Social Policy Scrutiny Committee Inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Intimate Images) Bill 2017 March 2018
Tabled paper 650
Tabled Papers for 13th Assembly 2016 - 2020; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2018-03-13
Tabled by Ngaree Ah Kit
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
English
Tabled papers
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
application/pdf
Copyright
See publication
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/294464
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/396375
Examination of the Bill 35 were, the impacts of image based sexual abuse and what victims and perpetrators can expect might happen as a result of the new laws being introduced. We think it is really important there are information and support services for victims and that this type of information support is actually accessible for the diversity of victims of image based sexual abuse, as you have mentioned, Indigenous people, younger people, people with a disability and those from the LGBTIQ community in particular. We need to make sure police and victim support services are well resourced to be able to respond adequately both in terms of prosecuting and policing this type of behaviour, but also in responding to victims who come forward.87 3.72 The Committee notes that Dr Flynns comments reflect those made by the NTLRC which recommended that: Public education and awareness campaigns about non-consensual sharing of intimate images should be developed and implemented by appropriate offices such as the Childrens Commissioner and the Northern Territory Police to prepare and support adults, young people and children in relation to cyber-safety and the misuse of digital technology.88 3.73 In recommending an education campaign, the NTLRC also sounded a particularly salient note of caution: There is a risk that an excessive focus on educating individuals about the consequences of allowing sexual images to be taken could be harmful. Messages that focus on the risks that arise from consenting to the production of private sexual images are easily translated to the message that people who take such risks are personally responsible for the harm that may befall them. This obscures the gendered inequities of such offending and harmfully amplifies existing and out-dated cultural norms that blame women who experience gendered violence. Such an approach overlooks the fact that digital and online technology has been integrated into modern sexual life and implies that victims are responsible for the decisions of perpetrators committing this kind of offence. The position that it is a womans responsibility to manage such risk fails to take into account the spontaneous nature of sexual interaction and that such acts do not lend themselves to calculative rationality. The emphasis of an education drive should thus be on the need to not distribute the images that a partner has implicitly been trusted with.89 3.74 The Committee understands that the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice will be developing fact sheets explaining the new law and how it works, the civil and criminal procedural options that are available, and the resources that people can access, such as the eSafety Commissioner portal and the options. These fact sheets will then be provided to relevant departments and a range of non-government organisations.90 87 Dr Asher Flynn, Committee Transcript, 14 February 2018, pp. 8-9 88 Northern Territory Law Reform Committee, Report on the Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images, Report No. 43, November 2016, https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-nonconsensual-sharing-of-intimate-images, p.41 89 Northern Territory Law Reform Committee, Report on the Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images, Report No. 43, November 2016, https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-nonconsensual-sharing-of-intimate-images, pp.40-1 90 Ms Fiona Hardy, Committee Transcript, 14 February 2018, p.18 https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-non-consensual-sharing-of-intimate-images https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-non-consensual-sharing-of-intimate-images https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-non-consensual-sharing-of-intimate-images https://justice.nt.gov.au/attorney-general-and-justice/law/report-on-the-non-consensual-sharing-of-intimate-images