Sexual violence is a deeply entrenched issue and a stark reminder of systemic inequalities, unequal power dynamics and inequitable social norms that persist in our society.
It is a widespread and gendered issue that has devastating and long-term impacts on those who experience it.
Yet many victim-survivors do not report sexual violence because they fear that they will not be believed or do not want to go through the criminal process.
The issue of women’s safety and men’s abuses of power has been the centre of national conversation in recent years.
The Conversation captured this being brought to the fore in recent times in a 2022 feature about ‘Making change, making history, making noise’:
“While many activists, journalists and advocates contributed to this insurgency, it exploded largely thanks to two young women: 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame and former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins.
Both just 26, both survivors of sexual assault, both abused by men – and institutions – they ought to have been able to trust. Both rejected the expectation they should be shamed into silence about their experiences. In doing so, they have helped to rewrite enduring cultural scripts about sexual abuse and sexual assault.” –Professor of History at Macquarie University Michelle Arrow.
Sexual violence is still shockingly prevalent in Australia and across the world. It is overwhelmingly experienced by women and girls. The statistics are shocking and speak for themselves.
A recent report by the Victorian Law Reform Commission showed that one in five women over the age of 15 has experienced sexual assault in their lifetime.
The report into improving the justice system responses to sexual offences also highlighted that more than 85 per cent of these assaults are not reported to police.
It is understood that many victim-survivors do not report sexual violence because they fear that they will not be believed or do not want to go through the criminal process.
This means that many people who have committed sexual assault are not held accountable for their actions.
It is vital that the criminal legal system is improved to reduce re-traumatisation of victim-survivors and ensure perpetrators are held to account.
The Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate emphasised this in a recent Twitter post:
“The adversarial nature of criminal law, courtroom design, and power dynamics within the legal system can mean survivors are traumatised even with a guilty verdict. We need to look at how to improve the whole system to deliver justice.” – Larissa Waters
SMLS has been advocating and calling for change for many years and earlier this year we along with the Federation of Community Legal Centres (FCLC) made 12 key recommendations in a joint submission for reform.
The key areas of reform are for national harmonisation based on an affirmative consent model, consent education and training, the criminal legal system’s response improved for victim-survivors and investment in the community legal sector to provide trauma-informed legal services to victim-survivors.
Our call was echoed by others when we jointly appeared with FCLC at the Public Hearing for the Inquiry into Current and Proposed Sexual Consent Laws in Australia in July.
FCLC and SMLS strongly support national harmonisation of consent laws based on an affirmative consent model and believe that the Commonwealth should work with State and Territory Governments to achieve this. It is essential that these laws protect victim-survivors and uphold the fundamental right of every person to make decisions about their sexual activity.
We stand with Women’s Legal Service Australia in calling on the Commonwealth to work with State and Territories to ensure consent laws effectively respond to sexual violence that occurs within the context of family violence.
We know, however, that legislative change is not enough. The Commonwealth must invest in a widespread and evidence-based public education campaign underpinned by best practices and developed with subject-matter experts to prevent sexual violence and engender cultural change.
Consent education programs in schools should be mandatory for all schools across Australia, and there should be a greater emphasis on consent laws during consent education in schools. Resourcing schools to partner with community legal centres is an effective model for allowing schools to access the legal expertise when developing education content within a legal framework.
It is also imperative that those working in the criminal legal system receive specialist training in responding to sexual offences in a trauma-informed and culturally safe way.
Wide-ranging reform to the criminal legal system is required across Australia to improve responses to victim-survivors. It is imperative that appropriate and safe support systems are in place for victim-survivors navigating the criminal legal process, including independent legal representation, stronger therapeutic and practical supports and options for restorative justice. These systems must be trauma-informed and culturally safe. We would also like to highlight the important role of the community legal sector in providing legal assistance to victim-survivors as part of an integrated response.
CLCs, like SMLS, play an important role in providing legal assistance to victim-survivors as part of an integrated response. We will continue to call for strong and consistent legislation to protect and support victim-survivors of sexual violence.
Please reach out to 1800 RESPECT for free and confidential help if you or anyone you know needs support or for legal assistance please contact us or your local community legal centre.
