Source : Perth Now news
Just 5 per cent of sexual assault cases reported to police result in custodial sentences in NSW, and it’s a similar story across Australia.
In fact, most sexual assaults reported to authorities do not proceed to court, with victims, police or prosecutors withdrawing complaints or cases long before justice is served.
The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research tracked sexual assaults reported to NSW police in 2018 through the criminal justice system.
Of the 5869 reports made to police, only about 16 per cent resulted in legal action, with 3369 charges laid against 969 alleged offenders.
Less than 10 per cent of these charges resulted in a criminal conviction.
Researchers found most cases ended during the police investigation stage.
Prosecutors also withdrew all charges against two in 5 defendants.
For matters that did progress to court, only 41 per cent of defendants had a proven sexual offence against them.
Experts say while more people are reporting sexual offences to police, the proportion of successful convictions against offenders is unlikely to increase given the nature of the crimes.
Melbourne Law School professor Jeremy Gans said the major difficultly prosecuting sexual assault cases was evidence.
Professor Gans said sexual assault cases had the unique problem that consensual sex happened in private and usually just involved two people in a room.
He said other crimes usually had more witnesses or evidence such as injuries or stolen items that could be tracked.
Professor Gans said the alleged victim’s word was the main evidence and that was harder to prove beyond reasonable doubt than all the alternatives available for other crimes.
“Ultimately, the trial is going to turn into a dispute between two people,” he said.
Professor Gans said this had an enormous impact on victims because for them, the crime wasn’t alleged.
He said victims retelling their account of what happened in court were often assailed by the accused defending the charges.
Professor Gans said this could involve calling the victim a liar or saying they were mistaken, had things wrong, were confused or things happened at different times.
“It’s especially hard to be attacked in that situation when you’re the victim of a crime,” he said.
However, buried in the statistics was that more people were coming forward to report sexual assault despite the small proportion of convictions.
Professor Gans said people were usually reluctant to report sexual assault to police and only really strong cases went to trial.
He said now people were coming forward even when the evidence was less clear.
“There’s a lot of beliefs out there that make it hard to prove things. Those beliefs are actually less prevalent than they once were and that’s coming through in juries as well,” Professor Gans said.
sexual assault helpline
Law Society of WA president Judy McLean said sexual assault cases were among the most challenging matters to prosecute.
She said the central issue was often whether consent was given, requiring a court to assess competing accounts of the same event.
While DNA evidence may confirm sexual contact occurred, it could not determine whether contact was consensual, Ms McLean said.
Misconceptions about how a victim was expected to behave or physical signs of assault could also complicate perceptions of these cases, she said.
“As a result, these matters often rely heavily on the witnesses’ evidence and the court’s assessment of competing accounts and credibility,” Ms McLean said.
“Unlike offences involving visible injuries or multiple witnesses, sexual assault matters may involve limited external evidence despite the seriousness of the allegations.”
Ms McLean said sexual assault proceedings could be highly traumatic and stressful for victims.
“Victims may experience a complex mix of emotions, including relief, frustration and disappointment,” she said.
“Anxiety is often heightened when victims have expectations or fears about the process which are not addressed at an early stage or where communication with the police or prosecutor is poor.“Victims may experience uncertainty and distress about giving evidence, particularly if they anticipate being subjected to gruelling questioning.”
She said courts had safeguards in place to prevent inappropriate cross-examination. “Victim support services and child witness services provide excellent assistance in explaining the process and managing expectations,” Ms McLean said.
