Comparison Of Laws And Attitudes Surrounding Sexual Assault In NSW

Sexual assault has been a controversial issue over a long period of time, with many new laws taking place all over the world. In this essay, we will be discussing the changing of laws & attitudes surrounding sexual assault in NSW over the past 4 decades.

Sexual assault is the sexual contact or behaviour towards an unconsenting indivual, for example; unwanted kissing or touching. This also includes rape, incest, child abuse etc. In NSW sexual assault is heavily prohibited under the Crimes Act 1900. SECT 61I Crimes Act 1900 states, it holds an individual who has unconsenting intercourse with another person liable for a maximum 14 years imprisonment. Although the laws have differed throughout the history of NSW, according to ABS (Australian

Misconceptions can lead to affected perceptions of consent towards sexual activity. A common misconception is that majority of sexual assault victims are not known to their offender. A survey done in 2021 by the ABS shows that 83% of sexual assault victims within that year knew their offender, this dispels the misconception of the common rape scenario of stranger danger and instead provides an insight that victims knew the perpetrator prior to the offence. Another misconception is that women cannot be sexually assaulted by their spouse, though this may be historically accurate under common law, the Crimes (Sexual Assault) Amendment Act 1981 later criminalised the martial rape immunity. A misunderstanding related to consent is that lack of physical or verbal resistance is an indication of consent. Under SECT 61HI Crimes Act 1900, it states that lack of physical or verbal resistance to sexual activity is not to be taken as

In 1997 the total number of sexual assault cases recorded in Australia was 14,138, 60 percent of victims were aged under 20 and 79% of victims were female. Statistics by ABS show in the year of 2021 there were 11,550 reports of sexual assault, 71% of victims being under the age of 18. 83% of the victims were female, an increase of 4 percent since 1997. Many sexual assault cases go unreported in fear that the justice system will fail the victims, statistics such as recent as 2019 show that 14,994 incidents were reported to NSW Police but only 1,207 finalised charges. This shows that the conviction of sexual assault is also a problem towards the victims. Although with the many law reforms in place, sexual assault is still a continuing issue in todays society with 1 in 4 women having experienced sexual assault in their lifetime. With new laws coming in such as; The Crime Legislation Amendment (Sexual Consent Reforms) Act 2021, it is a hope for change of the sexual assault statistics and way to help deliver higher justice towards sexual assault