According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Personal Safety Survey (PSS):
– almost 2 million Australian adults had experienced at least 1 sexual assault since the age of 15
– more than 200,000 (1.1%) Australian adults had experienced sexual assault in the 12 months before the survey—an increase from 2012 (0.7%)
– around 639,000 Australian women experienced their most recent incident of sexual assault perpetrated by a male in the last 10 years.
Sexual assault in Australia: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
The Worst Crime That Can Be Committed Against A Person
Sexual assault / rape is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. It is something that many victims / survivors never get over and / or take years to recover from. It is also an issue that mainly affects women and children. And while I acknowledge that anyone can be a victim and anyone can be a predator, this is very much a gendered issue. Sexual assault / rape is the byproduct of a society that devalues women and has only recently started giving women back the rights they should’ve always had.
As a victim of sexual assault myself, I can tell you for a fact that society has failed me. I was made a victim at the tender age of eight and even though I was a child, I felt responsible for it for years. I took more responsibility and suffered more consequences as the child victim than the adult perpetrator ever will.
If you want to help me, please read all the way through to the end. While I can never change what happened to me, I want to make sure that it doesn’t happen to other people. So please, listen to my lived experiences so you can protect the people around you.
Because anyone, and I mean anyone, can become a victim of this horrific crime. It is never the victim’s fault and it is time to start holding perpetrators accountable.
Most Predators Receive No Punishment
From the get go, there is little to no justice for sexual assault victims. Rape culture is so prevalent that more than 2 out of 3 sexual assaults go unreported. Out of 1000 sexual assaults, only 25 perpetrators go to jail or prison. Predators rarely face any consequences for their actions. Even in cases where there is evidence and witnesses, even when the perpetrator is convicted, they may still be able to escape with a criminally short sentence. Look no further than Brock Turner for an example. And that’s just a well known case where there is public outcry.
Rape Kits
The victims aren’t treated nearly as nicely. If a victim chooses to report the assault, they may have to go through an invasive rape kit. A recommendation for this procedure is to not shower and do it within 72 hours. A shockingly short amount of time to process something so traumatic, especially considering most perpetrators are someone the victim knows. And to make things worse, even with a rape kit, the chance of getting justice is very low. Especially considering that at least tens of thousands of rape kits are never tested. Some believe it is hundreds of thousands (this is just within the USA).
So basically, a procedure that can take hours, to determine if someone has been violated in the worst way possible isn’t even taken seriously enough to be tested. Under these circumstances, why would anyone make even a genuine report of sexual assault? Only someone who wanted to be shamed, harassed and degraded would make a false accusation. It would be better and more effective to just slash someone’s tires or accuse them of theft or even cheating.
The fact of the matter is that the criminal justice system does not look after victims of sexual assault. In many cases, law enforcement either blames the victim or doesn’t believe them. Some in law enforcement has justified not testing rape kits by suggesting it would take away resources from other policing needs.
This lack of testing allows serial rapists to get away with their crimes. Our streets and homes are not safe and the very people whose job it is to protect us don’t even take the issue seriously. It takes a public outcry for people to even care about the victims and even then, the perpetrator does not receive adequate punishment.
Prosecutions
Each year NSW Police receive reports of more than 7,000 sexual and indecent assault incidents. Only about one in ten of these incidents result in someone being found guilty in court. This paper analyses data from police and the criminal courts to ascertain the stages at which sexual offences lapse from the criminal justice system. Most sexual offences proceed no further than the investigation stage. Only 15 percent of sex incidents involving a child victim and 19 percent of incidents involving an adult victim result in the initiation of criminal proceedings against a suspect. Among the small proportion of cases that do reach court, the conviction rate is low, with less than 50 percent of defendants appearing for a sexual offence being found guilty. Criminal proceedings are less likely to be commenced in incidents where the victim is a young child, where the incident is reported more than ten years after it occurred, where the offender is a stranger and where there are no aggravating circumstances. These factors affect the quality and availability of evidence and suggest that the decision to prosecute is influenced mainly by the strength of the case and the prospect of success in court.
The attrition of sexual offences from the New South Wales criminal justice system by Jacqueline Fitzgerald
In many cases, criminal proceedings are not commenced. Many cases never go to court due to the prosecution deciding it isn’t a strong enough case to win. Even if the victim was able to report the crime, it is unlikely the perpetrator will ever be punished. Even in cases where the perpetrator is convicted, they may not go to prison.
Sexual assault is incredibly difficult to prove. It often doesn’t go to court. Even rape kits are often left unopened due to law enforcement not prioritising victims of sexual assault. And even if a victim got through all these barriers, it is unlikely they will win their case and if they do, the perpetrator is unlikely to get a lengthy / harsh sentence.
So what would the benefit of a false allegation be? Prison? Even real perpetrators rarely go there. Losing a job? The US government proves a rape allegation is not relevant to a job interview. Public shame? Rarely happens. Fame? Rarely happens. Do you remember any of the victims?
Final Thoughts
Basically, the odds are stacked against the victim’s favour. Considering all of these elements, it is ridiculous to assume that false allegations are rampant. When even real accusations of sexual assault don’t result in prosecution, why would there be an abundance of false allegations? No, what happens more often is that a perpetrator claims the allegation is false because they either 1. don’t understand consent or 2. are lying.
I’ve heard people talk about their mates being falsely accused of sexual assault and then mention that the victim was drunk. These people clearly don’t understand that one cannot consent while intoxicated and so, of course, they assume the allegation is false. Or they equate the victim not being able to get a conviction (something that is incredibly difficult to do even with evidence) with it being a false allegation.
Or worse still are those who perpetuate this idea in order to avoid punishment for their crimes. Many perpetrators and abusers manipulate the narrative to make the victim sound unhinged. This is merely a tactic for avoiding justice. Remember, perpetrators can be charming and charismatic. Just because they haven’t hurt you doesn’t mean they haven’t hurt anyone else.
Please be kind.
A Lesson In Consent Before You Go
In order to be able to consent, an individual has to 1. be of the legal age to consent (16-18 in Australia and the US), 2. be of sound mind, 3. be sober, 4. not feel pressured to say yes, 5. be conscious and last, but not least, an individual cannot consent to someone who has a position of power over them. A student cannot consent to sex if asked by their teacher. A patient cannot consent to sex if asked by their doctor. In cases where there is an imbalance of power, there is no way of determining whether or not the assent is genuine.
If you’re ever confused, just remember, if it’s not an enthusiastic yes, you’re better off interpreting it as a no. And if you ask someone for sex and they say no, don’t keep asking (at least wait until the next day). Definitely don’t have sex with children. It doesn’t matter how mature they are, if you’re an adult who has sex with children, you’re a pedophile and should be locked up for life.
Sex is supposed to be fun. No one is entitled to it and all parties involved have to enthusiastically consent to it.
Further Reading
Brock Turner laughed after bystanders stopped Stanford sex assault, files show
Chanel Miller, who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, reveals her identity
Tens of thousands of rape kits go untested across USA
The Criminal Justice System: Statistics
What Is a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam?
What is the Rape Kit Backlog?
