New laws to keep Victorians safe from sexual violence

New laws have been introduced to the Victorian Parliament to protect Victorians from sexual violence, based on the recommendations made by the VLRC in its 2021 report Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences.

The Justice Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences and Other Matters) Bill 2022 includes amendments that will adopt an affirmative consent model and provide better protections for victim-survivors of sexual offences.

The Bill includes laws to target image-based sexual abuse, which includes taking intimate videos of someone without their consent and distributing, or threatening to distribute, intimate images, including deepfake porn. It also criminalises stealthing, which is removing a condom during sex without the consentof the other person.

The Bill also includes new jury directions to address misconceptions in sexual offence trials and reforms to better protect the confidential health information of sexual offence complainants.