How training bystanders can stop rape and sexual violence on campus

Domestic abuse of the staff in the households of the 1% is often overlooked or ignored. But foreign missions in the US that abuse their domestic staff are finally being held accountable.

Despite being an island of seamen, Iceland used to experience high numbers of drownings every year, fostering a keen interest in swimming education. The government stepped up and tapped into the underground hot water generated by Iceland’s volcanic activity to create geothermal pools, which quickly became more than a humble municipal investment, but perhaps the very secret to the country’s happiness. Every town now enjoys communal pools, which create a neutral, recreational space that brings all manner of people together.

In Colombia, violence against women and domestic abuse are some of the highest in the region due to prolonged conflict, distrust in police and justice system, and economic oppression. Women are helping each other survive and report abuse outside of official organizations.

Juveniles who were placed on sex offender registries, some for crimes they committed before they were even teens, face a slew of life changing consequences that follows them for the rest of their life: “depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts, and other signs of post-traumatic stress.” Many will struggle to find a job, others will get targeted and harassed, some, overwhelmed by the pressure, have ended their life. Parents, legal scholars, and activists are pushing back against the notion that children, under the law, should be tried as mini adults.

The Neem Foundation brings intensive counseling and 1-on-1 therapy to survivors who escaped the horrific violence of Boko Haram, a terrorist group in northeastern Nigeria. With months of aid and tough conversations, the organization attempts to reunite women and children who fled the violence with their families, many of whom shun the Boko Haram escapees.

Miami is home to a special type of child welfare program called CHANCE (Citrus Helping Adolescents Negatively Impacted by Commercial Exploitation) that is designed specifically for youth in foster care that have been trafficked. CHANCE has an intensive curriculum that educates foster parents and clinicians about child sex trafficking and child trauma, and families are only allowed to take in one child at a time so that they are prepared for the child's unique health needs. Studies done on the program have found that the youth have significant improvement in many emotional and mental categories.

In the nearly two years since Sweden broadened the definition of rape offenses to include cases in which a victim fails to signal consent, both the reports of alleged rapes and convictions have risen. During that time, 76 convictions were in cases that previously would not have been classified as rape because they lacked evidence of force, threat, or sex with an incapacitated victim. Rapes still go largely unreported to police and there's still no evidence that the new law will achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of rape.

Crime-tracking mobile apps give millions of Brazilians crowdsourced data on urban violence, alerting people to dangerous places and filling gaps in government data on shootings, robberies, and other risks. But apps such as Fogo Cruzado (“Crossfire”) and Onde Tem Tiroteio (“Where There's a Shooting”) offer statistically crude glimpses of crime, distorted by media and racial biases that one expert blames for myths about the risks people actually face.

The Save the Boys Initiative provides counseling, group and family therapy, programming around mentorship and leadership, and other forms of assistance for boys who have experienced sexual abuse.

Boys Without Borders provides boys who experienced sexual abuse with a support system and educational resources to help them overcome social and mental health issues they may be facing. With the group’s 65 student volunteers, they have helped more than 2,500 boys since launching in 2020.