Sexual assault

What you can do if you experience sexual assault

After a sexual assault you can:

• report the assault to the police (although you can also choose not to)
• apply for a family violence intervention order if you have a relationship with the person who assaulted you
• apply for a personal safety intervention order if the person who assaulted you is stalking you.

An intervention order can order the perpetrator (the person who sexually assaulted you) to stay away from you.

Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) have local counsellors or advocates who can help you decide what to do, and work with you to help you recover from the effects of sexual assault.

What is consent?

Consent means you freely and willingly agree.

Under the law you are not agreeing to sexual penetration or sexual touching if you were:

• physically forced to do it or you feared someone else would be forced
• scared of what might happen to you or someone else
• unlawfully held, for example, locked in a house or car.

Under the law you are also not consenting if you:

• are asleep, unconscious or so affected by alcohol or drugs that you cannot freely and voluntarily agree
• are not able to understand that what is happening is sexual
• mistake the sexual nature of the act or think the person is someone else
• a condom is tampered with or removed without consent
• do not say or do anything to show consent
• believe that the act is for medical or cleanliness purposes
• if the person gives consent to the sexual act at first but then no longer consents. Any person involved can change their mind and withdraw consent at any time during sexual activity, even if they have previously said yes.

If you do not agree to the act, it is rape whatever the relationship between you and the other person. A man can be guilty of raping his wife or girlfriend.

Types of sexual offences in Victoria

Rape

Sex is considered rape if:

• someone sexually penetrates you without your consent and it occurs while either of the following applies to them:
  • they are aware that you are not, or might not be, consenting
  • they do not consider whether you are not, or might not be, consenting
• after you start having sex, the other person does not stop after becoming aware that you are not, or might not be, consenting
• a person makes you sexually penetrate (or not stop penetrating) them or another person or animal. It does not matter if the person being penetrated consents to the act. You must also consent.

Sexual penetration and indecent assault

It is against the law to force another person to take part in sexual penetration, including with animals. It is also against the law to make someone put an object into their vagina or anus, unless it is for a genuine medical or cleanliness purpose.

Indecent assault covers sexual acts other than sexual penetration, such as touching your breasts or bottom without your agreement.

Incest

Incest happens when an act of sexual penetration is done with a close relative. This can include a parent, step-parent, grandparent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or sibling.

It is also incest if you are under 18 and the person lives with your parent but isn’t married to them.

If you are forced to take part in incest against your will, you have not broken the law. Only the person who forces you has broken the law.

Sexual servitude (slavery)

Sexual servitude happens when a person forces you to be involved in prostitution (sex work) where you may:

• be being held against your will
• have to pay back a debt
• have been threatened, for example, with assault or deportation.

Sexual offences against children

These are offences that are committed against people under 18.

These include:

• sexual penetration of a child aged 12 or younger
• sexual penetration of a child aged between 12 and 16
• indecent act with a child under the age of 16
• continued sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16
• sexual penetration or an indecent act with a child aged 16 or 17 by an adult who cares for, supervises or has authority over the child. This may include a teacher, employer, foster parent, sports coach and other roles
• organising to get a child under 16 for sexual penetration or an indecent act by an adult
• organising to get a child aged 16 or 17 for sexual penetration or an indecent act by an adult who cares for, supervises or has authority over that child
• possessing and producing child pornography.

It does not matter if the child agreed to the act.

Exceptions

A person may not have broken the law if the child consented and:

• they believed the child was older than 16, and had a valid reason to think that
• the accused person was no more than two years older than the child
• the accused believed they were married to the child.

Sexual offences against people with cognitive impairment

Sexual offences can occur against those with cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment includes those with mental illness, intellectual disability, dementia and brain injury.

It can be perpetrated by those who:

• provide medical or health services to a person with a cognitive impairment
• work or volunteer for a residential facility, psychiatric institution, or supported accommodation or other service for intellectually disabled people.

A sexual offence occurs when this person:

It is against the law even if the person agreed to the act.

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