Anastasia Powell

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Anastasia Powell is a feminist criminologist at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Contents

Career

Powell gained her PhD in criminology from the University of Melbourne in 2008 [1] and has been a director of Our Watch since 2016 (as of May 2022). [2] Her doctoral research was published in the 2010 book Sex, Power and Consent: Youth Culture and the Unwritten Rules by Cambridge University Press. [3] Powell's research specialises in policy and prevention concerning men's violence against women, with a particular focus on sexual violence and technology-facilitated abuse. [4] [5] [6]

She is the author and co-author of several major Australian studies, including Australians' Attitudes to Violence Against Women: Findings from the 2013 National Community Attitudes to Violence Against Women Survey (NCAS) [7] and More than Ready: Bystander Action to Prevent Violence Against Women in the Australian Community [8] with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth).

Powell is a co-founder of the Gendered Violence and Abuse Research Alliance (GeVARA) at RMIT University, which seeks to promote research development and collaboration in areas including sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, and sex-based discrimination against women. [9] [10]

In addition to her scholarly contributions, Powell is regularly featured in and contributes to Australian news and media outlets, [11] [12] [13] [14] raising the profile of issues including rape culture, [15] [16] sexual assault, [17] domestic violence, [18] 'revenge porn', [19] and sexting. [20]

Selected bibliography

Related Research Articles

Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic, pervasive, and most common human rights violations.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as the greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery if victims and perpetrators knew each other prior to the commission of the crime.

Rape pornography is a subgenre of pornography involving the description or depiction of rape. Such pornography either involves simulated rape, wherein sexually consenting adults feign rape, or it involves actual rape. Victims of actual rape may be coerced to feign consent such that the pornography produced deceptively appears as simulated rape or non-rape pornography. The depiction of rape in non-pornographic media is not considered rape pornography. Simulated scenes of rape and other forms of sexual violence have appeared in mainstream cinema, including rape and revenge films, almost since its advent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape culture</span> Society in which rape is pervasive and normalised

Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-shaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence, or some combination of these. It has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape and in conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures. It is associated with rape fantasy and rape pornography.

Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between the two parties. Acquaintance rape also includes rapes in which the victim and perpetrator have been in a non-romantic, non-sexual relationship, for example as co-workers or neighbors.

Rape is a type of sexual assault initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, under threat or manipulation, by impersonation, or with a person who is incapable of giving valid consent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape</span> Type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse without consent

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.

There are many theories explaining the causes of sexual violence. These theories include military conquest, socioeconomics, anger, power, sadism, traits, ethical standards, laws, and evolutionary pressures that lend some explanation to the causes of sexual violence. Most of the research on the causes of sexual violence has only been done on male offenders and has been target of criticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Initiatives to prevent sexual violence</span>

As sexual violence affects all parts of society, the responses that arise to combat it are comprehensive, taking place on the individual, administrative, legal, and social levels. These responses can be categorized as:

The anti-rape movement is a sociopolitical movement which is part of the movement seeking to combat violence against and the abuse of women. The movement seeks to change community attitudes to violence against women, such as attitudes of entitlement to sex and victim blaming, as well as attitudes of women themselves such as self-blame for violence against them. It also seeks to promote changes to rape laws or laws of evidence which enable rapists from avoid penalties because, for example, victims are discouraged from reporting assaults against them, or because the rapist is entitled to some immunity or because a rapist is capable in law of denigrating the victim. The movement has been successful in many jurisdictions, though many of these attitudes still persist in some jurisdictions, and despite changes to laws and significant increases in reporting of such assaults, in practice violence against women still persists at unacceptable high levels.

Sexual consent is consent to engage in sexual activity. In many jurisdictions, sexual activity without consent is considered rape or other sexual assault.

Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones. It may also include the use of a computer or any digital device. The term was first popularized early in the 21st century and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images. Sexting is not an isolated phenomenon but one of many different types of sexual interaction in digital contexts that is related to sexual arousal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Maltzahn</span>

Kathleen Maltzahn is an Australian author, academic and anti-sex-trafficking campaigner. She is a former councillor for the City of Yarra and was the Australian Greens Victoria candidate for the state seat of Richmond in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Victorian elections.

Campus sexual assault is the sexual assault, including rape, of a student while attending an institution of higher learning, such as a college or university. The victims of such assaults are more likely to be female, but any gender can be victimized. Estimates of sexual assault, which vary based on definitions and methodology, generally find that somewhere between 19 and 27% of college women and 6–8% of college men are sexually assaulted during their time in college.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rape in Germany</span> Sexual violence in Germany

Rape in Germany is defined by Section 177 of the Criminal Code of Germany. The definition of rape has changed over time from its original formulation in the penal code established in 1871, as extramarital intercourse with a woman by force or the threat. In 1997 laws were amended to criminalize marital rape, incorporate gender-neutral language, and recognize the effect of psychological coercion. In 2016 German laws were rewritten to remove a previous requirement that a victim physically resist their assailants and be overcome by force. The new law recognized any physical or verbal cue that one party does not consent to sexual contact. It also mandated deportation for migrants convicted of sexual assault, made it easier to prosecute rapes committed by groups, and criminalized other types of unwanted sexual contact, such as groping or fondling. The changes followed a series of high-profile cases that sparked public outrage at the inadequacy of the law.

Child sexual abuse in Nigeria is an offence under several sections of chapter 21 of the country's criminal code. The age of consent is 18.

Prof Patricia Lynn Easteal PhD AM is an academic, author, activist and advocate, best known for her research, publications and teaching in the area of women and the law. In 2010 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia 'For service to the community, education and the law through promoting awareness and understanding of violence against women, discrimination and access to justice for minority groups'.

Green Dot Bystander Intervention is a bystander education approach that aims to prevent violence with the help of bystanders. It is built on the premise that violence can be measurably and systematically reduced within a community. Bystander intervention as a way of violence prevention programs are becoming popular within society. Its mission is to reduce power-based violence by being a proactive bystander and a reactive bystander.

Rape myths are prejudicial, stereotyped, and false beliefs about sexual assaults, rapists, and rape victims. They often serve to excuse sexual aggression, create hostility toward victims, and bias criminal prosecution.

References

  1. Powell, Anastasia (2007). Generation Y: Re-writing the Rules on Sex, Love and Consent. Melbourne: VicHealth.
  2. "Board of Directors". Our Watch . Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  3. Powell, Anastasia (2010). Sex, Power and Consent: Youth Culture and the Unwritten Rules. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
  4. "Experts Say #ChangeTheCourse Survey Underreported Sexual Assault". Junkee. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  5. Powell, Anastasia. "Gender, culture and class collude in violence against women". The Conversation. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  6. "'Outdated' wait for divorce 'can be deadly' | The New Daily". The New Daily. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  7. Powell, Anastasia (2014). Australians' Attitudes to Violence Against Women: Findings from the 2013 National Community Attitudes to Violence Against Women Survey (NCAS). Melbourne: VicHealth.
  8. Powell, Anastasia (2012). More than ready: bystander action to prevent violence against women in the Victorian community. Melbourne: VicHealth. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  9. Baker, Emily (10 August 2017). "Sexual violence experts join on university sexual assault report". Canberra Times. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  10. "These are the last sort of pictures you want stolen". NewsComAu. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  11. HealthCanal (2014). Report reveals poor attitudes to violence against women.
  12. MamaMia (2014). When home-made porn is used as a weapon.
  13. ABC, LifeMatters (2010). Negotiating sexual consent.
  14. ABC, TheDrum (2009). We're just not that into it. ABC News.
  15. Powell, Anastasia (16 September 2014). "Rape culture: why our community attitudes to sexual violence matter". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  16. Funnell, Nina (3 April 2017). "A million-dollar slap in the face for students and sexual assault victims". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  17. Powell, Anastasia (27 October 2013). "Justice denied: The neglect of sexual assault victims with a disability". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  18. Powell, Anastasia (9 March 2014). "Gender, culture and class collude in violence against women". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  19. Powell, Anastasia. "Beyond #MeToo, we need bystander action to prevent sexual violence". The Conversation. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  20. Powell, Anastasia (31 May 2013). "Not just 'safe sext': Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee calls for change". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2015.