We first identified that in recent sexual misconduct matters, female teachers received lighter sentences than their male counterparts. Could this be a reflection of community attitudes that minimize the criminality of a female teacher having sexual relations with a male student who is under the...

Differences have been found in elements of rape and in its impact on the victim based on her relationship to the offender. This paper examines these by looking at the differences in responses to and by the survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and in their willingness to disclose or report the...

The relationship of crime and minority groups within society is examined. Issues discussed include the stresses of migration and adaptation; the involvement of migrants in organised crime; ethnic crime rates; the alleged prevalence of wife battering and its non reporting; migrants and the police;...

Easteal provides a brief profile of the sociodemographic and sentence background of women in prison. She highlights the issues affecting female inmates such as the perpetuation of the three rules of dysfunctional families within the prisons and explains how the gendered needs of women inmates...

Easteal describes the extra pressure women from a non English speaking background may face when they find themselves imprisoned. These women experience difficulties with the prison culture which may cause shock and distress; language difficulties; an inability to adapt to food offered in prison;...

Easteal closely scrutinises the judges' sentencing remarks in each of ten cases of battered women who had killed their partners, in order to identify which variables contributed to more lenient sanctions and which factors appeared to correlate with harsher sentences. She also uses the remarks to...

Confronting myths about rape is an essential component of rape prevention, and integral to changing attitudes about gender, power and misogyny. Easteal therefore challenges erroneous views of what rape is, who rapes, why men rape, and the impact of rape on the victim. She describes how these...

Over the last twenty years there has been a succession of reforms to sexual assault laws in all Australian jurisdictions. The chapters in this book examine how effective the reforms have been in challenging the traditional norms of the legal system. They discuss: the common law offence of rape;...

Easteal examines the relationship between ethnicity and migration and juvenile crime. She considers why immigrant youth might be more at risk of engaging in criminal activities and whether this is the case. Particular issues that are relevant to immigrant youth and their interaction with the...

This paper examines the historical antecedents and political processes behind the Sexual and Violent Offences Legislation Amendment Act 2008 (ACT). The process by which this Act came to be provides a fascinating case study of the importance of individuals in institutional law reform. This Act...