bravery and strength
misleading
Labor has welcomed the long-awaited
introduction of legislation to give victims of sexual assault the right to
speak out publicly using their own names.
Shadow Attorney General Ella
Haddad said legislation tabled in State Parliament today to amend Section 194K
of the Evidence Act and lift the gag order on sexual assault victims is long
overdue.
“Labor utterly condemns
sexual abuse and believes survivors who wish to speak out should be free to do
so knowing they are protected,” Ms Haddad said.
“Allowing them to do this
without first needing to go through the costly and traumatic process of seeking
the consent of the court allows survivors to reclaim some control of their
experience.
“I am constantly impressed
by the bravery and strength of survivors like Grace Tame, who have brought
about this change with their hard work and advocacy through the #LetHerSpeak
campaign.
“Labor also welcomes the
move to change Section 125A of the Evidence Act, to rename the current crime of
‘maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person’ to ‘persistent sexual
abuse of a child or young person’.
“The current wording is
wrong. It implies a consensual relationship between offenders and victims,
which sends a terrible message on what is in fact a heinous crime.
“Labor called for this change in 2018 and we will support the Government finally acting to rectify this outdated and misleading wording.”
Ella Haddad
Shadow Attorney General
