Familial sex trafficking (FST) was examined as a largely overlooked subcategory of domestic sex trafficking in the United States. This mixed-methods study surveyed 68 justice professionals across 24 states, representing 3,505 confirmed domestic minor sex trafficking cases, of which 917 (26%) involved familial perpetrators as reported by respondents, most commonly biological mothers. Victims were primarily girls aged 10-17 years and were exposed to intergenerational trauma, substance use, poverty, and domestic violence. Qualitative and quantitative data revealed systemic barriers, including inadequate screening tools, limited training, and prosecutorial reluctance. Findings highlighted the justice system's limited capacity to identify and intervene in FST cases. The study emphasized the importance of relationally informed identification strategies, trauma-informed policy reform, and specialized professional education to enhance system responsiveness and improve outcomes for survivors.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized into four clusters within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Traditional assessment relies on self-report measures and clinician-administered interviews, which are subject to recall bias, limited accessibility, and infrequent administration. Digital biomarkers, defined as objective behavioral and physiological signals from audio and video data, offer an alternative for PTSD assessment. This study investigated whether multimodal digital biomarkers could predict PTSD symptom severity within individual symptom clusters. Participants (N = 52) meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) Criterion A completed self-report PTSD assessments (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 [PCL-5]) and provided unstructured video responses to the prompt "tell me about your day." A computational framework extracted over 200 digital biomarkers across visual, acoustic, physiological, and linguistic domains. Feature selection was conducted using the Boruta algorithm, and confirmatory analyses employed Bayesian multivariate multiple regression modeling the four PCL-5 subscales jointly. Multimodal digital biomarkers explained meaningful variance (arousal: 30.4%, intrusion: 28.7%, negative mood: 23.8%, and avoidance: 22.3%); similarly, prediction of total PCL-5 scores explained substantive variance (R[2] = .30). Variability in chin-raising muscle activity (AU17) emerged as a cross-cluster predictor in three subscales. These findings suggest that digital biomarkers may be informative at both the symptom cluster level and the level of global PTSD severity. Findings are preliminary given the small sample, cross-sectional design, and lack of external validation. Future research should replicate the findings in larger, more diverse samples and explore digital biomarkers on longitudinal symptom monitoring and treatment response tracking.

Women who disclose sexual assault (SA) may receive positive (supportive) or negative (unsupportive) reactions from others upon disclosure. The study tested indirect effects from negative and positive SA disclosure reactions to posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms via two aspects of self-compassion (compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding) and fear of self-compassion. The presence of child maltreatment was examined as a moderator of all effects. The sample consisted of 300 college women in the United States (M age = 18.83 years, standard deviation = 1.00; 93.7% White) who had disclosed SA. Path analysis was used with a multigroup approach to test moderation by child maltreatment history. Child maltreatment history moderated the effects in the model. In the no-child-maltreatment group, SA disclosure reactions were not related to compassionate or uncompassionate self-responding, or fear of self-compassion. In contrast, in the any-child-maltreatment group, negative reactions were associated with greater fear of self-compassion and compassionate self-responding, while positive reactions were linked to lower fear of self-compassion. Indirect effects of positive and negative reactions on posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms via fear of self-compassion were significant. Findings suggest that child maltreatment may modify the relations among SA disclosure reactions, compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding, fear of self-compassion, and psychological distress among college women survivors.

Women with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV) are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which we collectively termed women's health issues (WHIs). This study aimed to educate IPV survivors through a trauma-informed, WHI education program tailored to the needs and experiences of IPV victims, based on focus group data. An education program was created using data from 10 focus groups (n = 38), and these interactive presentations on WHIs were presented to IPV survivors (n = 69). Participants completed demographic surveys, including questions about physician acknowledgment of IPV as a risk factor for chronic conditions, and pre-post tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational sessions. Education session data revealed that 39% of participants had never heard of HPV, 38% had not received a Pap smear in the last 3 years, and 15% did not know where to get tested for HIV. Only 15% (n = 10) of participants reported that their physician acknowledged IPV as a risk factor for disease. Following the health education, there was a significant normalized gain of 55.66%, with paired t tests comparing pretest/posttest scores supporting understanding of WHIs (p < .01). Tailored education modules about WHIs proved effective in educating women who have experienced IPV. Future iterations will focus on topics informed by participant responses, such as diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders, reproductive health, and gastrointestinal diseases. This study opens avenues for further exploration of the connection between IPV and health initiatives.

The association between immigration and crime has been at the forefront of political and policy debate in recent years. Given the rapid growth of Asian and Hispanic immigrants and the marginalized socioeconomic position many in these subgroups face, there is an urgent need for a systematic understanding of the victimization experiences faced across different generations of Asian and Hispanic immigrant subgroups. This study fills the gap in the literature to date by (a) investigating variations in the victimization of violent and property crime among immigrants of different statuses (e.g., authorized immigrants, unauthorized immigrants, and second-generation immigrants); (b) examining victimization across various race/ethnicity (e.g., Hispanic and Asian) subgroups; and (c) identifying community-level characteristics that contribute to victimization. This study uses a representative cross-sectional survey of residents' victimization experiences in the city of San Jose, California. Specifically, we use a stratified multistage sampling method to select our sample from 80 primary sample clusters. We find that authorized first-generation immigrants have the lowest risk for several forms of victimization. Several important implications of the methods and findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.

School-based prevention programs focused on reducing adolescent dating and gender-based violence (DGBV) have seen substantial growth in recent years. From 2018 to 2023, we used community-based participatory research (CBPR) to evaluate Project Respect's Healthy Relations and Consent and Safer Spaces programs. This study assessed changes in students' knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to consent after participating in the Healthy Relations and Consent Workshops and found increased understanding of consent, greater confidence in boundary setting, and improved bystander intervention skills. Students also perceived a more positive school culture around consent. Educators who participated in the Safer Spaces Workshop reported enhanced confidence in fostering inclusive environments for students and a deeper understanding of gender expansiveness and sexuality. Our preliminary findings suggest that a whole-school approach to consent education benefits both students and educators and should be included as part of the education of middle and high school students and their educators. Additionally, using CBPR, especially including the voices of gender-diverse students, is important and should be prioritized in future DGBV prevention efforts.

We examined whether the effects of a brief, guided mindful meditation (MM) exercise on aggression perpetration differed based on an individual's baseline ability to nonjudgmentally observe the present moment (i.e., dispositional mindfulness). One hundred two college students (56.1% women; 78.9% White) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and were randomly assigned to either a one-time 15-minute audio-guided meditation, mindful condition, or control condition before completing a shock-based laboratory aggression paradigm involving provocation by an ostensible opponent. All participants were coded as having either high or low levels of dispositional mindfulness based on a mean split of their MAAS score. Results indicated that participants with high levels of dispositional mindfulness displayed significantly less aggression in the MM condition relative to the control condition (d = .64). In contrast, participants with low levels of dispositional mindfulness displayed more aggression in the mindful condition relative to the control condition (d = .45), although this effect was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that individuals' baseline ability to nonjudgmentally observe the present moment has important implications for determining who may and may not benefit from audio-guided MM as a brief intervention for aggression.

In this article, we examine the historical evolution of the reported forcible rape rate in the United States using annual data from 1991 to 2023. Using fractional integration methods, we determine if shocks are expected to be transitory or permanent. The results indicate high levels of persistence when using the entire sample period; however, allowing for breaks, a single break is detected in 2010, with a significantly different behavior before and after the break. Thus, before that year, the trend is significantly positive, and the order of integration is very close to 1; after 2010, however, the trend becomes negative, and the order of integration is much lower than 1, showing a certain degree of reversion to the mean. This may be explained by methodological changes in the way sexual assaults are counted and by the revised definition of forcible rape that was introduced.

China's National Anti-Domestic Violence Law (Anti-DV Law) represents a major step forward in protecting survivors, yet its enforcement relies on police officers as frontline responders. Guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examined the relationships between recognition of the importance of domestic violence intervention, leader support, discretion, and officers' willingness to enforce the Anti-DV Law. Using survey data from 1,979 officers across five provinces in China, structural equation modeling showed that the modified TPB model fit well. Officers' recognition of the importance of domestic violence intervention and leader support were positively associated with officers' willingness to implement the Anti-DV Law, with officers' discretion emerging as an important pathway. In addition, exploratory analyses identified moderating roles of tolerance for domestic violence and training experiences. These findings highlight the importance of supervisory and institutional support and appropriate training in strengthening police enforcement of the Anti-DV Law.

Sexual assault has a variety of negative health outcomes for survivors, and risks and stigma are especially high for women in sexual minority communities. This study examined how public perceptions of sexual assault were affected by the survivor's sexual orientation and the severity of the assault, using an online vignette study. A total of 238 participants (~80% White and 53.1% male) were recruited via Prolific and responded to questions about a hypothetical scenario. Both the severity of the assault and participant perceptions of queer communities significantly affected perceptions of the need for help and potential health consequences after an assault. The findings highlight the need to reduce stigma to increase support for survivors, especially queer survivors.

Over the past 2 decades, bystander-focused violence prevention programs have proliferated across various sectors, yet bystander programs that are expressly gender-transformative remain understudied, particularly on U.S. college campuses. Casey et al. argue that outreach and recruitment efforts and whether these programs foster identities as social change agents over time are especially understudied components of gender-transformative programs. Based on a non-quasi-experimental, single-group, repeated-measures design without a control group, this pilot study engages these questions by investigating participant characteristics and leadership program outcomes of one gender-transformative bystander program-the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program-as applied to student leaders in athletics, fraternity and sorority life, and residential life. We found that student leaders came to the training with varying gender ideologies and leadership experience that are important considerations in future outreach and recruitment efforts. The 1-day MVP program also produced significant improvements from pre- to posttest in activist outcomes for women and men and for the three student leadership groups. Yet, on several program outcomes, training effects waned 3 months later, women benefitted more than men, and gender ideology interacted with peer group to shape program gains. The article concludes with reflections on the implications of these findings for gender-transformative work with college peer groups often labeled "at higher risk" for sexual assault; the centrality of gender, gender ideology, and other peer group characteristics to recruitment and outreach efforts; and future research and practical applications for sustaining activist education on college campuses.

Rising tuition and fees have increased the expense of postsecondary education. Many students also experience victimization that may undermine academic success. University policies-such as exceptional circumstance withdrawal policies-are important to consider for students who need additional support. However, it is paramount that these policies are implemented with a trauma-informed lens. This brief report uses data from the Challenges of Safety and Transitions Study to describe the educational consequences of victimization. Given these consequences, it then discusses the importance of exceptional circumstance withdrawal policies and offers recommendations to ensure such withdrawal policies are trauma-informed and implemented to benefit student retention and academic achievement.

We examined how masculine honor beliefs (MHBs, beliefs that violence is sometimes necessary for a man to protect himself, his family, or his reputation; Cohen & Nisbett, 1994; Saucier et al., 2015) relate to perceptions of parental retaliation against their child's sexual abusers. Participants (N = 203) read a hypothetical scenario about a father who learned that his child was molested by a male daycare worker and then violently retaliated against the male abuser. Participants completed the Masculine Honor Beliefs Scale (MHBS; Saucier et al., 2016) and rated their perceptions of the father, the male abuser, the actions they believed the father should take after learning about the sexual abuse (e.g., legal, social retaliation) before reading that he retaliated violently, and his decision to retaliate violently. Consistent with hypotheses, higher levels of MHBs were related to greater desires for harsher punishment for the male abuser and greater desired retaliation (social, legal, and violent) toward the male abuser. Higher levels of MHBs were also related to lighter punishment for the father's violent retaliation and more favorable perceptions of the father due to his violent retaliation. However, MHBs were negatively correlated with support for the father enacting child-focused (e.g., get the child therapy) and self-focused responses (e.g., talk to his wife about it). Our results are consistent with an important foundational concept of MHBs: It is important for a man to respond aggressively against insults and threats to protect his family and their reputation. Our findings suggest that those who more endorse MHBs focus more on punishing sexual offenders and less on supporting survivors of their offenses. When cases of parental retaliation against a child's sexual abuser occur in real life, the public is often divided on whether this violent retaliation is justified. Our research indicates that MHBs help explain these perceptions.

Teen dating violence (TDV) is associated with poor school outcomes such as lower grades, difficulty concentrating, reduced attendance, and decreased overall school engagement. Gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual risk behaviors are risk factors often associated with TDV as well as school outcomes, yet little is known about the effect of their interactions on school outcomes. This study fills this knowledge gap by analyzing data from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (N = 6,818) to explore the moderating effects of gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual risk behaviors on the relationship between TDV and school outcomes (grades and difficulty concentrating). χ[2] and t tests conducted revealed that individuals who experienced TDV had poorer school outcomes than those who did not. Moderation analyses found that age and ethnicity moderated the effect of TDV on difficulty concentrating in school. Findings signal the need for tailored multicomponent violence prevention interventions in schools.

Economic abuse is a form of intimate partner violence in adult relationships and includes financial exploitation, financial control, and employment sabotage of an intimate partner. Semistructured interviews with youth-serving practitioners and focus groups with adolescents explored how economic abuse might appear within adolescent relationships. The study team reviewed recordings and notes from these listening sessions with practitioners and youth. Three themes of economic adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) emerged: academic and career interference, conflict and stress around financial decision-making, and gift-giving and reciprocity. Youth and youth-serving practitioners identified several aspects of economic abuse specific to adolescents that should be measured in future survey development. Future work should examine the impact that economic ARA can have on adolescent financial, employment, and educational outcomes.