L-R: Ms Carolyn Worth, Mr Patrick Tidmarsh, Ms Kelly Thomas, Dr Anastasia Powell, Dr Nicola Henry, Ms Libbi Gorr and Dr Asher Flynn
The rising level of concern about the incidence of sexual violence in our society has been mirrored in the sell-out response to a Monash University public lecture focussing on the challenges and appropriate responses to sexual exploitation.
The Monash Criminological Horizons Annual Public Lecture, held on Wednesday 6 April 2016, brought together a panel of leading sexual violence and gender researchers, support advocates and practitioners to reflect on the new challenges inherent to sexual violence and exploitation in a contemporary, technology-facilitated world.
The event, organised by Monash Criminology’s Dr Asher Flynn, dealt with the topics of ‘revenge pornography’ (the non-consensual distribution of intimate and sexual images); online justice forums for victim-survivors of sexual violence; sexual harassment in the workplace; challenges in investigating and prosecuting sexual violence offences; confronting the myths of sexual violence that persist within the community; and restorative justice processes for sexual violence victims.
Dr Flynn said the panel, titled 'Sexual violence: new and persistent challenges', aimed to explore how we can best prevent and respond to the harms caused by sexual violence and address ongoing, misguided social attitudes towards those experiencing these harms.
“It will take a combination of legal and non-legal measures to create the cultural change needed to support victims, hold perpetrators accountable, and ultimately address sexual violence,” she said.
Panellist Dr Nicola Henry from La Trobe University offered insight into the challenges surrounding the non-consensual distribution of intimate images – ‘revenge pornography’. The lecture highlighted the need to introduce responses, in the form of education, legislation or increased resources.
RMIT University’s Dr Anastasia Powell pointed to the potential benefits of technology and online justice forums as a way of redressing the limitations of the criminal justice system, which often fails to provide any sense of justice to victims. Online justice forums can provide a way for victims to share their experiences, gain support and contribute to reducing the likelihood of others experiencing harms.
Ms Kelly Thomas, a Legal Associate at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, drew on her experiences representing victims of workplace sexual harassment to highlight the challenges and traumas victims face, particularly in relation to shame and stigma. She also showed some of the positive changes emerging more recently in response to legal challenges and the actions of some very brave women.
Victoria Police’s Mr Patrick Tidmarsh highlighted the persistent challenges victims face in the legal process revolving around blame – whether that is blame being attributed to them for what happened to them; blame for not responding in the way society ‘wants’ them to respond; or blame for not remembering every minor detail accurately. Mr Tidmarsh highlighted the importance of society and criminal justice authorities shifting their focus from the victim, to instead, focusing on the perpetrator.
Carolyn Worth from the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault’s (SECASA) discussed a restorative justice project currently being trialled in Victoria. Ms Worth emphasised the importance of restorative justice processes remaining victim-driven and independent of the criminal justice process, if they are to retain any sense of justice for victim-survivors.
The Monash Criminological Horizons Public Lecture series, hosted annually by Monash Criminology (School of Social Sciences) was created to showcase leading international thinkers within criminology whose work contributes to a more just and inclusive future.
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