#MeToo warrior Tracey Spicer ‘sorry’ after rape victims exposed by ABC bungle

Tracey Spicer admits she was ‘naive’ to have allowed private messages from victims to be filmed.

Journalist and author Tracey Spicer at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Picture: AAP

Tracey Spicer had the best of intentions when she set out in 2017 to bring the wave of #MeToo to Australia.

“Currently I am investigating two long-term offenders in our media industry,” she announced on Twitter. “Please, contact me privately to tell your stories.”

Then she was flattened by the deluge. Yesterday, the author and journalist said she was “truly sorry” and “gutted” that three victims who placed their trust in her had been left horribly exposed.

Currently, I am investigating two long-term offenders in our media industry. Please, contact me privately to tell your stories.

— Tracey Spicer (@TraceySpicer) October 17, 2017

A preview version of an ABC documentary had been circulated to media outlets that exposed their identities, and their experiences of rape, domestic violence and harassment.

Spicer told the National Press Club that she was not a producer of the documentary, but rather one of its “many participants”.

READ MORE: Bossy feminists are the new patriarchy | #MeToo — it was always going to end in tears | Farce of #MeToo trials by media exposed

She had agreed to take part in the program on the understanding that any information identifying victims who had not agreed to take part in it would be “blurred, redacted and de-identified”.

“The fact this wasn’t done is deeply distressing,” she said.

“I am truly sorry, and frankly I am gutted and devastated by what has happened.”

The three-part documentary, Silent No More, produced by Southern Pictures about the #MeToo movement in Australia, is due to air on the ABC on Novem­ber 25.

But a joint investig­ation conducted by news.com.au and BuzzFeed News found that disclosures made to Spicer by three women regarding rape, harassment and domestic violence were included in the documentary without the women’s consent.

The details were identified in footage that showed Spicer scrolling through the many #MeToo stories she had received. One of the women had since died.

Spicer said she had perhaps been “naive” to allow the material to be filmed. Any information that identified the women had since been removed, she said.

Spicer had already faced fierce criticism over her handling of the thousands of disclosures she receive­d from victims. She told the audience in Canberra on Wednesday that she had expected 12 to 15 responses when she put out her Twitter call. Instead, more than 2000 people shared their tales — which she said as a freelance journalist she had not been qualified to handle.

“There were a lot of flaws in this very patched-together system because­ of a tsunami of disclosures that I most certainly didn’t ­expect,” she said. “That’s why I feel devastated for anyone who didn’t hear back.” Spicer has parted ways with NOW Australia, an enterprise she helped to set up that promised to triage sexual harassment victims to counselling and legal support.

The ABC said in a statement that an early version of the documentary, commissioned by its Entertainme­nt and Specialist division­, was released “due to human error” to a small number of accredited media under embargo.

“The ABC sincerely apologises for any harm or upset this has caused them or their families,” the statement said.

“We removed the program from our media portal as soon as we became aware of the error.”

Southern Pictures said in a statement it was “devastated” by the error and apologised for any distress it had caused. Spicer urged journalists to pour their energy into stories about survivo­rs and structural change rather than focusing on conflict and “clickbait”.

The ABC has confirmed the documentary, which examines the voices of marginalised women, will air on Novem­ber 25.

Women’s Safety NSW chief executive Hayley Foster said disclosing the identities of survivors without their consent could be “extremely damaging”.

However, she did not want the incident to discourage the media from sharing the experiences of survivors, or people like Spicer trying to bring attention to the issue, because it was important in achieving change.

Instead, it was an opportunity to review the processes and safeguards in place to protect survivors.