In Queensland, for example, lawyers for the Women’s Legal Center and other activists have been lobbying the legislature to include victims’ rights in a bill that lawmakers are considering. In Tasmania and in the Northern Territory, a campaign called #LetHerSpeak aims to overturn state laws that make it illegal to identify a victim of sexual assault even if the victim consents. Systemic change is slow, and some women told me that they aren’t sure how much to expect from a male-dominated system that is insular and often overconfident in its own rectitude. “I used to work at the women’s center in Cairns in the ’80s, and one of the things I’ve found was that the women were always ostracized once they went into court,” Ms. “It didn’t matter if it was domestic violence, rape, or a mom trying to get custody of the kids.”

Source: New York Times March 01, 2019 23:15 UTC