The role of prevention in supporting access to justice

Under-reporting and barriers to disclosure

To access safe and effective justice responses to sexual violence, victim-survivors must be enabled to recognise that what they have experienced constitutes sexual violence, is against the law, and that they can access safe, trusted and accurate information to understand their options (including through the criminal and civil justice system). However, this is not currently the case. Of women who experience sexual assault, 92% do not report this to police, and only 57% will seek advice or support from another source (9). Victim-survivors experience multiple barriers to disclosing their experiences of sexual violence. This can include uncertainty about how others will respond their story, whether they will be believed, or whether what happened to them was wrong (15). Failure to believe, or properly respond to, disclosures of sexual violence is often the result of the plethora of widely held myths and misconceptions about who uses and experiences sexual violence (19). Undue suspicion or scepticism may be directed towards victim-survivors who act contrary to these myths, which falsely dictate how “real” victims act and create incorrect narratives around the nature of perpetration (16).

Victim-survivors who have negative experiences disclosing sexual violence to friends or family report a range of adverse psychosocial outcomes including social isolation, substance abuse, mental health disorders, and increased risk of experiencing further abuse (20). Furthermore, negative experiences disclosing to police often create an insurmountable barrier to pursuing formal justice processes (19). The resulting under-reporting of sexual violence in crime statistics affects the broader community, as harmful misinformation about sexual violence remains unchallenged and the drivers of violence are further reinforced.

Primary prevention supports disclosure

In considering how to strengthen support for victim-survivors to disclose their experiences, primary prevention approaches to addressing violence against women present an opportunity. Australia’s national framework to prevent violence against women, Our Watch’s Change the story, describes a universal, whole-of-population approach (3). This approach understands that gender-based violence, including sexual violence, as a problem that occurs across Australian society and affects all women and gender-diverse people (3). As such, the proposed actions to address violence against women consider the broader social, political, and economic factors that drive violence and not just the individual behaviour of those that perpetrate violence (3). Inherent in this approach is the understanding that we all have an important role to play in the prevention of gendered violence, including sexual violence.  

Primary prevention initiatives are a highly effective means for increasing the community’s awareness and understanding of violence against women (including sexual violence, consent and what a safe and healthy sexual relationship or encounter looks like), ensuring that our systems and institutions enable and support disclosures of violence, and equipping individuals with the skills and capability to actively prevent violence in their day-to-day lives.

It is most common that victim-survivors will seek support from friends and family, over formal support services (9). This suggests that, in addition to equipping those working in frontline settings to facilitate safe and supportive disclosures of violence, it is also vital to ensure these skills are strengthened across the broader community. Increasing public understanding of sexual violence and its gendered drivers and manifestations will increase the likelihood that victim-survivors will be supported by their friends, families, or coworkers, and receive trauma-informed responses from frontline justice workers, such as police or legal practitioners. It is vital that we ensure prevention messaging is wide reaching and able to positively influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of all Australians.  

The importance of whole-of-population approaches to preventing sexual violence, and the role this can play in supporting justice responses, was recognised in the VLRC’s 2021 review, Improving Justice System Responses to Sex Offences (1). The VLRC highlighted the impact of strong government commitment to public education about sexual violence, ultimately recommending that the Victorian Government resource and support public education that covers identifying sexual violence, dispelling common myths and misconceptions about sexual violence, consent laws, and the available support services and justice options (1). There was additional emphasis placed on ensuring that public education is targeted across school and higher education through Respectful Relationships Education, as well as health care settings, including maternal and child health services (1). To support the reporting of sexual violence and improve access to justice responses, we recommend ongoing support for whole-of-population approaches to preventing violence against women.