On Friday 28 March, Emily Maguire, Professor Michael Salter and Kathleen Maltzahn will explore approaches to sexual violence prevention at SASVic's free online event, facilitated by UK sexual violence expert Professor Fiona Vera-Gray.
Kathleen Maltzahn, CEO of specialist sexual assault services peak body SASVic, says, "Sexual violence is often overlooked in the broader conversation about prevention. This event will look at what works, where the gaps are and how we respond to the growing challenges we're facing."
The latest Victorian crime statistics show that sexual offence reports have increased by 18.5% in 12 months. Frontline specialist sexual assault services say that they are seeing increasing complexity, with rising cases of technology-facilitated sexual abuse and non-fatal strangulation, particularly among children and young people.
"Our members are receiving almost daily calls from schools needing specialist help when there's been a child sexual abuse incident. They are struggling to respond to the rising number of cases of children engaging in harmful sexual behaviour, often driven by exposure to pornography and family violence."
The event has drawn international attention with hundreds of participants expected to tune in from across Australia and beyond.
About the event
Date: Friday 28 March
Time: 10.45am - 12.15pm AEDT
Where: Online
Hosted by: Sexual Assault Services Victoria
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/preventing-sexual-violence-what-works-in-conversation-with-emily-maguire-michael-salter-and-kathleen-maltzahn-facilitated-by-fiona-vera-gray
Speakers
Emily Maguire is the co-author of Australia's first prevention framework, Change the Story, which is used by governments across the country to inform their violence prevention efforts and was previously the CEO of Respect Victoria.
Professor Michael Salter is the Director of Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at the University of New South Wales.
Kathleen Maltzahn is the CEO of Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic), Victoria's peak body for specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services.
Professor Fiona Vera-Gray is Deputy Director at Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University.
About us:
Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) is the peak body for specialist sexual assault (SA) and harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) services in Victoria. We work to promote rights, recovery and respect for survivors and other people impacted by sexual violence and harm. We seek to achieve this by working collectively to change attitudes, systems and structures that enable sexual violence to occur. SASVic members bring over 30 years of feminist practice and specialist expertise to the task of reforming system responses to sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviours.
Contact details:
Interviews and comment available.
Please contact Brett de Hoedt, Hootville Communications 0414 713 802 | brett@hootville.com
