Stop It Now! aims to prevent child sexual abuse using a free anonymous helpline. It provides information, advice, and guidance to anyone concerned about child sexual abuse. It targets people who have sexually abused children or who are worried that they might do so. This article presents findings from a pilot study on the operation and outcomes of the helplines in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The findings underline the strength of the public health approach to prevention efforts. More specifically, benefits reported by helpline users are shown to correspond with the aims of the helplines. A number of factors were reported by users that helped them modify their own or others' actions to minimize risk of abuse. However, a challenge that remains is ensuring that helplines are accessible to those most in need. Recommendations are included to further expand the effect of Stop It Now! in reducing CSA.
Research into the criminal behavior of women with psychopathy is scarce. The overall aim of the present study was to examine differences between the criminal behavior of women with and without psychopathy. The sample comprised 221 female forensic psychiatric patients who are or have been admitted to one of four participating forensic settings in the Netherlands between 1984 and 2012. An extensive questionnaire containing demographic, criminal, and psychiatric variables was coded, as well as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, several risk assessment tools, and a taxonomy of motivations (inspired by Coid, 1998). The lowered PCL-R cut-off score as applied in the Female Additional Manual was used to define women with psychopathy. It was found that women with psychopathy were younger at their first conviction and had more criminal versatility in their offense histories than women without psychopathy. With respect to the index offense it was found that women with psychopathy committed a fatal index offense less often, were more likely to have stranger victims, and committed offenses motivated by power, dominance, or personal gain (i.e., Bad motivation typology) more often than women without psychopathy. No differences were found between women with and without psychopathy with respect to type of weapon used at the index offense. Implications and suggestions for future research into psychopathy in women are discussed.
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