Legal Representation for Sexual Assault Victims — Possibilities for Law Reform?

Abstract

In the past, Australian law reform often focused on improving the situation of sexual assault victims in the criminal justice system in order to increase the low reporting and conviction rates for sexual violence. Studies have shown, however, that the reporting and conviction rates for sexually motivated crime have remained low, and that victims who do report sexual assault continue to feel dissatisfied with the way they are treated by the criminal justice system. This article explores the notion of granting sexual assault victims the right to be legally represented when testifying as witnesses at trial in order to improve their experience with the criminal justice system. After considering different types of legal representation available to victims in the German inquisitorial system, it is argued that one form of legal representation, namely legal representation for victim witnesses, could successfully be implemented for sexual assault victims in the Australian adversarial criminal justice system.

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