Those areas are home to several private school communities first targeted by Sydney-born activist Ms Contos in her campaign for better sex and consent education. Ms Contos said she was glad it was becoming more normal for people to report sexual assault.
“However,we need to be aware the real numbers are still so much higher. I hope this shows the under-reporting problem we have,and how far we still have to go,” she said.
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TheHeraldfirst reported Ms Contos’ petition on February 19,four days after former Liberal staffer Ms Higgins went public with allegations she was raped in Parliament House. Then in early March,Christian Porter identified himself as the cabinet minister accused of rape in a report published by the ABC. He strenuously denies the allegation and sued the ABC over the story,later settling the matter following mediation.
“These instances significantly increased public engagement with issues of sexual violence,victim rights,consent and gender equality,” Ms Fitzgerald said. She also pointed to a spike in weekly Google searches for ‘sexual assault’ in March,when those three stories were dominating headlines.
In late March,Ms Contos joined with NSW Police sex crimes squad commander Stacey Maloneyto launch Operation Vest,which encouraged young women to report historical sexual assaults to police.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said Operation Vest had driven a “significant increase in the number of people in the community who came forward to report sexual violence”. “It is important that as a community,we continue these conversations and keep encouraging people to come forward,” he said.
Ms Fitzgerald said typically 10 to 15 per cent of adult sexual assault victims report to police. ”The March 2021 increase shows that,under the right conditions,more victims will come forward,” she said.
However,preliminary data for April suggests the volume of reports has already come down. “While the events and public discussion that led to the March 2021 jump were unusual,knowing that there are stimuli that can increase reporting rates is useful for policymakers trying to improve the response to victims’ needs,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman commended the “extraordinary courage of all the victim-survivors who’ve recently contacted police to report sexual assaults”.
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“While this spike comes off the back of intense media coverage and long overdue public discussion of sexual violence in our communities,it also demonstrates what we already knew,that these crimes are significantly under-reported each day,” he said. “Please know that you are not alone,and that help is available.“
National Sexual Assault,Family&Domestic Violence Counselling Line:1800 737 732
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