AUSTRALIA
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The Australian Royal Commission is specifically charged with, and limited to, institutional responses to child sexual abuse. As has been noted in a previous posting, there may be questions regarding just what constitutes an “institution” in the context of this enquiry.

One of those grey areas may well be the response of the judicial system. There are often cases where the general public feels that judges are out of touch with community expectations, especially concerning sentencing. There is also the issue of “revictimisation” resulting from how victims are treated in the court process, especially for child witnesses (see, for example, the book by S. Caroline Taylor, “Court Licensed Abuse: Patriarchal Lore and the Legal Response to Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse of Children”). Further, there have been concerns about which factors are included in variable sentencing for the same offence.

These are all valid issues for the Royal Commission…