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Articles 1 - 30 of 120
Full-Text Articles in Social Justice
Pornography And Men's Violence Against Women And Children: From Production To Consumption, Gail Dines Phd., Mandy Sanchez Phd
Pornography And Men's Violence Against Women And Children: From Production To Consumption, Gail Dines Phd., Mandy Sanchez Phd
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The average age of first viewing mainstream pornography for boys is around ten to twelve years old. The pornography they encounter is largely from “tube sites,” named after YouTube, which are popular because they require no registration, no payment, and no subscription. For the most part, an adolescent only needs access to a digital device to view hundreds of thousands of free videos. As we discuss in this article, the weight of the scientific evidence shows that viewing pornography is associated with multiple social, emotional, sexual, and cognitive harms. However, none of these studies provide a detailed analysis of …
The Revival Of Honor Killing In Iranian Kurdistan: A Sociological Analysis Of Gender, Land, And Identity, Parviz Sobhani
The Revival Of Honor Killing In Iranian Kurdistan: A Sociological Analysis Of Gender, Land, And Identity, Parviz Sobhani
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
Honor is a foundational yet restrictive sociocultural construct in Kurdish society of western Iran. Transgressions of its boundaries, particularly by women, are historically met with violent sanction. Despite processes of modernization, honor killings have re-emerged as a conspicuous phenomenon in Iranian Kurdistan, suggesting an active revival rather than a passive residue of tradition. This study employed a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological approach. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 social scientists and researchers from January 2022 to February 2024 in Iranian Kurdistan. A grounded theory framework guided the thematic analysis. Findings reveal a dual symbolic encoding of honor: it …
When Protection Becomes Predation: Militarized Masculinity And Sexual Violence In Northeastern Nigeria, Tosin Osasona
When Protection Becomes Predation: Militarized Masculinity And Sexual Violence In Northeastern Nigeria, Tosin Osasona
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The study investigates the structural and situational drivers of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) perpetrated by state security actors in the context of Nigeria’s counterinsurgency campaigns in Borno State. Drawing on militarized masculinity and strain and deprivation theories, and using a qualitative, interpretive research design, the study argues that CRSV is not an isolated or episodic form of deviance by individual soldiers and security personnel but is embedded in routine military–civilian interactions. Advancing an interactionist explanation of CRSV in Nigeria’s Islamist counterinsurgency operations, the study demonstrates that the likelihood of sexual violence increases through the interaction of gendered institutional norms, operational …
Impunity: A Case Study Of Sex Trafficking In Nevada Brothel Prostitution, Christen Price
Impunity: A Case Study Of Sex Trafficking In Nevada Brothel Prostitution, Christen Price
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
It is well-documented that legalization and other forms of official protection for prostitution lead to an increase in sex trafficking, including by encouraging demand for prostitution. This paper will consider the relationship between official protection, organized crime, and sex trafficking in pro-prostitution legal regimes, both historical and contemporary. Prostitution is legal in rural counties in Nevada that have fewer than 700,000 residents, if prostitution occurs within a brothel. There is significant overlap between sex trafficking and legal brothel prostitution in Nevada, as well as a nexus to corruption and organized crime, illustrating the normalization of coercion that occurs within legalized …
Leveraging Technology To Measure The Strength Of Demand For Commercial And Trafficked Sex, Michael D. Shively, Bob Rodgers, Courtney Furlong, Brooke Ruffin
Leveraging Technology To Measure The Strength Of Demand For Commercial And Trafficked Sex, Michael D. Shively, Bob Rodgers, Courtney Furlong, Brooke Ruffin
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The article examines Transaction Intercept (TI), an artificial‑intelligence platform designed to reduce sex trafficking by disrupting the revenue streams that draw organized crime into the market. Transaction Intercept deploys decoy online ads that appear to offer commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution. Automated "decoy" personas connect to individuals who click on these ads and engage them in text conversations. These exchanges can remain fully automated, ending with deterrence messages, or be transferred to police for potential enforcement action or to trained volunteers who attempt to discourage further attempts to buy sex. Transaction Intercept generates extensive, real‑time data on local demand for …
The Confluence Of Conflict-Induced Vulnerability, Organized Crime, And Sex Trafficking In Receiving States: A South African Civil Society Perspective, Monique Emser
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The crime-conflict nexus has been well-documented in conflict-affected and post-conflict states. Criminal networks make use of manifold methods and strategies to exploit individual and structural vulnerabilities, particularly those affected by war, displacement, and precarious migration journeys, forming the backbone of most conflict-induced trafficking ecosystems, whether in countries of origin, transit, or receipt. This article examines the intersection of sex trafficking, diaspora communities, and organized crime within South Africa as a receiving state from a civil society perspective. It underscores the deficiencies in traditional, reductionist, enforcement-based approaches to counter-trafficking by the state, where nested subsystems, such as those produced by endemic …
Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier
Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
This study investigates the extent to which online sex buyer communities in the United States function as organized criminal networks pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s definition of organized criminal groups. Drawing from theories of organized crime, social network analysis, and digital ecosystems, we conceptualize sex buyers not as isolated actors but as participants in coordinated, mutually reinforcing networks that share information to facilitate exploitation, mitigate risk, and sustain criminal behavior. To test this framework, we scraped over 1.2 million posts from a publicly accessible sex buyer forum, comprising 72,974 unique users and nearly 800,000 direct …
Eyes Wide Shut: Sex Trafficking In The Black Community, Stephany Powell
Eyes Wide Shut: Sex Trafficking In The Black Community, Stephany Powell
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Listening To Survivors: A Community Conversation, Jonathan Jackson
Listening To Survivors: A Community Conversation, Jonathan Jackson
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Introduction To Panelists: Sex Trafficking Of Black Women And Girls, Stephany Powell
Introduction To Panelists: Sex Trafficking Of Black Women And Girls, Stephany Powell
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Core Elements Of Policy Solutions, Audrey Morrissey
Core Elements Of Policy Solutions, Audrey Morrissey
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Gynecological Effects Of Sex Trafficking, Tracey Sylvester
Gynecological Effects Of Sex Trafficking, Tracey Sylvester
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Mental Health Consequences Of Sex Trafficking, Brenda Myers-Powell
Mental Health Consequences Of Sex Trafficking, Brenda Myers-Powell
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Adultification Of Black Girls, Melanie Thompson
Adultification Of Black Girls, Melanie Thompson
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Call To Action Against Sex Trafficking Of Black Women And Girls, Stephany Powell, Tracey Sylvester, Brenda Myers-Powell, Audrey Morrissey, Melanie Thompson
Call To Action Against Sex Trafficking Of Black Women And Girls, Stephany Powell, Tracey Sylvester, Brenda Myers-Powell, Audrey Morrissey, Melanie Thompson
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Closing Remarks: Eyes Wide Shut, Sex Trafficking Of Women And Girls In The Black Community, Stephany Powell
Closing Remarks: Eyes Wide Shut, Sex Trafficking Of Women And Girls In The Black Community, Stephany Powell
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
No Mullahs, No Shah, Donna M. Hughes
No Mullahs, No Shah, Donna M. Hughes
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Hosts, Scouts, And Female Indentured Sexual Servitude In Contemporary Japan, Caroline Norma, Seiya Morita
Hosts, Scouts, And Female Indentured Sexual Servitude In Contemporary Japan, Caroline Norma, Seiya Morita
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
This article sweeps away glossy abstractions obscuring the indenturing of women in sexual servitude in Japan. These abstractions were generated by anthropologists writing in English in the first two decades of the 21st century who inverted the relationship between perpetrator and victim to suggest that female customers exploited hosts. To overturn this view and expose the ‘gendered reality that [i]s really going on’ in Japan, this article differently explains from a feminist perspective how present-day host and scout businesses indenture Japanese women in sexual servitude. This role is one of both procuring victims as well as keeping young women …
Exiting Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Jeanne L. Allert, Sherri L. Wyatt
Exiting Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Jeanne L. Allert, Sherri L. Wyatt
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
This study presents one of the largest qualitative samples of exited female survivors of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States to date. One hundred and eighty-nine female survivors participated in a national survey. The participants described their motivations for exiting commercial sexual exploitation, the pathways they followed, the forces that hindered their exit and increased their recidivism, and the assistance they received that ensured a permanent exit. Some of the findings challenge popular narratives on recidivism rates and what keeps women in exploitation, revealing complex relational, behavioral, economic, and systemic influences. Participants spoke about the unanticipated value of incarceration, …
Venezuelan Migrants In Prostitution: A Personal Decision?, Yazmin Maria Lucila Cadena Camargo, Izara Maite Mondragon Moreno, Isabela Osorio Jaramillo, Paula Angélica Suárez Álvarez, Andrés Duarte Osorio, Carlos Gómez-Restrepo
Venezuelan Migrants In Prostitution: A Personal Decision?, Yazmin Maria Lucila Cadena Camargo, Izara Maite Mondragon Moreno, Isabela Osorio Jaramillo, Paula Angélica Suárez Álvarez, Andrés Duarte Osorio, Carlos Gómez-Restrepo
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
This paper explores the multifaceted experiences of Venezuelan migrant women engaged in prostitution, framed through three critical moments: the “decision to enter in prostitution,” the unique abuses faced, and the resultant consequences on mental, physical, and social health. The study highlights how socioeconomic vulnerabilities—exacerbated by migration and poverty—significantly influence the likelihood of entering prostitution. It also shows how traumatic experiences, particularly in childhood and adolescence, coupled with a lack of support networks, contribute to a heightened risk of exploitation. Eleven life stories were collected through a phenomenological approach, revealing a common narrative of abuse, poverty, and the search for survival …
The Normalization Of Sexual Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes
The Normalization Of Sexual Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Resonant Disruptions: Understanding Canadian Nurses’ Practice With Youth Survivors Of Sexual Exploitation, Danielle E. Giebelhaus, Andrew Estefan Phd, Rpn
Resonant Disruptions: Understanding Canadian Nurses’ Practice With Youth Survivors Of Sexual Exploitation, Danielle E. Giebelhaus, Andrew Estefan Phd, Rpn
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The sexual exploitation of youth is a global concern. Youth survivors of sexual exploitation present to and require healthcare services, but most nurses do not feel effectively equipped to care for this population. There is currently little nursing literature to guide nurses in their practice with youth survivors. In this article, we report on a qualitative, hermeneutic study undertaken to explore nursing practice with youth survivors of sexual exploitation. Hermeneutics is concerned with understanding, and is a helpful way to conduct research when little is known about a topic. In this study, we asked the research question, “How might we …
Why Are Men So Obsessed With Pornography? Andrea Dworkin Was Right, Robert Jensen
Why Are Men So Obsessed With Pornography? Andrea Dworkin Was Right, Robert Jensen
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
An Exhibition And Protest Of Executions In Iran, Donna M. Hughes
An Exhibition And Protest Of Executions In Iran, Donna M. Hughes
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
An exhibition and protest of executions in Iran was held in Washington, D.C. in June 2025. Portraits of 2000 men and women who were killed or executed in Iran since the 1980s were displayed on the National Mall in front of the Capitol. The Iranian Resistance estimates that 30,000 activists were massacred in one period in 1988. Executions of prisoners have continued steadily, making Iran the world’s leading executioner of men and women. In recent years, there has been a sharp escalation in the number of executions of prisoners. A United Nations Special Rapporteur reported that over 800 persons were …
Spiritual Practices In Survivor Care: A Qualitative Analysis Of Christian Faith-Based Shelters And Survivor Well-Being, Jeanne L. Allert
Spiritual Practices In Survivor Care: A Qualitative Analysis Of Christian Faith-Based Shelters And Survivor Well-Being, Jeanne L. Allert
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
Christian faith-based organizations constituted a significant proportion of shelter programs for survivors of sex trafficking in the United States, with an estimated 63% identifying as Christian-affiliated (Institute for Survivor Care, 2024). Despite their prevalence, such programs often elicited skepticism due to the rise of secularism (Pew Research, 2022) and concerns that spiritual programming might retraumatize survivors (Ahrens et al., 2010; Hodge, 2020). However, Ahrens et al. (2010) and Hodge (2020) also found that religious practices can be helpful. This qualitative study employed a trauma-informed, descriptive survey design to explore the experiences of 158 trafficking survivors, who had either resided in …
Tidal Waves Of Mental Health Damage: Effects Of The 2024 U.S. Election, Mary Anne Layden
Tidal Waves Of Mental Health Damage: Effects Of The 2024 U.S. Election, Mary Anne Layden
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
From Theory To Practice: A True-Crime Podcast, Lauren V. Peckham
From Theory To Practice: A True-Crime Podcast, Lauren V. Peckham
Senior Honors Projects
The Criminal Element is an innovative, victim-centered podcast that bridges the gap between criminological theory and real-world criminal cases. The podcast is designed as an educational resource for undergraduate Criminology and Criminal Justice students, alongside general audience members interested in learning more about criminological theory. Through the lens of true crime, this podcast is an engaging exploration of foundational and advanced theories while avoiding sensationalism and exploitation, a prevalent problem among true crime media. Each episode connects criminological theoretical concepts – such as strain, social learning, and social disorganization – to contemporary and historical cases, providing listeners with accessible and …
“I Saw Death With My Own Eyes”: Recent Women’S Protests And Punishments In Iran, Antonia Felix
“I Saw Death With My Own Eyes”: Recent Women’S Protests And Punishments In Iran, Antonia Felix
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s brutal response to nonviolent protests exposes its tenuous hold on power over a youthful nation well familiar with 21st-century freedoms. Despite systemic discrimination and oppressive laws controlling and degrading the lives of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community, the Iranian government cannot halt public dissent that has continued to erupt since the 1979 Revolution. This article offers a brief overview of four major protests in the past 25 years as a context for discussing the two most recent movements focused on women’s rejection of the compulsory hijab and prisoners’ and activists’ fight …
Is #Metoo Dead? Thoughts On The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Jody Raphael
Is #Metoo Dead? Thoughts On The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Jody Raphael
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
Feminists For Sex-Based Rights: Trump Or Harris In The 2024 Election?, Kara Dansky
Feminists For Sex-Based Rights: Trump Or Harris In The 2024 Election?, Kara Dansky
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
Some US feminists who support sex-based rights for women and girls voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election; others voted for Kamala Harris. For an American feminist to vote for a female Democrat for president is not surprising. Still, because the Democrats embraced “gender identity” at the expense of women and girls as a sex class, some feminists chose to vote for Donald Trump. This article explores some reasons for voting one way or the other (or not at all).