Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) will host: Responding to the New Normal: Technology-facilitated sexual violence, a symposium in Melbourne featuring leading UK and Australian experts exploring how technology is enabling sexual violence and investigating how to tackle its rise.
Forms of image-based abuse or non-consensual pornography, including deepfake pornography, are presenting new and profound challenges for victim survivors and for the specialist sexual assault and specialist family violence sectors.
SASVic is the peak body for Victoria’s 18 sexual assault services. Their work with close to 20,000 adults, young people and children gives them a unique insight into how sexual violence is evolving.
“SASVic members told us they are seeing the influence of pornography across a spectrum of clients from children and young people to adult victim survivors,” says SASVic’s CEO Kathleen Maltzahn.
Sexual assaults are routinely recorded, and recordings distributed. Non-fatal strangulation, pervasive to mainstream pornography, is an increasingly common practice. Physical violence and denigration of women commonly portrayed in pornography is seen by many as a natural part of sex. Perpetrators of family violence are creating child sexual abuse material to use in coercive control against their partners.
Ms Maltzahn says the symposium is also an important opportunity to highlight the need for ongoing funding for SASVic in the lead up to the state budget, and to remind the state government of its long overdue commitment to deliver a dedicated sexual violence strategy.
“While we wait for a sexual violence strategy and action from the government in Victoria, the wide-spread and changing nature of technology is impacting on sexual violence and how we respond. This event, bringing together leading national and international researchers, policy makers and community-based support services to find solutions, is essential.”
The April 19 symposium will also see the release of a new paper on the impacts of pornography.
Speakers include:
Dr Fiona Vera-Gray
Fiona is one of the UK's leading feminist academics working on sexual violence and Deputy Director of the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University. She will share the findings from her new book, Women on Porn: One Hundred Stories. One vital conversation published by Penguin.
While in Australia she will be running a 6-day intensive short course with professionals working in the sexual assault sector covering topics such as sexual violence, child sexual abuse, intersectional framings and feminist theory.
Professor Michael Salter & Dr Delanie Woodlock
Michael is a Professor at UNSW and an expert in child sexual exploitation and gendered violence and Delanie is a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation and a feminist researcher with a focus on understanding and preventing men's violence against women and children. They will be joining us to discuss the policy and practice responses to child sexual abuse material.
Jackie Bateman
Jackie is an experienced leader of people and practice, a practitioner, consultant and trainer, with specialist expertise in working with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, using strength-based models and practices. She will be joining us to discuss the impact of pornography on children and young people.
Details:
Responding to the new normal: A symposium on technology-facilitated sexual violence
Friday April 19. 10am to 4.30.
Storey Hall, RMIT
https://events.humanitix.com/sasvic-symposium
Key Facts:
SASVic is hosting a symposium on technology-facilitated sexual violence on 19 April 2024 at RMIT Storey Hall.
SASVic's members work with close to 20,000 adults, young people and children giving them a unique insight into how sexual violence is evolving.
The symposium will feature leading UK and Australian experts, including Dr Fiona Vera-Gray, Professor Michael Salter, Dr Delanie Woodlock & Jackie Bateman from Kids First.
About us:
Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) is the peak body for Victoria's 18 specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviourservices in Victoria. Our members provide support to 20,000 survivors and young people a year. Together, we work to promote rights, recovery and respect for victim survivors and other people impacted by sexual violence and harm. We seek to achieve this by working collectively to change the attitudes, systems and structures that enable sexual violence to occur.
https://www.sasvic.org.au
Contact details:
Interviews are available with SASVic CEO Kathleen Maltzahn and speakers in the lead up and day of the event care of Brett de Hoedt of Hootville Communications. 0414 713 802 / brett@hootville.com
