from around the world to offer their suggestions for activities that could help children return to learning. The suggested activities are provided in this paper.

According to international human rights standards and European regulations, children who provide paid sexual services are considered victims of the crime of human trafficking and should receive special protection. In the United States, however, such children are also treated as perpetrators of the crime of prostitution and are often arrested. In Europe, there is a non-punishment clause, expressed in Article 8 of the European Union Directive of 2011. Since in the US such a clause does not exist, therefore some states are looking for other ways to protect child victims from arrest. One of the instruments of such protection is the institution of “safe harbor”. This legal regulation allows to avoid negative criminal consequences of a violation of the law. Typical for economic and financial regulations, this institution is nowadays used by some states to protect child victims “from law enforcement”. The article examines the process of creating legislation relating to children who are exploited in the sex business and who are victims of modern slavery. Analysis of such legislation in Colorado serves as a case study. Despite negative attitudes of some policymakers and part of the society, under pressure from experts and non-governmental organizations, the relevant law was prepared only in 2019. Ultimately, the legislative procedure could be finalized thanks to the agreement between the Republican and Democrat representatives, and the law came into force thanks to the firm stance of a progressive Governor of the state.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are frequent in child victims of sexual abuse. Authors argued that early trauma could lead to alterations in development that go far beyond the primary symptoms of PTSD and have proposed that Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) involving alterations in attachment, biology, affect regulation, consciousness, behavioral regulation, cognition, and self-concept, may better describe children experiencing chronic trauma at an early developmental stage. The aim of the study was to disentangle the diversity of profiles in child victims of sexual abuse based on the C-PTSD framework. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct subgroups in a sample of 861 sexually abused children aged 6 to 12. Children and their non-offending parents completed questionnaires evaluating PTSD symptoms and measures documenting alterations in development characteristics of C-PTSD. Latent profile analysis identified a best-fitting model consisting of three profiles: PTSD (40.7% of children), Resilient (32.8% of children), and C-PTSD (26.5% of children). Compared to others, children in the C-PTSD profile were more likely to have experienced more forms of interpersonal trauma and showed impairments in several domains. Findings underscore the importance of tailoring interventions to efficiently address the needs of young victims of sexual trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult female sexual assault victims who appear emotional are rated as more credible by jurors, which has been termed the emotional victim effect. Two explanations of this effect have been proposed: The expectancy violation theory and the compassionate-affective account. To date, the emotional victim effect in child victims, or the application of these theories to child victims, has not been reviewed. We conducted a systematic review to examine how child victims' emotional presentation influences mock juror credibility judgements. We searched five databases acquiring 1,946 articles. A further two articles were included after initial screening. Following quality assessment, eight studies were identified as suitable for inclusion in the current review, with a total of 2,148 participants. These studies all showed that 'sad' emotional presentation of a child victim increased subsequent mock juror credibility ratings. Type of emotion, proportionality of the emotional response, level of empathy, gender of the participants, and age of the victims, also influenced credibility judgements made by jurors. The review illustrates evidence of the emotional victim effect within the child victim population, discusses possible explanations of the effect, moderating factors, and highlights the important implications of these findings at multiple stages of the Criminal Justice System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]