A child sexual abuse victim-survivor has welcomed plans to create a new criminal offense to punish people in positions of power for failing to protect young people from sexual abuse.
Key points:
- Legislation creating a new crime for not protecting children from abuse will be presented to the Tasmanian parliament this year
- The state penal code will also be amended so that consent cannot be used as a defense when an offender in a position of authority has sex with a child.
- The changes are recommendations of the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Attorney General Elise Archer will introduce legislation later this year that will make it a crime for people in leadership positions in child care organizations not to take sufficient steps to protect children from abuse.
Archer told the state parliament that he would also amend the Tasmanian penal code to introduce the presumption that people under the age of 17 could not consent to sexual intercourse when a person held a position of authority over them.
Under current law, consent can be used as a defense in some cases where the alleged perpetrator is no more than five years older than the young person over whom he or she holds a position of authority.
Katrina Munting, who was sexually abused by her teacher in the 1990s, said the changes were a step forward, but she was concerned that they were reactive rather than proactive.
“It’s a post-abuse response rather than preventative, but any progress is good progress in this space at the moment,” Munting said.
“In terms of criminals, they will not necessarily be discouraged by a change in legislation. They are not more likely to be caught doing what they are doing.
“It only makes a difference if it comes to light, if the victim-survivor can speak, and if it ends up in court.”
Katrina Munting says the new laws are a step forward, but she wants to focus more on preventing child sexual abuse. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Ms Munting said the new crime would make senior staff more responsible and hopefully better protect children.
“They get paid a lot to run these organizations, and that comes with the responsibility of knowing what’s going on at the grassroots level, knowing that your staff is informed, knowing that they’re working to protect children.” she said.
“It’s no longer acceptable to say, ‘But I didn’t know it.’
“And I think putting that extra level of responsibility on your shoulders, I think it eliminates a level of ‘out’ that some hierarchies use.”
Ms Archer said it was “absolutely clear” that there had been too many times when appropriate measures were not taken to protect children in organizations after concerns were raised about an adult.
“While reporting to the police may be one of the steps a person can take to protect a child, it may not be enough to reduce or eliminate the risk of abuse,” he said.
“Therefore, in some circumstances, it will be a crime not to take other available measures, especially if the risk is immediate and there are other steps available that will allow an intervention to occur more quickly.”
Attorney General Elise Archer has announced plans to change Tasmania’s penal code. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Archer said the changes to the penal code “will align criminal law with the expectations of the community and make it easier for children and young people to achieve justice through the criminal justice system.”
Law Society President Simon Gates said the proposed changes were key recommendations of the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, especially with regard to crimes of position of authority, crimes of non-authority. report and crimes of non-protection.
“The government’s initiative to try to implement the recommendations is supported, but we will have to wait and see what the draft law and precise wording will look like,” he said.
“Any amendment to the criminal law must be approached with caution and the royal commission acknowledged in its report that there is a risk of what they call a broad catch, which is that if the amendments are drafted too broadly Behaviors that are not intended to be treated as criminal conduct can be caught or criminalized, so that’s the kind of thing we’re going to look at when we look at the draft law. “
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