news, local-news, wagga, riverina, nsw, sexual assault, consent

A Wagga crisis and support worker has welcomed the decision to review the laws surrounding sexual consent and has called for specialist courts to be considered. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the state government in an effort to determine if the law needs to be amended to better protect victims. Julie Mecham, a crisis and support worker at the Wagga Women’s Health Centre, said the review was necessary but it needed to be completed systematically. “Understanding the fundamentals of consent is crucial,” she said. “Consent can be provided and be withdrawn and consent under duress is not consent.” Ms Mecham said in abusive relationships an individual might say yes to sexual contact with their partners, but this consent is conditional because they know the consequences if they say no. “Consequences include forced sexual relations, physical abuse and humiliation,” she said. “The courts need to be able to understand consent within abusive relationships.” However, Ms Mecham said there is more to consent than the dynamics of a relationship as it applies to all interactions. “Young people need to understand that you can consent to having intercourse in the evening and not consent to it the following morning,” she said. “Consent is straightforward. “You can’t consent if you're drunk, if you're underage or if there's consequences.” One of the measures Ms Mecham suggested was introducing specialist courts to deal with cases of sexual assault and rape. “Specialist courts would have comprehensive knowledge of perpetrator tactics so they can identity sexual assault within relationships,” she said. The idea was backed by Karen Willis, the executive officer at Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia. “There needs to be meetings for 12 months to have a full systemic review of the system,” she said. “We need to consider specialist courts because rape and sexual assault are like no other crime. “There is a 55 per cent lower conviction rate compared to other crimes and 20 per cent less reporting in the first place.” Attorney General Mark Speakman, in consultation with Pru Goward, the Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, asked the NSW Law Reform Commission to undertake the review last week. Mr Speakman initiated the review after a young woman endured two trials and two appeals with no final resolution. The proceedings centred on the issues of consent and the accused’s knowledge of whether the complainant consented, which the review will consider. “This young woman’s bravery in coming forward and sharing her story is commendable. The delay and uncertainty in this matter was unacceptable,” Mr Speakman said. “We can’t legislate for respect, but we can examine whether the consent provisions in our Crimes Act require simplification and modernisation. “Within the coming weeks I will recommend to the governor the appointment of a commissioner with criminal law expertise to lead this important review.”

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