by Claire Sams
Under changes to Victorian law, sexual assault victims can be jailed for speaking out about their assault, even if they want to be identified.
Key Points:
- Victorian lawmakers have been accused of silencing sexual assault survivors under new law
- the law would prevent victims from being identified in cases where the accused is found guilty, with fines and jail time as punishment for those who do so without a court order
- Victoria’s Attorney-General has promised to review the laws
What are the changes?
As first reported by Nina Funnell, a journalist with News Corp, changes to the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act will ban sexual assault victims from speaking out with their real names if their abusers are found guilty.
Funnell says that the new laws are from February, when lawmakers were reviewing the laws around suppression orders in the Victorian legal system.
She describes these laws as “incompetence” and as having “unintended side effects” on Victorians.
Anyone found guilty could face up to four months in jail and fines in excess of $3000, while media publications could be hit with fines over $8000.
The laws also apply retroactively, meaning survivors who have publicly discussed their experiences in the past can now be charged.
While survivors can a court order to speak publicly, this can cost thousands of dollars.
What has the response been?
“For those individuals who’ve already been silenced through the act of sexual violence, they’re now facing this additional retraumatising form of silencing,” Funnell told Hack.
“The choice to tell their story should remain theirs and that’s a really important part for some people of their recovery.”
Across social media, the backlash has been swift.
One Twitter user described the law as one that “only protects rapists and paedophiles,” while another said it only “enables abusers.”
(source: zdaniel/Twitter and ruthanrep/Twitter)
The #LetUsSpeak campaign has been launched, calling on the government to change the law, while a GoFundMe has been created to cover court costs of survivors who are charged under this law.
As of 4pm Friday afternoon, the GoFundMe has raised $56, 213, of their $60, 000 target, and has been created by Nina Funnell in partnership with Marque Lawyers, End Rape On Campus Australia and Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy initiative.
The #LetUsSpeak campaign has drawn parallels to the #LetHerSpeak campaign, where similar ‘gag laws’ were challenged in Tasmania and the Northern Territory in recent years.
Victorian Attorney–General Jill Hennessy has asked the Department of Justice and Community Safety to “urgently look” at the laws and asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission for advice on how to improve the laws.
“I remain concerned about the barriers, both cultural and legal, that continue to exist for victims of sexual assault.”
“The changes that took effect in February were about reducing barriers and improving clarity for victims who want to talk about their experiences, not about introducing new restrictions for survivors who want to go public with their story,” she said in a statement.