Mental health consequences of

specific crime
• Specific crimes can have profound and lasting negative
impacts on mental health, both for victims and individuals
involved in the criminal justice system. For victims, crimes like
sexual assault, physical assault, and robbery can lead to a
range of mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and social
dysfunction. For individuals within the criminal justice system,
mental health challenges are prevalent, with mood disorders,
psychotic disorders, and personality disorders being
commonly observed. These disorders can be both a cause and
consequence of criminal behavior, and addressing them is
crucial for rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
• The relationship between mental health and
crime is complex and multifaceted. Mental
health disorders can both precede and be a
consequence of criminal behavior. Addressing
mental health needs within the criminal
justice system is essential for promoting
rehabilitation, reducing recidivism, and
improving outcomes for individuals involved in
crime.
 Child sexual abuse
• Child sexual abuse is defined as sexual activity with a child by an
adult, adolescent or older child. If any adult engages in sexual
activity with a child, that is sexual abuse. If another child or
adolescent engages in sexual activity with a child, a grey area
enters where some sexual behavior is innocent exploration rather
than abuse.
• Child sexual abuse is a global problem that knows no physical,
financial, socioeconomic, geographic, cultural or gender
boundaries.
• All forms of child sexual abuse (CSA) are a profound violation of the
human rights of the child and a crime under law and the impacts
of this crime are far-reaching for children, families and
communities.
• There are two main types of child sexual abuse: touching and
non-touching.
• Touching includes touching a child’s genitals, making a child
touch someone else’s genitals, playing sexual games, and/or
putting objects or body parts inside the vulva or vagina, in
the mouth, or in the anus of a child for sexual pleasure.
• Non-touching abuse includes showing pornography to a
child, exposing a person’s genitals to a child,
prostituting/trafficking a child, photographing a child in
sexual poses, encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual
acts either in person or on a video, and/or watching a child
undress or use the bathroom.
• HOW TO PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE?
• Get involved with community-based prevention
efforts.
• Seek more information about how to prevent abuse
and keep children safe.
• Support child abuse victims.
• Teach others about child abuse prevention.
• Report suspected child abuse.
• Establish a CSA prevention policy for your youth/family
serving agency.
 Sexual offences
• Sexual offences are criminal acts involving sexual conduct or touching
without consent, or involving children, or acts that exploit or endanger a
person's sexuality. These acts can range from physical acts like rape and
sexual assault to more subtle forms like sexual harassment and the
distribution of explicit material without consent.
• There are a range of crimes that can be considered as sexual offences,
including non-consensual crimes such as rape or sexual assault, crimes
against children including child sexual abuse or grooming, and crimes that
exploit others for a sexual purpose, whether in person or online.
• Crimes can occur between strangers, friends, acquaintances, current or
ex-partners, or family members. The passage of time does not prevent
the effective prosecution of sexual offences, and an increasing number of
cases referred to the CPS by police feature allegations of a non-recent
nature.
• These crimes include domestic abuse, rape, sexual offences,
stalking, harassment, so-called ‘honour-based’ violence including
forced marriage, female genital mutilation, child abuse, human
trafficking focusing on sexual exploitation, prostitution,
pornography and obscenity.
• Consent is a fundamental issue in rape and sexual assault cases
because the prosecution is required to prove to the court that the
victim did not consent and that the suspect did not have a
reasonable belief that the victim was consenting.
• When it comes to other offences, such as those committed against
children, there is no requirement for the prosecution to prove an
absence of consent. In such cases it is only necessary to prove the
act itself took place and the age of the alleged victim.
• When there is an allegation of rape or sexual assault, prosecutors will
consider consent in two stages. First, they will consider whether the
complainant had the capacity to choose whether or not to take part in sexual
activity, for example whether the use of drugs or alcohol may have affected
their ability to consent. They will also consider whether the complainant was
free to make the choice, and not constrained in any way.
• A complainant who is threatened with violence by an offender immediately
before a request for sex is made is unlikely to be exercising a free choice.
Assuming that the complainant has both the freedom and capacity to
consent, the crucial question is whether the complainant agrees to the
activity by choice.
• It must be established what steps, if any, the suspect took to obtain the
complainant’s consent and the prosecution must prove that the suspect did
not have a reasonable belief that the victim was consenting. There is a big
difference between consensual sex and rape.
 Types of sexual offences

• Rape
• A rape is when a person uses their penis without
consent to penetrate the vagina, mouth or anus of
another person. Rape is one of the most serious
criminal offences that can be perpetrated.
• Sexual Assault by Penetration
• Sexual assault by penetration is when a person (either
male or female) penetrates the vagina or anus of
another person with any part of their body or an
object without that person’s consent.
• Sexual Assault
• Sexual Assault is when a person (either male or female) touches
another person sexually without their consent.
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Child sexual abuse involves forcing, inciting, persuading or
enticing a child to take part in sexual activity. This may involve
physical contact including rape or oral sex or non-penetrative
acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching inside
or outside of clothing. It may also include non-contact activities,
such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of,
sexual images, watching sexual activities or exploiting or
grooming a child in preparation for abuse.
• Extreme pornography
• Extreme pornography describes pornographic images that are grossly
offensive, disgusting or obscene, and portray a range of extreme acts
in an explicit and realistic way. This may include images of extreme
violence, mutilation, or sexual activity with an animal that are
intended to sexually arouse.
• Disclosing private sexual images without consent (so-called ‘revenge
pornography’)
• This relates to private sexual photographs and films of a person that
have been disclosed without the consent of an individual who appears
in them, with intent to cause that individual distress. An example is
uploading such images onto the internet, often by a person’s ex-
partner, to cause them distress, humiliation or embarrassment.
• Indecent images of children
• It is an offence to take, to permit to be taken, to make, to
possess, show, or to distribute or publish an image of a child
posed or pictured indecently, for example in a sexual way. This
can also include images of adults involved in indecent act
where a child is present but not themselves portrayed
indecently. Images can include actual photographs or video
footage, drawings or tracings, or images created digitally.
‘Making’ an indecent image does not just refer to a person
taking a photo or video - it can also refer to a person
downloading or printing an indecent image, or opening an
email attachment containing an indecent image.
 Domestic violence
• Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in a
relationship by one partner seeking to exert control over
their spouse. Domestic violence is not limited to physical
abuse. It includes emotional, psychological and financial
abuse, among other types of abuse.
• Domestic violence is not new. It has existed in societies
throughout the world for centuries. In the late 20th
century, a growing movement sought to raise awareness
of this longstanding social problem. As a result, the
federal and state governments enacted laws designed to
assist victims and hold violent offenders accountable.
• According to the U.S. Department of Justice
Office on Violence Against Women, domestic
violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any
relationship used by one partner to gain or maintain
control over another intimate partner. In criminal
law, the crime of domestic violence may occur in
one or more incidents. It may include an attempted
assault or threats of imminent physical harm. It may
take the form of sexual assault. It may encompass
the psychological abuse involved in stalking.
 Domestic Violence: Types of Abuse

• Physical abuse can include hitting, biting, slapping, battering, shoving,

punching, pulling hair, burning, cutting, pinching, etc. It may include any
violent behavior or physical injury inflicted on the victim. It may include
child abuse to a victim’s child. Physical abuse may take the form of denying
someone medical treatment and forcing drug/alcohol use on someone.
• Sexual abuse occurs when the abuser coerces the victim into having sexual
contact or sexual behavior without consent. This often takes the form of
marital rape, attacking sexual body parts, physical violence followed by
forcing sex, demeaning the victim sexually, or even telling sexual jokes at
the victim’s expense.
• Emotional abuse involves invalidating or deflating the victim’s sense of self-
worth. Emotional abuse may include constant criticism and name-calling.
An abuser may injure the victim’s relationship with their children. An
abuser may interfere with the victim’s abilities.
• Economic abuse takes place when the abuser makes or tries to make the
victim financially dependent on the abuser. Economic abusers often seek to
maintain total control over financial resources. They may withhold the
victim’s access to funds or prohibit the victim from going to school or work.
• Psychological abuse involves the abuser invoking fear through intimidation. It
can include threatening to physically hurt themself, the victim, children, the
victim’s family or friends, or the pets. It may involve destruction of property
or trespassing on property. An abuser may injure pets. An abuser may isolate
the victim from loved ones and prohibit the victim from going to school or
work. Threats to hit, injure, or use a weapon are a form of psychological
abuse.
• Technological abuse involves an act or pattern of acts meant to harm,
threaten, stalk, or monitor another through the use of technology. This may
involve using internet-enabled devices, computers, cameras, smartphones,
GPS, or location-tracking devices.
• Stalking abuse may include any combination of the above. It may
include behaviors that by themselves are not illegal. Common
behaviors include following the victim, spying, watching,
harassing, showing up at the victim’s home or work, sending
gifts, collecting information, making phone calls, leaving written
messages, or appearing at a person’s home or workplace. It may
include behaviors that are illegal such as physical assault, sexual
assault, or threats. Stalking crimes usually require two or more
incidents that may be close in time. The focus of a stalking crime
is to place the victim in fear or in mental
distress. Cyberstalking refers to online action or repeated
emailing or texting that inflicts substantial emotional distress on
the recipient.
• Most domestic violence law today requires to prove that the victim and
abuser have an intimate partner or family relationship. Although the majority
of domestic violence victims are women, law recognize that victims can
include anyone, regardless of sex, race, age, religion, sexual orientation,
gender identity, socioeconomic background, or education level.
• Each law sets forth the exact criteria required for the crime of domestic
violence. It can include any of the following family or household relationships:
• Spouses and former spouses
• Intimate partners who have lived together
• Parents with children in common
• Children
• Related cohabitants
A victim of domestic abuse can get a protective order against anyone who has
lived in a family or household relationship with the victim.
• Dating violence is another form of domestic violence. The
Office on Violence Against Women defines dating violence
as based on the dating relationship of the abuser and the victim.
Dating violence occurs between persons in a social, romantic, or
intimate relationship. The existence of such a relationship will be
determined by the following factors:
• The length of the relationship
• The type of relationship
• The partners’ frequency of interaction
• Most laws do not have a separate, stand-alone criminal offense
for dating violence. Police officers can help victims identify what
crimes may have occurred during the abusive incident(s).
 Abduction
• Abduction refers to the criminal taking or capture of an individual
against their will or without their consent, generally by means of
persuasion, fraud or force. Abduction and kidnapping are often used
interchangeably but the specific elements of criminal abductions can
vary by jurisdiction.
• Under Section 362 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), abduction is defined
as compelling or inducing someone to move from one place to
another, either by force or by deceitful means. It essentially involves
the movement of a person against their will or without their consent.
• In legal terms, abduction is the act of taking someone away by force or
deception, compelling them to move from one place to another
against their will. It differs from kidnapping, which often involves
taking someone with the intent to hold them for ransom or other illicit
purposes.
• Abduction is the offence where a person forcefully
or deceitfully compels a person to go from any place.
The victim could be a minor or major. Abduction is
an offence when committed to help other crimes.
Whoever takes any minor under sixteen years of age
if a female, or less than eighteen years of age if a
male, out of the keeping of the lawful guardian of
such minor or person of unsound mind, without the
consent of such guardian, is said to kidnap such
minor or person from lawful guardianship
• Key Differences from Kidnapping:
• While often used interchangeably, abduction and kidnapping have
distinct legal definitions under the IPC. Kidnapping typically
involves taking a minor (under 16 for males, under 18 for females)
or someone of unsound mind from the lawful guardianship of
their parent or legal custodian. Abduction, on the other hand, can
involve any person, regardless of age, and the element of lawful
guardianship is not a defining factor.
• Punishment:
• Abduction itself is not specifically punished under the IPC unless
it's done with a specific intention, such as for murder or other
criminal acts as outlined in subsequent sections of the IPC (e.g.,
Section 364 for abduction in order to murder).
• What is the crime of abduction?
• Abduction and kidnapping refer to removal, seizure,
capture, apprehension, taking or enforced disappearance
of a person either temporarily or permanently, without
support or acquiescence of the State. In conflicts, when
the victims are children, it constitutes a grave violation.
• What are the essential elements of abduction?
• Section 362 defines Abduction and states that the
elements of deceit, inducement, force and moving a
person away from one place are necessary to establish the
offence 7.
 Homicide
• Homicide is the act of one human being killing another. It encompasses a
broad range of situations, from criminal acts like murder to lawful killings such
as those in self-defense or during war. Essentially, any instance where one
person causes the death of another is considered homicide.
• Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A
homicide requires only a volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death
of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or
negligent acts even if there is no intent to cause harm.[1]
• Homicides can be divided into many overlapping legal categories, such as
murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, assassination, killing in war (either
following the laws of war or as a war crime), euthanasia, and
capital punishment, depending on the circumstances of the death. These
different types of homicides are often treated very differently in human
societies; some are considered crimes, while others are permitted or even
ordered by the legal system.
• Homicide is when one person causes the death of
another person, intentionally or unintentionally. The
term "homicide" comes from French and Latin roots
of homo (meaning man) and cida (meaning killing).
Homicide describes the manner of death. Practically
speaking, an intentional killing such as murder and a
killing in self-defense are both homicides.
• In certain cases, a homicide will have a legal
justification, such as self-defense or some other
reason. In those cases, homicide is not a crime.
• Types of Homicide
• Murder and manslaughter are two types of homicide.
• Murder represents a form of criminal homicide. The State may pursue
a murder charge for the unlawful taking of a human life. It often involves
a specific intent to end the life of a human being or to commit a felony
under circumstances where another person’s death results.
• Murder is the most serious type of criminal homicide. It carries the most
severe penalties, including the death penalty. Other forms of criminal
homicide demonstrate a reduced level of intent. These include:
• Manslaughter
• Reckless homicide
• Negligent homicide
• Vehicular homicide
 Acid attack

An acid attack is a violent assault where a corrosive substance, typically acid, is thrown at a person with the
intent to harm, disfigure, or kill. These attacks can cause severe physical and psychological trauma, often
resulting in permanent scarring, blindness, and other debilitating injuries.

What it is: Acid attacks involve throwing corrosive liquids like sulfuric acid, nitric acid, or hydrochloric acid onto a
person's body. The substance causes severe burns and tissue damage, potentially dissolving skin and exposing
bone.

Impact: The consequences of an acid attack can be devastating:

•Physical: Severe burns, scarring, disfigurement, blindness, and other injuries.
•Psychological: Trauma, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Intent: Attacks are often motivated by revenge, jealousy, or other forms of personal conflict. The perpetrators
often aim to inflict lasting damage and humiliation.
• Whoever throws or attempts to throw acid1 on any person or attempts
to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means,
with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity
or bums or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to
that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description
for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend
to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
• For the purposes of section 326A and this section, “acid” includes any
substance which has acidic or corrosive character or burning nature,
that is capable of causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement
or temporary or permanent disability.
• For the purposes of section 326A and this section, permanent or partial
damage or deformity shall not be required to be irreversible.
• One form of gender-based violence is the terrible crime of acid attack. It involves hurling
any corrosive substance onto an individual with the intention of killing, injuring, harming,
maiming, or disfiguring them. Although, a reasonably new crime, the manufacturing of acid
for industrial purposes started in Victorian Britain and the earliest cases of acid attack can
be traced back to the ‘wave of vitriolage’ in 1879 in France (Shapiro, 1986). In India, the first
reported case of acid attack occurred in 1982 (Patel, 2014). By the 20th century, acid attacks
acquired a gendered aspect in India and other countries as well. The data by NCRB
(National Crime Records Bureau) is indicative of a steep rise in the cases of acid attacks over
the years. Acid Survivors Foundation Annual Report (Acid Survivors Foundation, 2015)
reveals that women are victims in 70% of reported acid attack cases. This is a severe nature
of crime targeting primarily women, but research exploring its impact on women is very few
(Mittal, Singh, & Verma, 2020). Although several studies highlight the effect of trauma
associated with other forms of gender-based violence, it is of grave importance to explore
the traumatic experience of acid attack victims in segregation. The impact of acid attack is
acute as damage is permanent and relates to identity-related aspects such as the face. This
can lead to re-experiencing of trauma as disfigured face acts as a constant reminder of their
victimization. Thus, establishing the uniqueness of the sample in relation to victims of other
forms of gender-based violence.
 Genocide and mass violence
• Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction
of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, while
mass violence refers to the large-scale killing of
people, often belonging to diverse groups, without the
specific intent to eliminate an entire group. Genocide,
as defined by the UN Convention on Genocide
, involves acts like killing, causing serious bodily or
mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life
calculated to bring about physical destruction,
imposing measures to prevent births, or forcibly
transferring children.
• What is the definition of a genocide?
• Killing members of the group. Causing serious bodily or
mental harm to members of the group. Deliberately inflicting
on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part. Imposing measures
intended to prevent births within the group.
• To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the
part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnic,
racial or religious group. Victims of this crime are deliberately
– and not randomly – targeted because of their real or
perceived membership in one of the four protected groups.
• What is the difference between war and genocide?
• Genocide is the deliberate and often systematic destruction of an
ethnic, religious, or racial group. As in warfare, one side often
dehumanizes the other side, but unlike warfare, genocide is often
waged by one group against another and not the other way
around.
• The UN Treaty on Genocide (1951) deemed all acts of violence
targeting national, ethnical, racial, or religious groups with the
purpose of destruction as crimes of international law. Genocide
and targeted violence are very much part of our modern world,
and the study of such acts throughout human history is imperative
for understanding not only the historical causes and aftermath of
such events, but also for prevention.
• In Asia the "Age of Extremes" witnessed many
forms of mass violence and genocide, related to
the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the proxy
wars of the Cold War, and the anti-colonial nation
building processes that often led to new conflicts
and civil wars. The present volume is considered
an introductory reader that deals with different
forms of mass violence and genocide in Asia,
discusses the perspectives of victims and
perpetrators alike.
• The starting points of the influences that lead to violence between groups, including extreme
violence such as mass killing and genocideare are economic deterioration, political
disorganization and/or great social changes, and persistent conflict. These frustrate basic
psychological needs and can lead to scapegoating, the development of destructive ideologies,
and the evolution of increasing hostility and violence. A history of devaluation of some group,
past group victimization and woundedness, other cultural characteristics, and the passivity of
internal and external bystanders make such violence more likely. The chapter describes
trainings and educational radio projects in Rwanda to promote understanding the influences
that lead to violence and avenues to prevention, and their positive impact. It discusses a
number of other avenues to prevention and reconciliation: Humanizing the other, through
words and significant contact, including dialogue; creating constructive ideologies, visions
that embrace all groups; healing from past victimization and fostering altruism born of
suffering; the establishment of the complex truth and working to develop a shared history,
which require changes in collective memories or group narratives. The importance of positive
socialization of children for inclusive caring and moral courage, and the relationship between
political processes and reconciliation activities, in particular in Rwanda, are noted. Promoting
positive psychological changes can advance the development of constructive social values
and the creation of institutions and practices that fulfill basic material and psychological
needs, and help create a harmonious society.