Australia has committed to strengthening its legal response to image-based sexual abuse in recent years, but many victim-survivors report it still fails to deliver meaningful outcomes. An RMIT expert explains the need for these systems to better engage with victim-survivors on stronger reforms.
PhD candidate Gemma Stevens:
"Centring victim-survivors lived experiences is essential if Australia is to deliver responses to image-based sexual abuse that are not just lawful, but genuine.
"Victim-survivors frequently describe the criminal legal process as replicating or mirroring the harms they initially sought redress for - namely shame, disbelief, and retraumatisation.
"They reveal a desire to not only be believed, but for that belief to be followed by some form of action or response. For example, the swift removal of images online, proactive and genuine apologies or a show of remorse from perpetrators, and meaningful consequences for perpetrators.
"Coordinated reforms are urgently needed across legal, policy, educational, and technological domains. These changes would include specialist police training, comprehensive consent-based education, and expanded access to alternative pathways for redress and support.
"The key question is not about whether a single 'correct' pathway to justice exists, but whether our current systems can meaningfully engage with victim-survivors' diverse and evolving interests."
Gemma Stevens is a criminologist and works as a research assistant at the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University in Australia. Gemma explores issues relating to image-based sexual abuse, sexual violence, AI and technology-facilitated violence.
Gemma will be conferred at the RMIT doctoral degrees graduation ceremony on Wednesday 13 May.
***
