Consent in Relation to Sexual Offences: Submission to the NSW Law Reform Commission’s Consultation Paper 21 Imogen Senior The following article contains discussion of sexual assault and violence. Reader discretion is advised.
This mock law reform submission was submitted for Law, Justice and Social Change, a criminology subject, by Imogen Senior. A law reform submission responds to questions set by a government to explore how law should change to better suit society’s needs. This submission was in response to the Consent in Relation to Sexual Offences commission in NSW, arguing for a defendant to prove the steps they took to ascertain consent, ensuring that it is active rather than assumed. It also advocates for forms of restorative justice outside the frames of the legal system.
Conseducation welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry into Consent in Relation to Sexual Offences. Conseducation is a student-led organisation, running workshops to challenge sexual violence and rape myths in schools and universities. We ground our teaching in affirmative, ongoing consent, and the importance of ‘checking in’ with partners through every step of sexual encounters. We are influenced and coached by Dr Rachel Burgin, Chair of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy. However, we recognise that our educational programs are only part of a solution. Without legal reform, we lack grounds to claim the importance of affirmative, communicative consent. Hence, alongside our educational programs, we advocate for the reduction of sexual harm through legal reform. In turn, the legal system relies on sexual-health education to promote norms and grounds for ‘reasonableness’. Sexual violence can only be reduced with a combined effort of law and cultural change/education. Sexual harm is incredibly widespread– one-in-five women experience sexual violence (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017), and one-in-two have experienced sexual harassment (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019). We speak alongside women between 18 and 24, who experience sexual harm at twice the rate of other age groups (Australian Human Rights Commission 2017). 26% of students have been sexually harassed in a university setting, and of the students sexually assaulted, 87% did not make a formal complaint. In 2020, Conseducation ran 97 workshops across NSW, engaging with over 3800 students. Our mission is a world in which all are aware of the importance of safe, healthy sexual relations.
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