Call for Abstracts: Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 5th Biennial International Conference 2019

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The 5th biennial international conference hosted by the Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology is being held 15-17 July 2019.

This conference seeks to further build on and innovate in new and imaginative areas of criminological thought.   This conference creates a globally connected space to enhance the dialogue between scholars and practitioners from the Global South and the Global North. The conference especially welcomes scholars from the global north – as a critical aim of the conference is to link northern and southern scholars in a collective project that will radically transnationalise the discipline into the future.

The conference is being convened at Broadbeach, a picturesque part of the Gold Coast in the south east corridor of Queensland, Australia. It has an international airport and is within close proximity to Asia and other parts of the Global South, as well as the beautiful beaches of the Gold Coast and its adjacent hinterland with rich and rare biodiversity.

Further information about the conference, including information on how to submit abstracts, can be found on the conference website

Conference: Queer(y)ing Justice in the Global South Conference

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Date: 11-13 July 2018

Location: Charles Perkins Centre, Building D17, John Hopkins Drive (off Missenden Rd), University of Sydney

Recent years have seen social, criminal, and legal justice campaigns for sexuality and gender diverse people gain increasing visibility and popular support in many jurisdictions, while repression and discrimination have increased in others. At the same time, academic LGBT and queer scholarship in fields such as criminology, criminal justice studies, sociology, and socio-legal studies, has grown significantly.

Despite reversals of enfranchisement for sexuality and gender diverse people in some countries, important changes in the interests of social and legal justice have been achieved, and there is a growing space in some legal and criminal justice contexts for the needs of sexuality and gender diverse people to be recognised. However, more can be done to respond to the intersections of inequalities in these contexts. Culturally diverse people, Indigenous people, and people seeking safety, among others, have not always benefited from these gains. A gulf remains between academia and practitioners in these areas, with greater opportunity to pay attention to the voices of those in the Global South in these debates, and to how ‘Northern’ frameworks guiding research and practice in this area may need to be reconsidered. These issues are central to ongoing campaigns to achieve greater social and criminal justice for sexuality and gender diverse people globally.

To further explore and respond to these issues, and strengthen the international networks of scholars and practitioners working in this area, we invite proposals to speak at an upcoming conference on ‘Queer(y)ing Justice in the Global South’. We hope to question how justice can be ‘queered’ and queried from the perspectives of sexuality and gender diverse people.

The conference is an opportunity to bring together researchers, community members, and organisations working at the intersections of sexuality, gender diversity, and justice, broadly conceived.

Further information about the conference can be found here:  http://sydney.edu.au/news/law/457.html?eventid=11768

 

Justice Award for the Best Article in the International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

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Professor Kristian Lasslett has won the 2017 Justice Prize for his article –

‘Uncovering the Transnational Networks, Organisational Techniques and State-Corporate Ties Behind Grand Corruption: Building an Investigative Methodology’, for the best paper published in the International Journal for Crime Justice and Social Democracy, as judged by the Award Committee drawn from the International Editorial Board.

The award will be presented next year at our 5th Crime, Justice and Social Democracy International Conference to be held at the Gold Coast, Qld 14-17 July.

 

Professors Kerry Carrington and John Scott – Chief Editors

Dr Kelly Richards, Assistant Editor

Research: Study of Women’s Police Stations in Argentina

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Kerry pictured with Superintendent Mabel Christina Rojas, Ministry of Security, Buenos Aries, Argentina (Photo taken by Dr Diego Zysman, a Senior Researcher on the Project)

 

Professor Kerry Carrington was awarded an ARC Discovery Grant (2018-2020) to study the prevention of gendered violence. As part of that study she will be studying the preventative impact of Women’s Police Stations in Argentina with Partner Investigator – Professor Máximo Sozzo Universidad Nacional de Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina. The Buenos Aries province of Argentina has 138 Women’s Police Stations that employ over 2300 personnel.

Little is known in the English speaking academy about how societies in the global south have approached the prevention of gendered violence. Brazil was the first country in Latin America to establish women’s only police stations in 1985.  Since then, women’s police stations have been established in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and Uruguay, and more recently in Sierra Leone, India, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Liberia, the Philippines, South Africa and Uganda. A 2011 United Nations Women evaluation found that women only police stations in Latin America enhanced women’s access to justice and their willingness to report, increased the likelihood of conviction, and enlarged access to a range of other services such as counselling, health, legal, financial and social support. Of those surveyed for the evaluation, 77% in Brazil, 77% in Nicaragua, 64% in Ecuador and 57% in Peru felt that women only police stations had reduced violence against women in their countries (Jubb et al 2010).  Women’s only police stations emerged historically at a time of re-democratisation in Latin America. They were designed to enhance women’s confidence in the criminal justice system, encourage reporting, prevent re-victimization, and send a message to the community that gendered violence was no longer tolerated and men who abuse women will be made accountable.

A more recent study of WPS in Brazil used female homicides as a proxy measure for assessing their effectiveness. They compared 2074 municipalities from 2004 to 2009 and found that ‘women’s police stations appear to be highly effective among young women living in metropolitan areas’ . The  homicide rate dropped by 17 per cent for all women, but for women aged 15-24 in metropolitan areas the reduction was 50 per cent (or 5.57 deaths reduction per 100,000) (Perova and Reynolds 2017: 193-194).

Kerry now has all the approvals necessary to conduct the research and will commence in July this year.

You can listen to a broadcast about the research project aired Friday afternoon 27 April 2018 on the Multicultural Show – Community Radio Interview 4EB  by clicking the link below.

http://www.4eb.org.au/node/41

Recently published: Resistance and backlash to gender equality: An evidence review

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Crime and Justice Research Centre members Associate Professor Michael Flood and Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz and Deakin University Honorary Professor Bob Pease recently published Resistance and backlash to gender equality: An evidence review Read more

John Scott discusses male sex work with Dan Savage

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Professor John Scott recently spoke extensively with American media legend Dan Savage about his past research and his co-edited forthcoming book, Male Sex Work and Society, Volume 2, which is slated for release in early 2018. Savage, who has been described as an author, media pundit, journalist and activist for the LGBTI community, is well known for his clashes with social conservatives and the American establishment.

The interview covers a range of topics, including numbers of male escorts worldwide, clients of male sex workers, the regulation of male sex work and historic changes to the industry.

The interview can be accessed as a podcast via the Savage Lovecast site, which is ranked by iTunes and A.V. Club as among the most listened to podcasts in the world.

Event: Defending Truth Internet Freedom Hack

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Crime and Justice Research Centre member Dr Monique Mann is speaking at the ‘Defending Truth Internet Freedom Hack’ to be held this weekend (20-22nd of April) across both Brisbane and Melbourne.

The Internet Freedom Hack is a community event that brings technologists with a passion for digital rights together for a weekend to build things that advance the cause of internet freedom.

Dr Mann will be in conversation with Lauri Love about all the terrible things that governments around the world are doing for internet freedom and privacy, with a focus on the ridiculous #waronmaths in Australia and across the Five Eyes alliance more broadly. They will talk through the options of what we can realistically do about it as scholactivists and hacktivists, and drawing from Love’s recent success fighting extradition and 99 years in a US prison, how to fight back against internet apathy, privacy nihilism and the government.

Lauri Love’s extradition case was one of the cases examined in Dr Mann’s recent co-authored article with Dr Ian Warren and Ms Sally Kennedy on ‘The legal geographies of transnational cyber-prosecutions: Extradition, human rights and forum shifting’ published in the leading international (Q1) journal Global Crime.

See attached QUT media release about the event here

You can register to attend the Internet Freedom Hack and the talks here: https://internetfreedomhack.org/

 

 

Event: Cybercrime and Counter Terrorism Panel

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The QUT Justice Society and Women in Technology proudly presents: A Professional Panel on Cyber Crime and Counter Terrorism

These societies, who are both passionate about the intersection of technology and the justice system, have come together to provide students a unique opportunity – to discover how cyber crime and counter terrorism works within and influences our justice system. This evening is a great opportunity to listen to amazing professionals and their career journeys in the field. It’s also a fantastic way to network with the professionals and other students and possibly open up more opportunities for yourself!

So if you’re trying to figure out what field of justice works well for you or if you know that cyber crime and/or counter terrorism is what you want to work in and want some more information or if you’re just really interested in the area, then come along for a lovely and very informative evening with us!

Date: Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Time: 5:45pm for a 6pm start
Location: Z1064 Gibson Room, Z Block, QUT Gardens Point Campus
Who: Students of all degrees are more than welcome

Catering will be provided. Please purchase your FREE tickets to assist with catering and dietary requirements.

To purchase FREE tickets click here

Welcome Michael Chataway, Lecturer, QUT School of Justice

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CJRC welcomes the appointment of Mr Michael Chataway as Lecturer, QUT School of Justice.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science, and a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Hons Class 1 from Griffith University. He has recently completed his PhD Dissertation titled: Fear of Crime in Time and Place: Developing and Testing a New Momentary Model of Victimisation Worry. His research focuses on how young people interpret and perceive crime and disorder within their everyday environments.  In addition to his theoretical contributions to the fear of crime literature, Michael is among a handful of researchers in the world currently using mobile apps to collect context-dependent information on fear of crime and victimisation risk.

Michael’s research has been published in national and international journals including the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, and the Journal of Applied Geography. His mobile app research and projects with colleagues have been featured by ABC Radio – Gold Coast, The Brisbane Times, and the Gold Coast Bulletin.  Michael’s other research interests include: social geography, social and environmental psychology, attitudinal research, and innovative research methods.  His future work aims to integrate these research interests to develop innovative strategies for reducing fear of crime using dynamic mobile sensors.

We welcome Michael to the School, and look forward to his valuable contribution.

 

Research meets art: CJRC member works with photographer selected for National Photographic Portrait Prize

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Crime and Justice Research Member Dr Monique Mann’s research on facial recognition has inspired Anna Sinclair – a photographer based in Sydney – who has been selected as one of 41 finalists in the prestigious National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018, for her work, ‘The Capability’, which brings attention to the creation of the National Facial Biometric Recognition Capability.

Anna discusses the background to her photograph and the inspiration for it:

“Through this work I am trying to bring attention to the creation of The Capability and the risks it poses to the privacy of every Australian that holds a driver’s licence or a passport. Despite what the Federal and state governments have said, the creation of this system that allows government agencies to identify people from a pool of images made up primarily of law-abiding citizens is extraordinary and I find it concerning how little consideration and weight has been given to the privacy implications of it.

Another important aspect of the work is how the creation of a national system of images, combined with facial recognition technology, significantly changes the function of a digital portrait. Portraits have long been objects that both represent and celebrate the uniqueness of individuals, and allow us to reflect on the human experience. With this technology a digital portrait becomes a simple tool by which government agencies can easily identify a person and obtain their biographical information, without their knowledge or consent.

The inspiration for this work came from my research into the broader national security changes that we have seen in the age of counter terrorism, which is feeding into a longer-term project. As part of that research I was in contact with Dr Monique Mann whose work provided a very useful grounding in the use and development of facial recognition technology in Australia. In August 2017, I also attended the Workshop on the Social Implications of National Security co-convened by Dr Mann where the privacy and social impacts of new surveillance technologies, big data and facial recognition technology were discussed and debated by some of the leading experts in the field. It often seems like there are few people watching and getting concerned with the changes that our governments are introducing in the name of national security, so it was really encouraging to be amongst a group of people that are committed to it.”

The National Photographic Portrait Prize is currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra until 17 June 2018. The images of all of the finalists can be viewed here: https://nppp.portrait.gov.au/

Dr Monique Mann has recently published a co-authored book on Biometrics, Crime and Security in the Routledge Law, Science and Society Series and as part of her public policy work on this issue has also recently co-authored a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Review of the Identity-matching Services Bill 2018 and the Australian Passports Amendment (Identity-matching Services) Bill 2018 that provides the legislative basis for The Capability.