Madonna King: Why is it that so many young women don’t report being raped?

It’s the impact of the Bruce Lehrmann case that no one is talking about, where women will not report being raped because they might “become a Brittany”, and it must be addressed, writes Madonna King.

Sunday Mail columnist Madonna King. Picture: David Clark

Question: Why are young women not reporting being raped?

Answer: The Brittany Higgins effect - and it’s not her fault!

Read on.

Two decades ago, Brisbane GP Jo Skinner worked in a small town where she volunteered to do the forensic exams of women who had been sexually assaulted.

Dr Skinner carried a pager with her 24 hours a day, but in two-and-a-half years, she was only called six times.

“Given we know that nearly a quarter of women have been the victim of assault, I was shocked how few presented,’’ she says. Not one of those six women pressed charges.

Despite the millions of dollars poured into education, rallies and fundraisers, it seems nothing has changed. Late last year, Dr Skinner saw a teenager - let’s call her Melinda - in her clinic.

“She was clearly anxious and upset and I had to carefully probe to find out why she had presented. It turns out she had been enjoying a night out, had more to drink than usual and headed out of the venue with a man who had paid for her drinks. He then pressured her to have sex and while she doesn’t recall all the details, it was clearly non-consensual.’’

Brittany Higgins outside Queensland Parliament. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Dr Skinner says Melinda was both ashamed and distressed.

“I advised her I would do a full sexually transmitted diseases assessment and document the event in detail so that it could be used as evidence should she choose to press charges.’’

But it was Melinda’s response that worried her doctor - and should make us all stop and think.

“God no, I don’t want to become a Brittany,’’ Melinda said.

“God no, I don’t want to become a Brittany.’’

Is that the impact of the Bruce Lehrmann case we are not talking about? An environment where our daughters and nieces will not report being raped because they might “become a Brittany’’, who through no fault of her own could become subject to public scrutiny and ignorant commentary?

Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to raping Ms Higgins and the charge was ultimately dropped after an aborted trial, but Justice Michael Lee in a subsequent defamation proceedings found, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins.

Melinda could be your daughter, or mine. But what eats away at me is that, in any public discussion, the perpetrator still gets to steal the headlines.

Bruce Lehrmann and solicitor Zali Burrows in Hobart. Picture: Elise Kaine

Earlier this month, 23-year-old Teui “TC’’ Robati was sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting a woman at a bar. The incident was witnessed by former Bronco’s captain Patrick Carrigan, who intervened. Thank you Patrick.

Robati, an ex-NR player, admitted the assault - groping a 21-year-old’s breast at a Brisbane bar - only minutes after being found not guilty of two counts of raping a different woman in another incident days earlier.

In relation to the incident, the judge found Robati was “brazen’’ and “creepy’’ and the victim felt completely violated. “Your conduct demonstrates a very disrespectful attitude towards woman,’’ the judge said.

The court was told the New Zealand-born forward had “lost everything’’, worked in road construction now, and hoped to resume his professional football career.

He was only young, thrust into the limelight, and not equipped to handle himself appropriately, we were told.

And despite the guilty plea, and his “reprehensible behaviour’’ being admonished by the judge, he walked out of court, no conviction was recorded.

Apparently, Robati is ready to move on with his life.

One in five women have been sexually assaulted. Few will hold their assailant to account.

And Robati’s case, like many others, suggests why.

Former NRL player Teui 'TC' Robati outside the Brisbane Supreme Court. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“Why would any woman want the sordid details of a night out to be held under a magnifying glass in the public eye?’’

It’s Dr Skinner’s question.

“What were you wearing, how many people have you had sex with, how much did you drink?’’

And following that humiliation, so few assailants walk out with a conviction that stymies their future.

Meanwhile what happens to the victims; those young women who are courageous enough to take their perpetrator to court?

In a world that claims equality, something in this equation is very, very wrong.

“The problem with statistics is that they do not put a face on the individual victims, the women I am seeing in the surgery who experience the long-term consequences of assault,’’ Dr Skinner says.

“Women still feel disempowered by a system that discourages disclosure by making the process so difficult that they prefer to say silent. Who wants their sexual history, the clothes they were wearing, how much alcohol they drank placed under public scrutiny?’’

The Brittany Higgins effect. And we need to address it.

Originally published as Madonna King: Why is it that so many young women don’t report being raped?