Despite persistent myths that sexual violence and harassment are rare, two recent cases – and the subsequent online response – expose their commonality.
Women make conscious decisions every day about staying safe, but they consistently underestimate how much effort it all takes and what that means for their freedom.
No-one ever told a victim of identity fraud that they should never have stored their money electronically in the first place.
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Telling girls and young women to ‘be careful what images you share’ contributes to the shaming and humiliation of victims by placing the responsibility back onto them for their own humiliation.
Peter Dutton dismissed many of the ‘Nauru files’, including those documenting sexual assault, as ‘false allegations in an attempt to get to Australia’.
AAP/Dan Peled
A debate has erupted over the recent sentencing in the Stanford sexual assault case, with questions being asked over the judge’s bias, but could the same be said of jurors in other rape cases?
Researchers found over a third of female graduate students and a fifth of male graduate students on the campus of a large public university had experienced sexual harassment.
A whole-of-community approach works best in shifting cultural attitudes and behaviours.
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Most Australian women (87%) have experienced some form of street harassment, whether it’s whistles, stares, unwanted comments or being followed by strangers in the street – often before the age of 18.
Placards voicing the concerns of rape victims outside the High Court in Johannesburg.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Rape complainants who are perceived to have precipitated their own victimisation, whether through their conduct or their relationship to the perpetrator, are at a particular disadvantage.
In order to cope with the rigours of policing, police are expected to be strong, resilient and unemotional in dangerous situations.
AAP/Joe Castro
Sexual harassment is a persistent and damaging problem in many Australian workplaces. But why does it appear to be an entrenched feature of some organisational settings more than others?