#LetUsSpeak: Pressure mounts to stop proposed Victorian law that will gag victim’s families
A powerful coalition has formed to fight a law change in Victoria that would make it a crime to name murdered rape victims.
Victoria
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A powerful coalition of sexual assault survivors, grieving relatives and media outlets have joined forces to fight a law change that would make it a crime to name murdered rape victims.
The proposed ban would leave families, including those of Jill Meagher, Eurydice Dixon and Aiia Maasarwe, forced to obtain a court order to speak out about their loved ones and the circumstances of their deaths.
That process can cost families upwards of $10,000, despite in the case of those three women, their identities being well known.
Media outlets will also be forced to pull down years of online articles about these women, and similar victims, or risk prosecution and fines.
This week the proposed Bill will be debated in Victoria’s upper house.
The current legislation — known as the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act — does not prohibit the naming of murdered rape victims, or those who have died through other means, including suicide.
This is despite recent claims by Attorney-General Jill Hennessy and the Director of Public Prosecutions to the contrary.
In a significant development Country Court Judge Michael McInerney confirmed in a case on Friday it is not currently a crime to name murdered rape victims.
He declared existing restrictions on naming living rape survivors, “[do] not apply to a deceased person.”
But the proposed Bill would radically alter that, through the insertion of a new clause which would specifically prohibits the naming of deceased sexual assault victims.
The Government did not consult with grieving relatives before introducing the controversial change last month.
Jill Meagher’s mother, Edith McKeon took to social media to say she was “f--king fuming” and will “fight it”.
Her position is supported by other grieving relatives, including the father of murder victim Courtney Herron, and Chrissie Foster, whose own child took her life, following sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
While the Bill would include some improvements for living sexual assault survivors, the enactment of the gag law upon death would even trigger an effective erasure of their identities and advocacy work on their own eventual passing.
Nicole Lee, who spearheaded the #LetUsSpeak campaign in August – and has since fought to obtain a court order to be named as a survivor – said she “wouldn’t wish that process on her worst enemy, let alone a grieving family.”
“It was distressing, confusing, lengthy and traumatic,” Ms Lee said.
Ms Lee, who was abused by a former partner, is urging the Government to amend the bill, and freeze any changes which would affect the naming of deceased victims.
She is supported by various other Victorian survivors, along with newly minted Tasmanian Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, who was the original face of the #LetHerSpeak campaign.
The call to halt the proposed gag-law on naming Jill Meagher and other sexual homicide victims, is also backed by a powerful contingent of media outlets, who have jointly written to the Victorian Government, including News Corp Australia, ABC, SBS, Channel 9, The Guardian, AAP, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
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Nina Funnell is the creator of the LetUsSpeak campaign in partnership with Marque Lawyers, EROC Australia and Rape & Sexual Assault Research & Advocacy.