Over the past 10-15 years there has been a growing recognition of the role that diversity plays in our day to day lives, as well, as in offending behaviour. However, the field of diversity is so broad and nuanced that it can be difficult to comprehend when we are talking about sexual abuse. Are we discussing neurodiversity, cultural and socio-economic diversity, diversity in mental health and wellbeing, diversity in upbringing and/or the range of vulnerabilities tied into different types of diversity because of class, gender, sexual identity race, and power? A common conversation is about the power of intersectionality (often defined as the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender) and how it helps us understand victimization better, but we often don’t discuss intersectionality with respect to people who commit sexual offences or the practitioners who work with them. The reality is that the debate around diversity and sexual abuse is a broad, multi-disciplinary concept, and we therefore need to widen our lens to understand it better, and its importance with regard to the prevention of and response to sexual abuse.
We are seeking submissions that explore the phenomenon of diversity in respect to sexual abuse from a multi-disciplinary perspective that focus on victims, people who are at risk of offending or who have offended, and address new scientific insights, practice and/or policy. We welcome submissions examining any of following areas (list is not exhaustive):
- The nature and scale of diversity in the criminal justice system that come into contact with those who perpetrate and experience sexual victimization (e.g., the legal and child welfare systems, policymaking, treatment programs, etc.).
- Influencing factors such as gender, culture, and environment
- Experiences of practitioners responding to diversity in the caseloads (including health, criminal justice, education, social care, third sector etc.)
- Trauma-informed practice & Compassion leadership
- Understanding and gaining the service user voice
- Prevention of victimization and offending behavior
- The challenges and opportunities for responding to diversity in our client group (both victims and people who have offended) in non-diverse system
- Community based/place-based approaches
- Assessment, safety planning, & risk assessment
- Research methods and ethical challenges
