The Melbourne Flow Podcast - Episode 17 with Dr. Rachael Burgin - Fighting the "GAG" Law - a podcast by The Melbourne Flow Podcast

On this episode of The Melbourne Flow Podcast, I am joined by Dr. Rachael Burgin. Dr/ Burgin is a lecturer at Swinburne Law School and an Executive Director of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy (RASARA). She attained her PhD in 2019 from Monash University. Her thesis explored the ways that affirmative sexual consent has been adopted into law and translated into legal practice in rape trials.

In Feb 2020, the Victorian State Government passed a bill making it an offence for rape and sexual assault victims and survivors in Victoria to publish their own identities. This also applied to deceased victims - meaning if the grieving family wanted to go to the papers or social media with the story, they couldn't. Any victims and survivors who did take their story public with personally identifying information could of faced fines of up to $3,000 and potentially 4 months in jail. It was also an offence for others (including media) to publish the identity of a victim-survivor, or information which could lead to the identification of a victim-survivor.



Dr. Burgin in her role with RASARA, joined forces with Marque Lawyers, and End Rape On Campus Australia to successfully overturn the law through the  #LetUsSpeak/ #LetHerSpeak campaign (which was started by survivor advocate and journalist Nina Funnell).

On this podcast Dr. Burgin takes us through her journey, explains why this "Gag" law infringes on the rights of sexual abuse and rape survivors, and her involvement with the #LetUsSpeak campaign.

We filmed this podcast before the news broke today (Nov 18 2020) about the Gag Law being reversed! So.... A HUGE congratulations to RASARA, Marque Lawyers, End Rape On Campus and everyone invovled with the #LetUsSpeak campain on successfully overturning the Bill and reversing the "Gag" law!

To learn more about what RASARA is working on, check out:

RASARA.org



To learn more about the #LetUsSpeak campaign, check out:

rasara.org/let-us-speak

To support RASARA:

gofundme.com/f/stop-silencing-survivors

To learn more about the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey, check out:

www.anrows.org.au/NCAS/2017/home

The contents do not constitute legal advice, are not intended to be a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any particular matters you or your organisation may have.

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