SASVic acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional and ongoing custodians of the lands on which we live and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded and recognise First Nations peoples' right to self-determination and continuing connection to land, waters, community and culture.
SASVic also acknowledges victim survivors of sexual violence who we work for every day. We acknowledge the pervasive nature of sexual violence, and the impact that it has on survivors and their communities. We celebrate the powerful advocacy of survivors that is changing systems and policy.
SASVic Member Update
Hi everyone,
Firstly, a very warm welcome to new CASA House Manager, Patsy McKay. It will be great to work with you, Patsy.
Thank you to the (many!) people who attended our Prevention Conversation - the recording is now out, for those that missed it. You might also be interested in our overview of the sector's primary prevention work - thanks to everyone who shared your work.
Our next event is our May 22 members' forum on sexual violence and older people. Members' forums are offered online and designed for you to participate in-person as a team. SECASA's Amanda Parkinson and Nadine Ramsey will share their fabulous work developing a comprehensive model to improve sexual assault services for older adults. Too often, older rape survivors are ignored - this Victorian-first program is helping to change that, and offers a specialist sector approach that could be replicated in other sexual assault services.
With the federal election near, our national peak body, the National Association of Services Against Sexual Assault (NASASV), has been campaigning. Having a new Executive Officer (Madeleine Clifford) is allowing us to be more active than ever before. Check out NASASV's election platform below. (And if your services isn't a member, consider joining.)
Finally, the Victorian state budget will be out on May 20, and now is a crucial time to intensify pressure on the government to fund our sector properly (among many other things). Every email to a local politician and every story about the difference our sector makes helps - see our campaign update below to see what you can do
In solidarity,
Kathleen
CEO
SASVic
Contents
Featured
SASVic publishes new paper, "Primary Prevention and Community Education within the Victorian specialist sexual assault sector"
A big thank you to everyone who tuned in to our "preventing sexual violence - what works?" conversation with Prof Fiona Vera Gray, Emily Maguire, Prof Michael Salter and Kathleen Maltzahn.
If you missed the event, you can now watch the whole conversation online.
We have also just published a new prevention paper!
Based on interviews with 12 practitioners from our member services, the paper outlines the primary prevention work that specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services do, highlighting our sector's unique skills and strengths as well as the barriers and challenges to doing this work.
You told us that specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services are receiving more requests from primary schools to deliver and support primary prevention activities, but that without an evidence-based sexual violence prevention strategy and dedicated funding, it is difficult for you to plan primary prevention, community engagement and education efforts.
How peak bodies and advocacy organisations are putting sexual violence on the agenda this election
As the federal election draws closer, national advocacy organisations are campaigning for our politicians to commit to action on sexual violence.
The National Association for Services Against Sexual Violence (NASASV) is calling for proper funding for specialist sexual violence services, a national sexual violence prevention framework and a national sexual violence workforce strategy.
Fair Agenda has launched its Fair and Equal Future campaign, asking candidates to pledge their support for asks in five key areas, including addressing sexual violence. You can search your seat to find out how candidates in your area have pledged.
In an open letter, No to Violence is calling on the government to fund the domestic, family and sexual violence frontline properly. They're also hosting an election forum next week - see the webinars section for more information.
The Working With Women Alliance is calling for targeted funding for sexual violence specialist services, with a focus on services catering to children and young people. They're asking for $228.6 million over five years to be allocated to sexual assault services targeting children and young people.
Women with Disabilities Australia is calling for funding for a disability-led gender-based violence working group to support the implementation of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.
Join us in calling for more investment in victim survivors' recovery
This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we've been amplify our campaign asks.
Last week, we put a spotlight on our Rights ask and next week we'll be highlighting the investment we need to give survivors' the best chance to recover. We're calling on the Victorian Government to:
- fund specialist sexual assault services at a rate equivalent to family violence therapeutic counselling
- work with the sector to design a new funding model
- resource the sector to expand the number of therapeutic and peer support groups offered by the sector
- increase accessibility through a rights-based access strategy co-designed by survivors and the sector
- fund SASVic to set up an online ‘Recovery Hub’
- fund SASVic to work with our partners in the alcohol and other drug, mental health and criminal justice sectors.
You can help to boost our campaign by emailing your MP or by sharing a de-identified story with us that demonstrates how one or more of these asks could make a difference to victim survivors. Please email comms@sasvic.org with your stories/case studies.
Advocacy & evidence
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to amy.webster@sasvic.org.au
New research amplifies the voices of victim survivors of harmful sexual behaviour
Harmful sexual behaviour can be as harmful to victim survivors as adult-perpetrated abuse, new research by the AVA Project has highlighted.
Based on interviews with 25 victim survivors, the project's first journal article found most harmful sexual behaviour described by the participants involved victimising intent and physical coercion or violence. Negative psychological and relational impacts, including suicidality and inability to form meaningful relationships, were common among participants.
The article ends with a new proposed model for understanding safe, problematic and harmful sexual experiences.
In addition to the journal article, a new knowledge translation brief compiles messages from survivors, including their insights about system reform across media, health, specialist sexual assault services, and more.
The AVA Project stands for Amplifying the voices of victim-survivors: Advancing the harmful sexual behaviour evidence base.
Childlight's latest Searchlight report shines a light on financial networks behind CSEA
Child sexual abuse and exploitation, or CSEA, is a multi-billion dollar industry. From organised crime networks on the dark web to mainstream technology companies, Childight's latest Searchlight report uncovers who is profiting from these crimes and how. Some interesting findings highlighted across the eight studies in the report include:
- Social media companies benefit financially from technology-facilitated CSEA, as advertising revenue is linked to the number of people using their platforms, including for nefarious purposes.
- Crime organisations perpetrating CSE often have sophisticated business models and corporate-like structures.
- Worldwide, about five attempts to access webpages with CSAM are successfully blocked every second.
- Men who sexually offend against children are more likely to engage in certain online behaviours than non-offenders, including online shopping, dating, gaming, purchasing pornography and owning cryptocurrency.
- Men who sexually offend against children are more likely to use dating apps than non-offenders, often targeting single mothers.
Why men often don't tell anyone about sexual abuse
Shame, guilt and concerns about not being masculine enough can prevent men and boys from disclosing experiences of sexual assault, a new systematic literature review has confirmed.
The researchers considered 69 studies from 23 countries to understand barriers preventing men and boys from disclosing their sexual trauma. They found that, across cultures, sexual assault was experienced as a violation of masculine norms, such as being physically strong, dominant and self-reliant. Myths about male sexual assault, such as that men can't be victims of sexual assault or only gay men are sexually assaulted, also contributed to men's reluctance to disclose, as did fear of being mocked or disbelieved.
The researchers recommend increasing public awareness of the prevalence and impacts of sexual trauma among boys and men, as well as further investment in services that support male survivors.
Government inquiry highlights need to improve data collection
We need better data collection on sexual violence perpetration, a Victorian Government inquiry has found.
The final report of the Inquiry into capturing data on family violence perpetrators in Victoria was released last week. It highlights the "opportunity" to "resource sexual violence services" to collect data, conduct research and evaluate programs "to provide insight into emerging forms of sexual violence (such as image-based sexual abuse and generative AI), pathways into the use of sexual violence (for example, pornography use, non-fatal strangulation) and effective and efficient responses."
It also recommends that the government consult with our sector to implement a whole-of-government approach to better understand the co-occurence of sexual and family violence.
SASVic was invited to give evidence to this inquiry, alongside SAFVC and Mallee Sexual Assault Unit.
You can read more of our thoughts on this report and how it ties in with our campaign on LinkedIn.
Women international students suffer alarming rates of sexual violence
A recent survey of 1,491 women international students has found 40 per cent had experienced at least one incident of sexual violence since arriving in Australia. The most common type of sexual violence was sexual comments or harassment (30.5 per cent), and almost one in five participants (or 17.9 per cent) had experienced forced or coerced sex.
Students experiencing financial stress, housing insecurity or low social support were more likely to say they'd experienced sexual violence.
A previous study by the same researchers interviewed 30 international students about their experiences seeking help after sexual or intimate partner violence. It found support from tertiary education providers was "mixed" and barriers such as cost and service ineligibility prevented victim survivors from accessing support outside of their education provider. The study did not mention specialist sexual assault services.
This underscores the importance of promoting the message that our services are for everyone.
Prevention
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to jaeme.opie@sasvic.org.au
New discussion paper: increasing access to pleasure and consent for women and gender diverse people with disabilities
Women with Disabilities Victoria is developing resources to help health practitioners talk to women and gender-diverse people with disability about pleasure and consent. A new discussion paper reviews what is known about the intersection of gender, disability, pleasure, consent and violence prevention. It highlights that "denying the possibility of pleasure in sexual relations, especially for women, has a negative impact on their active negotiation of safer sex."
Our Watch launches 'This is Prevention' campaign
Our Watch has launched a new video series and resource kit to help community-led organisations spotlight the value of primary prevention. These resources are intended to showcase the breadth and value of prevention initiatives nationwide, supporting government and the general public to understand what prevention actually looks like and why it is so important. The This is Prevention toolkit includes social media assets, MP engagement tips, and email banners — designed to promote your work and support sustained investment in prevention.
Our Watch has developed the following resources to support organisations to participate in this campaign:
Legal policy
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to jacqueline.bell@sasvic.org.au
Other news
Follow SASVic for more updates.
Workforce training
Keep up to date with training and event opportunities for the sector by visiting the SASVic Training Page
Webinars and events
Please check with your manager before registering, where appropriate.
Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil
The Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil will take place on Wednesday 7 May 2025, National Family Violence Remembrance Day, led by survivors and advocates.
Date: Wednesday 7 May 2025
Time: 6 - 6.45pm
Location: Family Violence Memorial Gardens, East Melbourne
Resources and links
SASVic and member details
SASVic organisational structure with staff names and positions
Specialist Sexual Assault Sector Map
Here is a map that helps people find their local specialist sexual assault service.
National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence
SASVic is a member of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Assault (NASASV).
Acronyms
Here is a list of acronyms. Please let us know if you've discovered any more we should add.
FVSV Knowledge Hub
The Family Violence Sexual Violence Knowledge on is a one-stop shop for practitioners, program managers, policymakers and funders to access the latest research, resources, case studies, webinars and training opportunities.