Criminologists without Borders

Welcome to the website of Criminologists without Borders!

Presentations

UN Commission on the Status of Women

March, 2025
Four side event panel sessions:

1. A Reassessment of the Beijing Platform for Action
2. Violence Against Women and Girls in War and Peace
3. Beijing+30 and Justice for Women and Girls
4. Beijing+30, Women, and Criminal Legal Systems

See detailed descriptions of each panel and the presenters: https://bit.ly/3QNttNp

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UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Conference of Parties
Side Event

Current Topics in Transnational Organized Crime Research

Darknet drug markets, football hooliganism, femicide

October 14, 2024

Co-sponsored by the International Sociological Association, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and Criminologists Without Borders

Presenters: Rosemary Barberet, Jana Arsovska, Marijana Kotlaja, Myrna Dawson
14 Oct.2024 2:00PM CET/ 8:00AM EDT Zoom: https//bit.ly/47FepsL

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UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Side event panel co-sponsor

Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in Policing

May 2023

Many countries struggle with how to carry out legitimate and fair policing practices. Little research has been done internationally to see to what extent member states gather data and take action to prevent or address police discrimination against racial and ethnic groups. This panel featured a systematic analysis of state parties' compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in particular with Article 5(a) and General Recommendations 31 and 36. Results showed that the most common actions taken by state parties are training for law enforcement, and anti-discrimination plans, strategies or policies, although about a third of state parties reported taking no action at all. A recording of the session is here: https://jjay-cuny.zoom.us/rec/share/MP1ZKw22HLITai4KenspvWE_tTfxsoWkuFgYfN1DjTRhre5Qk8E6MHOClKMK054_.zvYeRTFlUzVEmM9G?startTime=1684839129000 Passcode: mR589Mj*

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Why Corruption is the Largest Problem in the World

May 2023

Identification of the world's largest problems illustrates how corruption either created them or brought them to a crisis point. Corruption impacts every SDG in the UN 2030 Agenda. The problem of unethical decision-making, as a precursor to corruption, is crucial to address, because it provides the path to appreciate that there is a greater purpose in life than self-interest. Ethics education, training, and accountability can reduce the pervasiveness of self-seeking conduct through recognition of ethical principles, and obligations to others, to reduce the number of motivated actors seeking unethical advantage through corrupt decisions both locally and globally. A path forward to achieve this objective was outlined. For additional information, see International Criminology (official journal of American Society of Criminology Division of International Criminology). https://rdcu.be/cPp23

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See our 3-minute video presentation on
Addressing Environmental Violations
for the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice - Expert Discussions on Crimes that
Affect the Environment - 1st intersessional meeting
February 2022 - https://youtu.be/w9Yuq0bbc1s

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Migrant Smuggling

Video: Paths to Migration (3 minutes)
Statement of Criminologists Without Borders
at reconvened thirtieth session of the
UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice - December 8, 2021

Summary: Irregular migration continues to occur globally and the reasons for this are three: escape from oppression, the human yearning for education and work, and the dream of an opportunity for a better life. The absence of safe & regular pathways for immigration and asylum lies at the heart of migrant smuggling. When the rule of law is not made available, and visas inaccessible, migrant smuggling is a predictable outcome. https://youtu.be/L36ZPHmAMAc

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United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women

Panel presentations in 2023:

Feminist Approaches to Justice: Rural Women and Girls in a Just Society

The panel examined women’s safety, women’s resilience, intersectionality, and the work of women in law enforcement in rural areas – all areas considered to be a part of international feminist criminology.

Dr. Rosemary Barberet, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, moderated the panel.
Dr. Lisa Pasko, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver and co-editor of Feminist Criminology gave opening remarks.

The first presentation was “Transit Safety for Women and Girls In Rural Environments” delivered by Dr. Vania Ceccato, Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, affiliated with Sao Paulo State University, Brazil.

The second presentation was “Constructing a Resilient Subjectivity: Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Women Managing LGBT-phobia in Rural Israel”, delivered by Dr. Gilly Hartal, Senior Lecturer, Gender Studies Program, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

The third presentation was “The Resilience of Women in Ménaka, Mali” delivered
by Chief Warrant Officer Alizeta Kabore Kinda from Burkina Faso, from the Gender Unit, UNPOL, MINUSMA – and the winner of the 2022 UN Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.

The fourth presentation was “Barriers to Access to Justice for Indigenous Women in
Guatemala” by Dorotea Gómez Grijalva, Master’s in social anthropology, Guatemala.

A summary of the panel appeared in the The Criminologist p. 28:
https://asc41.org/wp-content/uploads/ASC-Criminologist-2023-05.pdf

Link and passcode: https://jjay-cuny.zoom.us/rec/share/4f2j6I72PTqAvXEG39n-3higKVm5_O_2q85IbzaPHur0T8yYYXp5xRUCq2AEKy7U.nRYCZMlmLygjNxVK?startTime=1678887467000 Passcode: FpSe6^Hh

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Panel presentations in 2022:

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Feminist Approaches to Justice
Women, Disasters and Climate Change:
The Research Speaks

Sponsored by Criminologists without Borders
Co-sponsored by the International Sociological Association

Wednesday, March 23, 6 p.m. EST

Chair: Rosemary Barberet, ISA and CWB Representative to the United Nations, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (USA) and Adjunct Professor, Queensland University of Technology (AUSTRALIA).

Bethany Van Brown, Sociology & Criminology Department, Cabrini University, Philadelphia (USA), Gendered Ways of Knowing: Decolonizing Methodologies When Studying People in the Aftermath of Disaster

Melissa Villareal, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder (USA), Documenting the Undocumented: How Mexican Immigrant Women Navigate Long-Term Post-Disaster Housing Recovery and Cumulative Disaster Impacts

Christine Eriksen, Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich (SWITZERLAND), Coping with climate change and wildfires through gender equity

Sarah DeYoung, University of Delaware and Disaster Research Center (USA). Maternal & infant justice in disasters

Kerry Carrington, QUT Centre for Justice, Queensland University of Technology, (AUSTRALIA), The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Australian Domestic Violence Services and Their Clients

Jiwnath Ghimire, University of Hawaii at Manoa & Julia Crowley, Western Carolina University (USA), The Psychological, Social, and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Female Nepali Migrant Workers
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Panel presentations in 2021:

Feminist Approaches to Justice: International Responses to Sexual Violence
co-sponsored by the International Sociological Association

See panel details and presenters at this link.

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Summary of related presentations from the UN Commission on the Status of Women

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New Approaches to Addressing Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Women and Children

In 2019, Criminologists Without Borders co-sponsored a panel session at tthe 28th UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, Austria in May 2019. The theme of the Commission in 2019 was: "The responsibility of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems in preventing and countering crime motivated by intolerance or discrimination of any kind."

Criminologists Without Borders organized the panel session with the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology.

Speakers included:

Sesha Kethineni, "Rape Crisis in India."

Angie Henderson, "Law Enforcement, NGO & Survivor Collaboration."

Jay Albanese, "Identifying the Drivers of Human Trafficking."

A summary of this panel session is linked here.

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New Equality Initiatives for Rural and Urban Women and Girls

In 2018, CriminologistsWwithout Borders co-sponsored a parallel event at the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

The event was sponsored by the International Sociological Association(ISA) and co-sponsored by Criminologists Without Borders and the ISA research division (RC46) Clinical Sociology (March 19, 2018).

Associated readings lists for this event are linked here.
Rural Women reading list.
Women & technology reading list.

(see list of panelists further down this page)

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Strengthening the Role of Women in Law Enforcement

On March 23, 2017 Criminologists Without Borders with UNICRI and the International Sociological Association, sponsored a side event at the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The event was entitled “Strengthening the Role of Women in Law Enforcement.” UNICRI Director Dr. Cindy Smith chaired and moderated the session, held at the United Nations main building. Dr. Smith is a US-trained criminologist and one of the few women appointed to such a high level position by past UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. CWOB member Dr. Rosemary Barberet offered a short research introduction about recruitment, retention and promotion of women in law enforcement worldwide.

The purpose of this side event was to feature research, policy and practitioner perspectives on the role of women in law enforcement worldwide, as part of the theme of this year´s session of the Commission on the Status of Women, “Women´s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work.” Two practitioners spoke at this event, both from Asia. Kartika Rahman, a Master’s student in International Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has been a member of the Royal Brunei Police Force for nine years. She is currently an assistant superintendent. Suchaya Mokkhasen, in the same program and a Fulbright grantee, is a special case officer in the Bureau of Foreign Affairs and Transnational Crime of the Department of Special investigation of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand. Both shared their experiences with a packed room of attendees, including former Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo from Nigeria. They offered encouragement and advice to other women considering a career in law enforcement.

A reading list on this subject was distributed at this session. A copy is available here.

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Criminologists without Borders co-sponsored an Ancillary Session at the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on April 15, 2015 at the

Qatar National Convention Center, Doha.
From Research to Practice:
Justice, Safety and Inclusion
the session was moderated by Dr. Anna Alvazzi del Frate, Research Director, Small Arms Survey, Geneva, Switzerland.

Speakers at the session included:
Dr. Rajah Ray Jureidini, Professor, Migration Ethics and Human Rights, Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar - ‘The Dull Compulsion of Transnational Corruption in Migrant Labour Recruitment’
Dr. Margaret Shaw, Crime and Social Policy Consulting, Montreal, Canada - ‘Learning from others - women's safety and sexual exploitation in different country contexts.'
Dr. Rosemary Barberet, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York USA - 'Public contribution to crime prevention and raising awareness of criminal justice: Lessons learned from women’s initiatives around the globe’

Part of this panel highlighted a report:
Public contribution to crime prevention and raising awareness of criminal justice: Lessons learned from women’s initiatives around the globe
This report summarizes recent research published in line with the theme of the United Nations Crime Congress in Doha, Qatar in 2015 for Workshop 4, “Public contribution to crime prevention and raising awareness of criminal justice: Experiences and lessons learned." It focuses on the lessons learned from women´s initiatives in contributing to crime prevention and increased awareness of justice issues around the world. The report is prefaced by a summary of what is known and unknown in this area, as well as recommendations. Research excerpts are then featured from the major world regions. This report was drafted by Rosemary Barberet. A copy of this document is linked here.

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Panel Session at United Nations
in New York City (2016)

“Women's Empowerment, Sustainable Development, And Strategies To Eliminate Violence Against Women And Girls”

Presented at the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Sponsored by:
Criminologists without Borders &
International Sociological Association

Panelists:

Margaret Abraham (ISA)

Lori Sudderth (USA)

Jennifer Peirce (USA)

Olga Espinoza (Chile)

Josephine Beoku-Betts (USA)

A reading list on this subject was distributed at this session. A copy is available here.

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New Equality Initiatives for Rural and Urban Women and Girls

Monday, March 19^th, 2018

10:30 a.m., Second Floor of the Church Center (across from the UN) at 777 United Nations Plaza (corner of 1^st Ave. & 44^thSt.)

*AMBASSADOR ANWARUL K. CHOWDHURY, Former Under-Secretary General and High Representative of the United Nations, Initiator of UNSCR 1325 as Security Council President

“The Current Context for Women’s Equality of Participation”

*MIN. PLEN. FABRIZIO PETRI, President of the Italian Interministerial Committee for Human Rights

“The Italian National Action Plan for Women and Girls and the Transformative Value of Women’s Participation”

*MS. LAURA GUERCIO, Secretary General of the Italian Interministerial Committee for Human Rights

“Best Practices for the Equality of Women and Girls in Italy”

*DR. MARY OKUMU, Head of UN Women in Sierra Leone

“Addressing Gender Equality in a Deeply Traditional Society:

How Rural Women in Sierra Leone are Organizing to Demand and Defend their Human Rights”

*MS. GERI PALAST, Executive Director of the JFNA/JCPA Israel Action Network

“Collaborative Efforts among Women in Israel and Palestine”

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