#LetHerSpeak: Sex assault survivors Grace Tame and Alicia* team up for campaign

A woman who was abducted, tortured and gang-raped by Jamie John Curtis and a 16-year-old accomplice, before being locked in a car boot while her fiance was murdered is taking her own fight to be named to Tasmania’s Supreme Court.

GRACE Tame, Tasmania’s only female sexual assault survivor to have won her right to be named under repressive victim gag-laws, has offered her support and encouragement to gang-rape survivor Alicia* who this week joined the #LetHerSpeak campaign.

In 1986, Alicia was abducted, tortured and gang-raped by Jamie John Curtis and a 16-year-old accomplice, before being locked in a car boot while her fiance, Dean Allie, was murdered 30m away near Gretna.

Alicia is now taking her own fight to be named to Tasmania’s Supreme Court, a process that may cost up to $10,000.

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“I think Alicia is a champion, and I have her back every step of the way,” said Ms Tame, 24.

“Although these are less than ideal circumstances in which to be meeting, I couldn’t be more proud and more enthusiastic about working with another determined, brave survivor. We are now such a strong team, and there is so much positivity in what we are doing.

“It’s important to keep the momentum for law reform going.”

Ms Tame said that law reform had so far been a “slow burn”.

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#LetHerSpeak campaigners and survivors of sexual abuse Grace Tame and Alicia* in Hobart. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Ms Tame said she wanted other survivors to know that it should be their choice to come forward if they wished.

“Section 194K as it stands really fails victims,’’ she said.

“When they are silenced it gives power to perpetrators.

“When I went public I didn’t know what to expect or what the reaction would be to my story.

“But a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.”

Earlier this year, Attorney-General Elise Archer called for public submissions on Section 194K of the Evidence Act. Fifty-four submissions were received.

“This is a complex area of law reform, so it is important that the Government fully consider the information that has been provided,” Ms Archer said.

Alicia is represented by Marque Lawyers, who intend to file her application with the Supreme Court in coming weeks.

“It’s my story to tell, it should be my right to tell it,” she said.

Carol Allie, the sister of murder victim Dean Allie, has also praised Alicia’s courage in speaking out this week.

“I am so proud of her,” she said. “After all she has been through, she is a fighter.”

Curtis will be considered for parole on Friday.

Donate to the #LetHerSpeak GoFundMe campaign here.

*Not her real name