Page 1303 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022
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Why do we need positive consent laws? We need them to make it clear what consent really is. We need them to change the status quo. We need them to ensure that seeking consent to engage in sex becomes the norm. We need them to make sure that victims of sexual violence can have a better chance of seeing justice if they choose to seek justice.
The prevalence of sexual violence is unacceptably high. ABS surveys show that almost one in four women have been a victim; 2.2 million women and 718,000 men have experienced sexual violence or assault in their lifetime. We know that the conviction rate of sexual violence crimes is shamefully low and that here in the ACT the number of sexual assault cases proceeding through to prosecution is reducing.
For far too long we have maintained a system in which a woman’s testimony has to be corroborated in order for it to be taken seriously. We know how hard it is to find witnesses in these situations. Instead, we simply need to believe women. But our system presumed a woman was consenting unless she indicated she was not. My colleagues have all outlined the very well-known reactions. We all understand this. Victims of sexual violence all respond in different ways, and one of those really common reactions is to freeze up and disassociate during the crime. It is awful, it is absurd, that that natural, well-known response was taken as consent, but that is what our society has done. This legislation will change that.
We also have to make sure that everyone understands this basic social, moral and legal standard. In particular, we have to make sure that our young people understand what does and what does not constitute consent, and the fact that they need to obtain consent. We have seen a great start to that education work with Minister Berry’s work, and there is more to be done so that it becomes normalised for young people and so that they all understand that consent needs to be sought and needs to be given.
It is clear that this is not happening. People are not sharing positive consent. This has a devastating impact on the victims of assault. That is one in four women. It is a lot of people. It also has an impact on the people who are not victims, because a lot of women do not feel safe and so they live smaller lives to avoid risks. Why should we have to do that? We should not have to do that. We should feel safe and respected. We should know that we are safe and respected. We should not have to minimise ourselves and avoid risk and look after ourselves. We should just know that we can be.
We know that the vast majority of women are doing that. They are adapting and changing their behaviour because they are frightened of sexual violence. Many women do this. They choose not to walk through a park at night. They walk home from the bus stop with keys strategically placed in their hands. They are fearful of someone walking behind them. They are worried about leaving their drink unattended at a nightclub.
Fear of strangers is high, but the irony is that, by far, most of the sexual violence is perpetrated by someone known to the victim. Sexual violence and assault from a stranger is relatively rare. But that is why we need consent legislation. It is so much worse when assault comes at the hands of someone known to you, someone you trust.
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