Language matters in family violence legislation

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins also supported the 2021 Australian of the Year's arguments to create structural and systemic changes in the legislation and Australian society.

As a child sexual assault survivor, Tame drew attention to the importance of restructuring the prevailing language and discourse on child sexual abuse. Her primary argument was that changing the narrative, and redefining the offence in the legislation will ensure that the perpetrators are not shielded by outdated laws.

Today, more than ever, this is imperative. Child sexual abuse by known members of the family, or intrafamilial sexual abuse traumatises an individual for the rest of their lives. If laws around this are amended and made more stringent it will present as a potent deterrent against family violence in the form of sexual abuse.

As Tame argued, language and the narrative matter in giving the power back to victim-survivors. A Tasmanian court convicted Grace Tame's abuser of "maintaining a sexual relationship with a child." This definition of abuse is inherently problematic.

In her speech, Tame rightly argued that this implies consent. In my opinion, this definition does not reflect the criminal nature of the abuse, and does not place emphasis on its unlawfulness and still largely gives control to the abusers.

As opposed to the Tasmanian court's charge, other jurisdictions in Australia, including the ACT, define the act as "persistent sexual abuse of a child." This definition undoubtedly does more to lay blame on the perpetrator and highlight the wrongfulness of the act.

The need to have consistent laws in Australia is important to combat child sexual abuse nationally. Making changes to the definition is the first step to the overall process of legally protecting survivors of child sexual abuse.

The most important objective of the new bill is to reduce trauma for the victims of family violence who are involved in court proceedings. In doing so, the aim is to limit the cross-examination on contents of victim impact statements to prevent them from facing retraumatisation.

Furthermore, the prison sentencing options for perpetrators will be made more stringent. If the bill is passed, perpetrators can be given harsh sentences involving longer prison terms.

Essentially, these reforms are focused on making the justice system more accessible for victim-survivors of family violence, and sexual abuse. They need to be provided with more efficient avenues to access justice. The importance of this cannot be understated.

When appropriate measures are not in place, many victims may even feel discouraged to report abuse. This allows the perpetrator to walk scot-free. Perpetrators need to face appropriate consequences. This certainly cannot be done if laws remain outdated.

On a national level, many states have adopted "persistent sexual abuse" as the primary charge when dealing with such cases. However, in many states the word "relationship" still appears in the legislation. This is misleading, and lessens the severity of the offence. Language matters in how the crime is viewed. It matters because incorrect wording only perpetuates misconceptions in society.

Family violence in the form of sexual abuse is deeply scarring for victim-survivors who carry the weight of the trauma for the rest of their lives. These reforms have the potential to improve victim-survivors' experience with the judiciary system in Australia. It also increases the chances of bringing justice to them by incorporating stricter punitive measures against perpetrators.

Activists and advocates continue to create more awareness around this issue, and spotlight the importance of these systemic changes.

It is time for us in the legal industry to bring about these much required reforms.