Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner has welcomed the ruling in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial against Network Ten.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Anna Cody said that Justice Michael Lee had "dispelled damaging myths about rape and consent".
He had, Dr Cody said, "quashed the false notion that a victim of sexual assault must behave in a 'typical' way".
"Victims vary greatly in how they respond to a sexual assault, whether that be during the assault or afterwards," she said.
"As Justice Lee found, trauma impacts on memory and judges must be aware of how this occurs to assess the evidence fairly. Different ways of remembering an event, do not make evidence untruthful or any less reliable."
In his ruling, Justice Lee took pains to explain how trauma can affect people's ability to remember what might have happened.
He cited instants where Brittney Higgins was unreliable but also said, "trauma has a severe impact on memory by splintering and fragmenting memories".
Commissioner Cody did not refer specifically to Justice Lee's observations in his judgement, but she did say: "I welcome the Court's ruling for applying a trauma-informed approach to fact-finding and to assess the reliability and credibility of Brittany Higgins' evidence as to her state of mind."
Commissioner Cody said she hoped the ruling would "play an important role in helping ensure the safety of women".
"What we constantly hear when we meet with workplace sexual harassment victims is that 'there is not enough evidence' to prove guilt to a criminal standard in court," she said.
"But this finding shows that our understanding of sexual harassment is becoming more nuanced, which should assist in creating a fairer justice system."
Justice Lee also pointed out in his judgement that the legal definition of rape had changed from a previous one in which, as he put it, "the crime of rape required proof of physical force and resistance".
READ MORE:
He was focused on the current definition: "Our focus is on what rape means in contemporary Australia - not by reference to what it may have meant historically or may mean in the future."
Again, Commissioner Cody did not refer specifically to this passage in the judgement, but she did say: "The landscape in Australian workplaces is also changing.
"Last year's introduction of a positive duty requirement on employers in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 means businesses and organisations are legally obliged to take proactive and meaningful steps to prevent unlawful conduct from occurring.
"The Federal Court ruling is the latest statement that there is no place for such conduct, and no woman needs to put up with it."
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
