Survivors of sexual assault by strangers are demanding to be told the offender’s name and claim their human rights are being put behind the perpetrator’s.

Victims of Crime commissioner Fiona McCormack agrees with them that “we have a justice system designed around the rights of the accused with little regard to the rights of the victim”.

Cathy Oddie, a member of the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee and a survivor of alleged historical rape by a stranger, has been joined by the family of a 17-year-old girl allegedly raped in 2020 by a man she met on Snapchat in a campaign demanding victims be told their alleged attacker’s identity.

Cathy Oddie is demanding the right for survivors of alleged sexual assault to know who their attacker is.Credit:Eddie Jim

Ms Oddie is lobbying the Department of Justice and Community Safety for the name of a man she reported for rape after meeting him on a night out, but who returned to Europe before police finished their investigation.

She says he obtained her identity in police discussions and his friends (who were at the apartment where the alleged incident happened) went to her hearing at the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal. She began receiving hang-up calls soon after.

Her requests to learn his identity to ensure she never encounters him in life and he has no access to her online have been refused.

Victims’ rights should be given the same status as the rights of the accused.

Ms Oddie was told on May 28 by the Justice Department that the man’s name could not be released in part because the Charter of Human Rights states “a person has the right not to have his/her reputation unlawfully attacked” and ″⁣it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way that is incompatible with a human right”.

This put the rights of alleged offenders above victims and meant victims were unable to take adequate safety steps, Ms Oddie said.

“It creates a two-tiered system where if you’re ‘lucky’ enough to have been assaulted by someone whose identity you know, you’re going to get a whole lot higher level of protection, support, assistance and justice,” she said.

“Protecting potential risk to the perpetrator’s reputation should not supersede the human rights of a victim to access procedural fairness.”

Ms Oddie will raise the issue with Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes when the consultative committee meets with her next month. On Friday she contacted the Victorian Law Reform Commission to suggest it examine the issue.

Chairman of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, Tony North has said we are at a critical moment in the justice response to victims of sexual assault.Credit:Simon Schluter

Commission chair Tony North said a victim’s right to learn the identity of their alleged perpetrator in stranger sexual assault had not been examined as part of the current review into Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences but “we would be happy to consider it in future, if the Attorney-General asked us to review the matter in a future inquiry″⁣.

Ms Oddie wants alleged perpetrators' names to be provided for safety and legal purposes, not publication.

The mother of a 17-year-old girl who told police she had been raped at a railway station by a stranger who connected with her on Snapchat late last year backed Ms Oddie’s call and has commenced “discovery” court proceedings to attempt to learn the alleged offender’s name.

Grace (left) is the mother of Jamie, the alleged rape victim who is seeking the identity of the perpetrator via civil action.Credit:Penny Stephens

The woman, who cannot be named due to her daughter's age, said the family re-mortgaged its house to cover the legal cost. In that case the perpetrator said he believed he had consent and police did not have enough evidence to charge him.

“Eight months after my daughter’s rape, and no conviction because of the archaic consent laws in Victoria, we still do not know the identity of the perpetrator. The police know, but we do not,” said the woman, who wishes to have orders made to bar him from coming near the home.

Fiona McCormack, former CEO of Domestic Violence Victoria, now Victims of Crime Commissioner.Credit:Wayne Taylor

“We need to know who the offender is, we need them to have a name, to be a real person, so that my daughter feels validated that this happened, it was real, and it was wrong.”

Victims of Crime commissioner Fiona McCormack said victims’ rights should be strengthened and “in Victoria we have a Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities which sets out rights for an accused, but not for victims”.

“Victims’ rights should be given the same status as the rights of the accused,” she said. Victims of sexual assault should have access to any information that helps them keep safe and seek appropriate justice responses, whether civil or criminal.

Ms McCormack said technology was allowing perpetrators to find new ways to abuse victims and retain anonymity and “it should be easy for victims to report alleged abuse and get access to any information that is reasonable to keep themselves safe”.

A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokesperson said: “We know this can be complicated where criminal charges have not been laid and the identity of their perpetrator is unknown.”

He said Victoria Police could seek intervention orders on behalf of victims. “We’re carefully reviewing our civil and criminal laws relating to sexual offences and working closely with Victoria Police to achieve this.”

Ms Oddie said survivors’ needed the names for their recovery: “It’s really difficult to get closure and move forward from such a serious violent crime which has caused me so much harm and trauma when I am currently prevented from knowing who did this.”

”The police, the VOCAT the perpetrator and the perpetrator’s friends and family know the identities of all individuals involved in this case. As the person who has been violated so horrifically, why am I excluded from being allowed the same right to this knowledge?“

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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