By Bernadette Hehea
SYDNEY — This year's Reclaim the Night demands were presented on October 26, on the ground floor balcony of the NSW Parliament House. A range of speakers outlined the 1994 demands, as well as expressing personal opinions and sharing past experiences.
The speakers included Labor MLC Franca Arena, Barbara Killpatric, independent MP Clover Moore, Liberal MLC Marlene Goldsmith, Democrat MLC Elizabeth Kirkby and Margi Dawson, with Nina Puren of the Reclaim the Night committee as host.
Arena described domestic violence as a "lifelong nightmare". Sexual violence continues to be underestimated and under-reported. Recent statistics state that one in three girls and one in five boys will be sexually assaulted by the time they are 18 years old. In 95% of child sexual assault cases reported, the offender was an adult known to the child, 58% being a family member.
In 80% of reported adult sexual assault cases, the offender was known to the victim; 70% of reported sexual assault cases take place in a private home. However, many incidents of sexual assault are not reported so such statistics are by no means a true indication of the extent of sexual violence.
Barbara Killpatric addressed the issues of punishment and responsibility, referring to a comment made 10 years ago by Judge Evatt, who acknowledged that there was a problem but said that women needed to help men correct it. She spoke of the proposed Duluth model, which aims at changing the areas of the judicial system regarding domestic violence, making arrest of offenders the central aim. This model would be assisted by the collaboration of the police, women's organisations and the DAIP (Domestic Abuse Intervention Program).
Clover Moore discussed the judiciary, saying, "Sexual violence is not taken as seriously as it needs to be". She called for judges to be made accountable for personal
opinion. After recent comments by some judges, such as Justice Bollen's "it has been the experience of judges that women are prone to lie in sexual assault cases", the prejudice of the judiciary is clear. The attitude that rape can be acceptable under certain circumstances, or that it is not the man's fault, must be gotten rid of. Compulsory gender education of the judiciary should be introduced.
Marlene Goldsmith called for the re-establishment of a 24-
hour rape crisis centre and hot line, which was once funded by the state and federal governments but terminated in June 1993. The state government already gives $30 million dollars to assist women and children in dealing with sexual violence, but more is needed.
Elizabeth Kirkby called for more Aboriginal workers in legal centres. The legal system is not well understood by Aboriginal woman and children, and something must be done to make the system less threatening and confusing.
Margi Dawson described herself as a survivor of child sexual assault and adult sexual assault. She spoke of the use of children as witnesses in sexual assault cases. Adjournments of
two years in child abuse cases are common. Defence lawyers know that the longer a trial is delayed, the less likely that the child's testimony will be constant.
The Reclaim the Night committee made 5 demands on parliament: a national inquiry into sexual violence in the family home; full and continued consultations with women's organisations in planning and subsequent introduction of the Duluth model; compulsory gender education with full consultation and participation with concerned and appropriate women's organisations; immediate establishment of an Aboriginal women's legal centre and a rape crisis centre for Aboriginal women staffed by Aboriginal people; a review of laws of evidence concerning child witnesses in child sexual assault cases.