Law reform, social policy and sexual assault bibliography

"This project deals with the law in relation to the defence of mistake about age when a person has been charged with a sexual crime against a young person. The project arose out of a Tasmanian case in which a twelve-year-old girl was prostituted by her mother and her mother's male friend. The fact that only one of the girl's hundred or so clients was prosecuted gave rise to controversy and criticism of both the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the law relating to the crime of sexual intercourse with a young person. The Attorney-General responded to criticisms of the law by referring to the Institute a review of the defence of mistake as to age for the crime of sexual intercourse with a young person together with any other legal issues raised by the case." -- Summary

Baseline sentencing is not a mandatory custodial sentencing, rather the baseline level represents the starting point for the sentencing judge when determining the non-parole period for a baseline offence. This report provides specific recommendations on the sentencing model, sentencing procedure and exclusions from the baseline sentencing scheme, as well as a recommended baseline level for each baseline offence. However, further refinement and consideration of how the baseline sentencing scheme will operate in practice is required.

Since 2006, the idea of sexual ethics has informed a number of prevention education programs with young people. In this series of interviews, Rachel King discusses the concept of sexual ethics with people researching responses to, and prevention of, sexual assault. In the first interview Dr Michael Flood talks what sexual ethics means for engaging men in prevention. In the second interview, Associate Professor Mary Heath reflects on the limitations of the criminal law in dealing with ethics.

Sex offender registries began in the United States as a public protection policy, and have since been adopted in various forms in many countries. This book examines the development and implementation of these registries around the world, in particular in the United States and United Kingdom, but also Australia, Ireland, France, Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Jamaica, New Zealand, Austria, Hong Kong, Germany, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. The book also discusses issues relating to the historical use of registers, monitoring sex offenders across international borders, community notification issues, the impact on offenders, legal challenges and human rights, and issues of effectiveness.

This resource sheet compares legislation on sexual assault across each of the states and territories of Australia. Presented in the form of a table, it compares definitions of consent and sexual contact, directions that must be given to the jury, the accused's mental state/mens rea, offences against close relatives, and the protection and disclosure of counselling records. To help readers without a legal background, the resource sheet also provides background information on the Australian court system, the structure of criminal offences, legal terminology, and key prosecution issues, such as consent.

This document sets out Australia's plan for reducing violence against women and children. The plan covers the period 2010 to 2022, and was developed the Commonwealth Government in conjunction with state and territory governments. It is based on the recommendations of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, as published in their report 'Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, 2009-2021'. The National Plan targets domestic and family violence and sexual assault, and explains the six national outcomes it works towards, the implementation strategy, and State and Territory initiatives.

The authors were originally commissioned to investigate possible reforms to sexual offence trial processes in New Zealand. However, they found that reform of the existing criminal justice system alone was not sufficient to address offending rates or victim needs. This chapter begins by describing legal system reforms and initiatives in New Zealand and overseas, including reforms to the rules of evidence, interviewer training, and specialist prosecutors. The chapter then reviews alternatives to the criminal justice system currently practiced in New Zealand, including restorative justice, marae justice, and te ohaakii a hine.

This chapter describes rape law reform in Australia. It reviews the form, idiom, and shape of how these reforms took place and their impact on how rape is defined in law.

In April 2009, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General called for the Australian Law Reform Commission, working jointly with the NSW Law Reform Commission, to investigate the interpretation and application of laws relating to family violence, sexual assault, and child protection across the various states and territories in Australia. The final report of the Commission's findings was released in October 2010. This report describes the background of the Inquiry and the framework for reform, and presents the final 187 recommendations put forward in the final report in the areas of jurisdiction, criminal law, police, bail, protection orders, sentencing, homicide defences, evidence, child protection, family dispute resolution, confidentiality, sexual assault, reporting and pre-trial processes in sexual offences, information sharing, integration, and specialisation.

In April 2009, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General called for the Australian Law Reform Commission, working jointly with the NSW Law Reform Commission, to investigate the interpretation and application of laws relating to family violence, sexual assault, and child protection across the various states and territories in Australia. This summary report provides an overview of the final report, released in October 2010. It describes the background of the Inquiry and the framework for reform, and presents the final 187 recommendations put forward in the final report.

This is the summary version of the full consultation paper. In April 2009, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General called for the Australian Law Reform Commission, working jointly with the NSW Law Reform Commission, to investigate the interpretation and application of laws relating to family violence, sexual assault, and child protection across the various states and territories in Australia. A particular focus is definitions and evidence and their relationship to the Commonwealth Family Law Act. This consultation paper describes the terms of reference of the inquiry, the background issues and context, and calls for public submissions to the inquiry. Chapters include: Constitutional and International Settings; Purposes of Laws Relevant to Family Violence; Family Violence: A Common Interpretative Framework?; Family Violence Legislation and the Criminal Law; Protection Orders and the Criminal Law; Recognising Family Violence in Criminal Law; Family Violence Legislation and Parenting Orders; Family Violence Legislation and the Family Law Act; Improving Evidence and Information Sharing; Alternative Processes; Child Protection and the Criminal Law; Child Protection and the Family Law Act; Sexual Assault and Family Violence; Sexual Offences; Reporting, Prosecution and Pre-trial Processes; Trial Processes; Integrated Responses and Best Practice; and Court Specialisation.

Online communication and mobile phone technologies represent areas of emerging trends in social interaction, particularly for young people. This article provides a snapshot of what is currently known about the use of new technologies and sexual violence, and highlights some of the challenges for policing the online domain.

"[This book] provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of contemporary rape laws, across a range of jurisdictions. In a context in which there has been considerable legal reform of sexual offences, [this book] engages with developments spanning national, regional and international frameworks. It is only when we fully understand the differences between the law of rape in times of war and in times of peace, between common law and continental jurisdictions, between societies in transition and societies long inured to feminist activism, that we are able to understand and evaluate current practices, with a view to change and a better future for victims of sexual crimes."

In April 2009, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General called for the Australian Law Reform Commission, working jointly with the NSW Law Reform Commission, to investigate the interpretation and application of laws relating to family violence, sexual assault, and child protection across the various states and territories in Australia. A particular focus is definitions and evidence and their relationship to the Commonwealth Family Law Act. This consultation paper describes the terms of reference of the inquiry, the background issues and context, and calls for public submissions to the inquiry. Chapters include: Constitutional and International Settings; Purposes of Laws Relevant to Family Violence; Family Violence: A Common Interpretative Framework?; Family Violence Legislation and the Criminal Law; Protection Orders and the Criminal Law; Recognising Family Violence in Criminal Law; Family Violence Legislation and Parenting Orders; Family Violence Legislation and the Family Law Act; Improving Evidence and Information Sharing; Alternative Processes; Child Protection and the Criminal Law; Child Protection and the Family Law Act; Sexual Assault and Family Violence; Sexual Offences; Reporting, Prosecution and Pre-trial Processes; Trial Processes; Integrated Responses and Best Practice; and Court Specialisation.

This report presents the findings of an indepedent review into the treatment of rape complaints by public authorities in England and Wales. The review considered how policies and services could be improved so that more victims might report what had happened to them; more cases would end with prosecution and conviction; and victims would receive better treatment. Chapters include: misunderstandings, myths, and reality of rape; the role of the police; taking the case to court; and wider policy challenges.

This chapter uses the metaphor of a boxing match to describe sexual assault trials in Australia. It discusses the impact of trial procedures on victims - including the lack of a right to a fair trial in Australia legislation and the retraumatising effects of criminal justice processes - as well as human rights isssues and law reform.

Sexual assault, domestic and family violence are human rights violations, harming and limiting the lives of one third of Australian women. This report states that no woman should be a victim of domestic and sexual violence, and it focuses on strategies and actions of early intervention, prevention, improved services and justice. The report makes recommendations designed to confront the unacceptable level of injustice against women, and it gives both governments and communities a plan of action that need to be implemented to ensure safety, equality and justice for Australian women. It works towards the outcomes of: Communities are safe and free from violence; Relationships are respectful; Services meet the needs of women and their children; Responses are just; Perpetrators stop their violence; and Systems work together effectively.

Preventive detention schemes for sex offenders and other high risk offenders aim to protect the community well after an offender's prison sentence is completed. This book examines three different legislative models of preventive detention: a post-sentence detention and supervision scheme in Queensland; the use of special institutions for detaining sexually violent predators in Washington State, USA; and lifelong restriction orders made at the time of sentencing in Scotland. The book investigates the issues involved, including reducing recidivism, the effectiveness of prison-based treatment, and infringements on civil liberties and legal rights.

By examining sexual assault sentencing and judicial comments from a sample of mostly 2008 judgments in Victoria, this article explores differences in sentencing, focusing on the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The state of Victoria was chosen for the research because although Victorian sexual assault law and legal process has had the most progressive reforms, the only way to ensure these reforms are as effective and progressive as they seem, is to test their implementation with research. The analysis suggests that although judges are demonstrating a better understanding of the reality of sexual assault in their discussion of mitigating and aggravating variables, this awareness is not translating into sentences.

This article argues that there is a direct link between existing debates about the nature of unauthorised visual images and the issue of sexual assault. In particular, it considers the adequacy of current Australian legislation to properly respond to this issue and to reflect the additional harm caused to victim/survivors of sexual assault when a visual image of the assault is recorded and distributed. The article discusses emerging technologies, young people and sexual assault; Australian legislative responses; privacy infringement, voyeurism and other summary offences; child pornography offences; sexual offences legislation; and ethics and consumption of sexual images.

There is no argument about the pervasiveness and impact of sexual violence. The challenge we face is how to prevent it. This issues paper begins by exploring the evolution of ideas in how to prevent sexual assault, including the role of feminist campaigns in gaining public recognition of the issue and how the goal of prevention is understood, and the theoretical ideas that informed these developments. The paper then considers local, national and international frameworks that promote multisectoral responses to sexual assault, discussing the effectiveness of current strategies, unintended consequences of various approaches and initiatives, and what can be learned. Public health approaches, the participation of men, relationship education, and risk avoidance are discussed. Lastly, the paper explores the key role of prevention education in preventing sexual violence, and the theoretical shifts that are occurring.

"[This book] elaborates on the numerous factors that have contributed to the passage of sexual offending laws in the United States. [The authors] weave together a story of how sex crime laws were created by analyzing the changing roles of religion and the medical community, offering theoretical explanations for sex offending from the unique perspectives of criminology and sexology."

Haley Clark interviews Libby Lloyd. Libby chaired the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, which was charged with producing a national plan to address violence against women and their children. 'Time for Action' was released in April 2009. Here Libby and Haley reflect on the work of the council.

This section outlines key developments in sexual assault prevention policy from the last few years. It highlights areas of debate and provides information on accessing documents. In regards to prevention frameworks, a major development was the release of the National Council's report, 'Time for Action: The National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children' in 2009. This followed on from the 2008 Amnesty International report, 'Setting the Standard: International Good Practice to Inform an Australian National Plan of Action to Eliminate Violence Against Women'. In prevention education, a significant report was the 2009 'Framing Best Practice: National Standards for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault Through Education'. Debates in prevention work have been ongoing, in particular the discussion on the role of men in preventing violence against women, and how central feminism is or should be to prevention work. At the end of 2008 at least two forums considered these issues at length.