The Stop Gaslighting Survivors Campaign

The Stop Gaslighting Survivors campaign is aimed at removing the word "relationship" from the offence name and legislation body from the crime of persistent child sexual abuse in every jurisdiction. Currently, there are two jurisdictions yet to remove the word relationship from the crime of persistent child sexual abuse, SA and the NT.

Right now, 1 in 5 Australian children experiences sexual abuse, and perpetrators are protected by outdated and inconsistent legislation. Perpetrators of sexual violence operate in silence, secrecy and subtlety. Language matters. Specificity matters.

As Grace said in her recent speech at the Press Club: 

“The man who abused me was convicted of ‘maintaining a sexual relationship with a person under the age of 17’. 

In other jurisdictions this exact same offence was called ‘the persistent sexual abuse of a child’. The former implies consent, while the latter reflects the gravity and the truth of an unlawful criminal act committed against an innocent, vulnerable child-victim.

Language matters. And language which minimises, sanitises, or romanticises rape and sexual violence must be reformed. That’s why we are intending to change the offence to ‘persistent sexual abuse of a child’ across the country.

We will be working with Marque lawyers to lobby for structural reform, as well as working to dismantle the systems and institutions which oppress and gaslight survivors. This will include pushing for reform in the wording of the offence of ‘persistent sexual abuse of a child’.

SA and the NT still use ‘maintaining’ or ‘engaging’ in a ‘sexual relationship’. A child can’t consent. Softened wording doesn’t reflect the gravity of the crime, it feeds into victim-blaming attitudes, eases the conscience of perpetrators and gives license to characterise abuse as romance.

“Piece by piece we must correct the narrative and take control away from abusers who have for so long have sought solace in our systems and institutions that shield them from the full extent of what they’ve done.”

We must ensure that every state and territory adopts the best practice model by totally removing all language which sanitises the sexual abuse of children.