Project 113 Sexual Offences

The Law Reform Commission of Western Australia is currently examining issues including the definition of consent, the defence of mistaken belief in consent, the directions given to juries in sexual offence trials, our substantive sexual offences and their maximum penalties.

CWSW believes that there are several key areas in which the Code should be reformed that include:

Adopting an affirmative model of consent
Addressing intimate partner violence
Specifying objectives and guiding principles concerning sexual offending
Providing a comprehensive definition of consent that includes stealthing as a
circumstance in which consent is negated
Developing jury directions to be clear and understandable
Removing the operation of the mistake of fact defence.

Please see the CWSW submission here

The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians and first peoples of Australia. We recognise the impacts of colonisation and dispossession and the contemporary disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing is committed to working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men to end violence against their women and children in Western Australia.

The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing acknowledges the strength and resilience of adults, children and young people who have experienced family and domestic violence. We pay respects to those who did not survive and acknowledge the families, friends and communities who have lost loved ones to this preventable and widespread issue. We are committed to ensuring responses to family and domestic violence are informed by lived experience.

The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing recognises, welcomes and respects people of diverse gender, sex and sexuality. We are committed to greater inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people (LGBTIQ).