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Victim-survivors need urgent reform to change the laws that silence them from reporting sexual violence. We’re calling on the federal government to:
1. Regulate how NDAs can be used
Change federal legislation to prevent abusers from using NDAs to silence victim-survivors
2. Change defamation laws
Reform laws to protect victim-survivors who report from defamation lawsuits.
“The NDA caused me harm, because when you silence survivors of workplace violence, you give power to their employer’s narrative”.
Gender-based violence is endemic in Australia. At least one in five Australian women have been subjected to sexual violence since the age of 15 and more than 40% of women have experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last five years. One in four women are victim-survivors of domestic and family violence.
Many victim-survivors are silenced or exposed to legal risks when they report domestic, family and sexualviolence. We’re calling on the government to make urgent reforms that stop silencing victim-survivors and make it safe for them to report.
Suing for defamation has become a widely used tactic used by alleged perpetrators to silence women who report domestic, family and sexual violence at home, work and elsewhere.
Victim-survivors are open to legal risk for telling their doctors, counsellors, employers and family about their experience.
The financial and psychological cost of defending a defamation lawsuit deters many victim-survivors from defending a defamation claim filed against them for speaking about the violence and abuse. This leads some victim-survivors to feel forced to retract their complaint, pay compensation to the perpetrator, apologise or sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
NDAs are used by 75% of lawyers settling sexual harassment matters and these NDAs often prevent victim-survivors from talking about what happened with anyone – including family members, counsellors and medical practitioners.
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