Peak body for specialist sexual assault services, SASVic releases its top five priorities for this month's state budget.
Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) represents Victoria's 18 specialist sexual assault services. Each year, these services support nearly 20,000 people to recover after sexual assault, giving them a unique perspective on what is required from government.
Sexual violence is prevalent in Victoria, with the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency publishing an increase of 18.5% in sexual offence reports last year.
Frontline services are grappling with rising cases of technology-facilitated sexual violence and non-fatal strangulation, particularly among children and young people. They describe responding to harmful sexual behaviour in schools as facing a "tsunami".
The effects of sexual violence can be long-lasting and impact whole communities. Victorian specialist sexual assault services hope the Victorian Government will hear the public outcry for action and provide a much-needed lifeline in the upcoming Victorian state budget.
Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) is calling on the Victorian Government to meet the challenge by funding these top five priorities:
#1 Fence off the funding cliff Millions of dollars in funding - a quarter of the sector's funding - is set to end on June 30 2025. Kathleen Maltzahn, SASVic's CEO says, "As rates of sexual violence increase, we face uncertainty about basic funding. We need 100% funding certainty so we can plan for the future."
#2. Fund specialist services to meet the surge in demand by schools $600k to develop an emergency response to child sexual abuse and harm in schools in collaboration with the Department of Education Schools are crying out for support from specialist sexual assault services to respond to child sexual abuse perpetrated by adults, including teachers, and to respond to the crisis of children using harmful sexual behaviour against other children, driven in part by increased access to pornography. SASVic CEO, Kathleen Maltzahn says, "Specialist sexual assault services are receiving almost daily calls by schools desperate for help to respond to child sexual abuse and harm. We have the expertise, independence and trust of local communities to provide this support but not the funding."
#3. Invest in recovery $2.85m for a sexual violence recovery package Recovery after sexual violence isn't one-size-fits-all but services cannot provide the range of options research says is needed, due to the sector's limited funding model. As part of this package, SASVic is calling for:
$450k for SASVic to work with the sector to design a new funding model.
$1.5m to resource SASVic to expand the number of therapeutic and peer support groups available for different survivor cohorts.
$300k to increase accessibility and provide a range of interventions and modalities for people with disability.
$300k to set up an online 'Recovery Hub' for survivors of all forms of sexual violence, as well as their friends and families, and the wider community.
$300k to work with SASVic members and partners in the alcohol and other drug, mental health and criminal justice sectors to develop tailored and integrated programs.
SASVic's CEO Kathleen Maltzahn says, "SASVic conducted research, commissioned by the Victorian Government, that established what helps people after sexual violence - now we need to take the findings seriously and give survivors the best chance to recover."
#4 $1.05m to train legal professionals and police
Multiple inquiries have recommended that specialist sexual violence training be developed for lawyers, judges and magistrates to improve experiences of the justice system, which can be complex, intimidating and perpetuate myths about sexual violence. With 9 in 10 women choosing not to report sexual violence to police, it is vital that every Victoria Police member understands how to appropriately respond when someone makes the courageous decision to report.
Specialist sexual assault workers say that making the decision to report sexual offences to police is a significant and often difficult step, and often "instead of feeling supported, [victim survivors] were met with dismissive behaviour, abrupt questioning... when concerns were raised about the historical nature of the offence, the officer stated that there was 'no point' in pursuing the case because too much time had passed. The response left [the victim survivor] feeling guilty, ashamed, and at fault for even coming forward."
#5. Invest in understanding how we prevent and change the behaviour of perpetrators $1.6m to build capacity in men's behaviour change programs to identify and respond to sexual violence and improve data systems so we know which interventions work. For over half of those who have experienced sexual assault, it was perpetrated by a current or former partner, or date. Working together with men's behaviour change programs in the specialist family violence sector is critical to ending sexual violence. This month, the 'Inquiry into capturing data on family violence perpetrators in Victoria' report reinforced this, as well as highlighting that sexual violence services should be resourced to capture data, conduct research and evaluate programs to provide insight into emerging forms of sexual violence, and effective and efficient responses. This reinforces our calls for resourcing to evaluate our data and data system needs.
SASVic CEO Kathleen Maltzahn: "We urgently need to better understand how we can prevent sexual violence and change the behaviour of perpetrators. We need investment in data capture and research and to build the capacity of men's behaviour change programs to talk to perpetrators about sexual violence and find out what interventions work best for which groups."
The additional investment of these five priorities is a little over $6 million.
Kathleen Maltzahn: "Financially, what we're asking for is a drop in the ocean. Given how this will change Victorian's lives, it's surely the best - and easiest - investment the government could make."
About us:
Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) is the peak body for specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour (SA & HSB) services in Victoria. We work to promote rights, recovery and respect for victim survivors and other people impacted by sexual violence and harm. We seek to achieve this by working collectively to change the attitudes, systems and structures that enable sexual violence to occur.
