Victoria Police launches new podcast to tackle sexual crime

By David Sparkes
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
September 4, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-04/victoria-police-launches-new-podcast-to-tackle-sexual-crimes/8869792

Most victims of sexual crime never report their assault.

Victoria Police has launched a new podcast about sexual violence, aiming to convince more victims to report their assault.

The six-part series, called Unspeakable: Understanding Sexual Crime, is part of National Child Protection Week and tells true stories, featuring interviews with investigators, victims and their families.

Inspector Everett Moutsidis from Family Violence Command told ABC Radio Melbourne each episode would provide a glimpse into the work done by Victoria Police's Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Teams (SOCIT).

"What we're hoping is that through this podcast series we are going to be able to encourage more victims to report to police and just to challenge some of those common myths and misconceptions about [sexual] offences and child abuse generally," he said.

Inspector Moutsidis said he had been a police member for 34 years, but still found the episodes "confronting" and "powerful".

"The very first [episode] that is available as of today, explores the process of reporting to police and we hope that gives the community, in particular victims of sexual offences, a better understanding of what it involves as well as the support that's available to them," he said.

Although the podcast has been launched to coincide with child protection week, it also aims to encourage victims who suffered sexual assault as adults to come forward.

Victoria Police received more than 3,000 reports of sexual offences against children last year, although it said the real number was much higher.

The six episodes will be released weekly, each focusing on a different theme, including reporting of sexual offences, investigations, victim reactions, offender behaviour, online grooming and future strategies.

Victorian Centre Against Sexual Assault [CASA] forum spokeswoman Carolyn Worth was interviewed for episode one, and said the podcast could help victims feel more comfortable about contacting police.

"I think [the podcast] will assist people to at least think about whether they want want to report or not," she said.

"At some point, to be able to report, you have to feel comfortable about breaking your silence.

"So if the way you start to think about breaking your silence is listen to somebody else talking about their experience, I think that would be useful for people."

Ms Worth said the positive impact of hearing others tell their stories had been seen after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which led to an increase in victims contacting CASA.

She said there were a variety of reasons why so many victims chose not to report their abuse. Some had a tendency to deal with difficult situations alone, while others were unsure about whether the process would end well for them.

Other victims blamed themselves for their assault.