books
Organised Sexual Abuse is the first book-length research manuscript on the subject of organised abuse.
Organised Sexual Abuse provides a critical overview of research and debates on organised abuse, and draws on the life histories of 21 Australian survivors to examine the experience and impact of organised abuse.
"Organized Sexual Abuse is groundbreaking and courageous. In the face of widespread public disbelief about the reality of childhood sexual abuse and gendered violence, Salter successfully constructs a coherent account of organized sexual abuse that is both theoretically sophisticated and grounded in lived experience—both his own and that of survivors—while resisting the temptation to provide readers with easy reassurance or simple answers that reinforce the status quo. His ethical commitment to taking lived experiences of gendered violence seriously and to being at stake in his writing, while breaking the silence surrounding organized abuse, are admirable and serve as a model for ethical scholarship and academic praxis." Laura Noll, Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
Chapter 6 of my recent book Crime, Justice and Social Media describes the attempts of online activists to disrupt the organised abuse of children in Africa and the United Kingdom. The chapter is called: "From #OpGabon to #OpDeathEaters: Transnational justice flows on social media".
"This lively, thought provoking book greatly enlarges our understanding of online abuse across various social media platforms. Its lucid combination of critical theory, analytical insight, and interdisciplinary sensibility make it indispensable reading for anyone seeking to know more about this vital aspect of contemporary culture. In particular, its attention to the gendered dynamics and politics of abuse make it a timely, bold and innovative statement of criminology at its very best."
Eamonn Carrabine, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex, UK, and co-editor of Crime, Media, Culture
REPORTS
Dr Delanie Woodlock and I have published a report drawing on interviews with nine members of the Phoenix 11 and the Chicago Males, two advocacy groups for survivors of child sexual abuse material. The report describes the advocacy journey of the interviewees, including the benefits of activism.
With my colleagues Christian Jones and Dr Delanie Woodlock, I understood an evaluation of PartnerSPEAK, an Australian organisation which supports the non-offending partners and family of people who access child sexual abuse material. You can read the full report by clicking here.
Tim Wong and I completed a study examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the risk of online child sexual exploitation, drawing on surveys and interviews with ‘tipline’ workers and specialist law enforcement representations. You can read the full report by clicking here.
The report generated significant media interest. You can read an article discussing the findings here.
With colleagues, I published the findings of a major two year research study on the responses of Australian services and systems to women with experiences of complex trauma, including women with experiences of domestic and family violence, sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
The report is based on a systematic policy analysis and interviews with 40 women with experiences of complex trauma and 63 professionals who work with them. You can read the full report by clicking here.
articles & papers
Organised sexual abuse, trafficking and slavery
Salter, M. & Woodlock, D. (2023) The antiepistemology of organised abuse: Ignorance, inaction, exploitation. British Journal of Criminology, 63 (1), 221-237.
Keren, D. & Salter, M. (2022) "They are here without chains, but with invisible chains": Understandings of modern slavery within the New South Wales settlement sector, Social & Legal Studies, 31 (1), 50-71.
Salter, M. & Richardson, L. (2021) The Trichan takedown: Lessons in the governance and regulation of child sexual abuse material, Policy & Internet, 13(3), 385-399.
Salter, M. (2019) Malignant trauma and the invisibility of ritual abuse, Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis, 13(1), 15-30.
Salter, M. (2018) Abuse and cruelty in religious bureaucracy: The case of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, Journal of Australian Studies, 42(2), 243-255.
Salter, M. (2017) Organised abuse into adulthood: Survivor and mental health perspectives, Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 18(3), 441-453.
Salter, M. (2016) Organised child sexual abuse in the media. In Pontel, H. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Oxford University Press: Oxford and London.
Salter, M. and Dagistanli, S. (2015) Cultures of abuse: ‘Sex grooming’, organised abuse and race in Rochdale, UK, International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 4(2), 50-64.
Salter, M. (2014) Multi-perpetrator domestic violence. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 15(2), 102 – 112, 1524-8380
Salter, M. (2013). Through a glass, darkly: Representation and power in research on organised abuse. Qualitative Sociology Review, IX(3), 152-166.
Salter, M. (2013). Grace’s story: Prolonged incestuous abuse from childhood into adulthood. Violence Against Women, 19(2), 146-165.
Salter, M. & Richters, J. (2012). Organised abuse: A neglected category of sexual abuse with significant lifetime mental healthcare sequelae. Journal of Mental Health, 21(5), 499-508.
Salter, M. (2012). The role of ritual in the organised abuse of children. Child Abuse Review, 21(6): 440-451.
Salter, M. (2011). Organised abuse and testimonial legitimacy. In Lee, M., Gail, M. & S. Milivojevic (Eds.) Proceedings of the 2010 Critical Criminology Conference. Sydney: University of Sydney and University of Western Sydney.
Salter, M. (2008) Organised abuse and the politics of disbelief. In C. Cunneen and M. Salter (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2008 Critical Criminology Conference, Sydney: Crime and Justice Research Network and the Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Network.
Salter, M. (2008) Out of the shadows: Re-envisioning the debate on ritual abuse. In: Perskin. P. and Noblitt. R. (eds) Ritual abuse in the twenty-first century: Psychological, forensic, social and political considerations. Robert D. Reed: Brandon, OR.
Child sexual abuse material AND online EXPLOITATION
Salter, M., Woodlock, D., and Wong, T. (2023) The sexual politics of technology industry responses to online child sexual exploitation during COVID-19: “This pernicious elitism”, Child Abuse & Neglect, forthcoming.
Salter, M. and Sokolov, S. (2023) "Talk to Strangers!": Omegle and the political economy of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation, Journal of Criminology, forthcoming.
Salter, M. and Wong, T. (2023) Parental production of child sexual abuse material: A critical review, Trauma Violence Abuse, forthcoming.
Salter, M. (2023) Online child sexual exploitation in the news: Competing claims of gendered and sexual harm. In: K. Boyle and S. Berridge (Eds.), Routledge Companion on Gender, Media and Violence. London; New York: Routledge.
Salter, M., Woodlock D & Dubler N 2022. Secrecy, control and violence in women's intimate relationships with child sexual abuse material offenders. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 661. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Salter, M., Woodlock, D., and Jones, C. (2022) “You Feel Like You Did Something So Wrong”: Women’s Experiences of a Loved One’s Child Sexual Abuse Material Offending, Violence Against Women, forthcoming.
Jones, C., Salter, M., Woodlock, D. (2022) “Someone who has been in my shoes”: The effectiveness of a peer support model for providing support to partners, family and friends of CSAM offenders, Victims and Offenders, 18 (4), 715-731.
Salter, M. & Whitten, T. (2022) A comparative content analysis of pre-internet and contemporary child sexual abuse material, Deviant Behavior, 43 (9), 1120-1134.
Salter, M. and Hanson, E. (2021) “I need you all to understand how pervasive this issue is”: User efforts to regulate child sexual offending on social media. In Baily, J., Flynn, A. and Henry, N. The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-facilitated Violence and Abuse. Emerald Publishing.
Salter, M., Wong, T., Breckenridge, J., Scott, S., Cooper, S., Peleg, M. (2021). Production and distribution of child sexual abuse material by parental figures. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 616. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Victims and survivors of sexual abuse
Moran, B. and Salter, M. (2022) Therapeutic politics and the institutionalisation of dignity: ‘Treated like the Queen’”, Sociological Review, 70 (5), 969-985.
Shin, Hyun Ji & Salter, M. (2022) Betrayed by my body: Survivor experiences of sexual arousal and psychological pleasure during sexual violence, Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 6 (3), 581-595.
Salter, M. (2020) The transitional space of public inquiries: The case of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol. 53(2) 213–230.
Salter, M. (2018) Child sexual abuse, in Rennison, C.M., Dekeseredy, W. S., Hall-Sanchez, A. (Eds), Routledge International Handbook of Violence Studies, London and New York: Routledge
Salter, M. (2018) Child sexual abuse. In Dekeseredy, W. and Dragiewicz, M. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Critical Criminology, Routledge: London and New York.
Salter, M., & Breckenridge, J. (2014). Women, trauma and substance abuse: Understanding the experiences of female survivors of childhood abuse in alcohol and drug treatment. International Journal of Social Welfare, 23(2), 165-173.
Breckenridge, J., & Salter, M. (2012). Gender, use and abuse: Sexually abused women in alcohol and drug treatment. In J. Nakray (Ed.), Gender-based violence and publichealth: International perspectives on budgets and policies. London & New York: Routledge.
Complex trauma and dissociation
Woodlock, D., Salter, M., Conroy, E., Burke, J. & Dragiewicz, M.(2022) “If I'm not real, I'm not having an impact”: Relationality and vicarious resistance in complex trauma care, British Journal of Social Work, 52 (7), 4401-4417
Salter, M. (2021) Finding a new narrative: Meaningful responses to ‘false memory’ disinformation, in Sinason, V. and Conway, A. (Eds). Trauma and Memory: The Silenced and the Science. Routledge: London and New York.
Salter, M. & Hall, H. (2020) Reducing shame, promoting dignity: A model for the primary prevention of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma Violence Abuse, 23 (3), 906-919.
McPhillips, K., Salter, M., Roberts-Pedersen, E. & Kezelman, C.(2020) Understanding trauma as a system of psycho-social harm, Contributions from the Australian Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, Child Abuse & Neglect, 99, 104232.
Salter, M. (2017) Doing sustainable trauma research, Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Violence and Exploitation, 2(1).
OTHER ARTICLES
Salter, M. & Woodlock, D. (2021) ‘You never forget the knock at the door’: why families of child sex abuse material offenders need more help, Conversation, November 7.
Salter, M. (2021) New research shows parents are major producers of child sexual abuse material, Conversation, Feb 20.
Gorman, G., Walker, M., Salter, M., & Bornstein, J. (2020) Coronavirus lockdown sparks rise in people accessing child abuse content, News.com.au, August 7.
Salter, M. (2017) Attacks on the credibility of abuse survivors are not justified by research, The Guardian, October 2.
Salter, M. (2016) Incest: why is ‘worst of the worst’abuse so often ignored’, Conversation, August 11.
Salter, M. (2015) Why does it take victims of sexual abuse so long to speak up? The Conversation, August 27.
Salter, M. (2014) Why celebrated males think they are licensed to offend, Sydney Morning Herald, May 31, p 32.
Salter, M. (2014) Woody Allen: presumption of innocence no guarantee of justice in sexual abuse, The Conversation, February 4.
Salter, M. (2014) Philippines webcam child abuse arrests come after decades of exploitation and inequality, The Conversation, January 17.
Salter, M. (2013) Arrests shine light into murky world of child pornography, The Conversation, November 20.
Salter, M. (2013) Sex abuse victims deserve better than media-driven policy. The Conversation, August 14.
Salter, M. (2012) Fighting child sexual exploitation overseas and at home. The Conversation, December 4.
Salter, M. (2012) Jimmy Savile, Garry Glitter and the politics of paedophile rings. The Conversation, November 2.
Salter, M. (2012) Rogue priests or a culture of abuse? Investigating paedophilia in the Catholic Church. The Conversation, November 13.