Remove name protection for sex offenders

OPINION: I felt like my soul had been stolen. This was how one survivor has described her ordeal of a sexual attack.

This courageous woman was one of more than  1900 adult victims of sexual violence who took part in a two-year research project,  which looked into how the courts and support services catered to the victims of sexual violence.

The research, commissioned by the Women's Affairs Ministry, found that in many cases women did not report their attacks because they felt that justice would not be served on their attacker; a belief that is backed up by a worrying statistic that suggests just 13 per cent of reported sexual violence cases result in conviction.

The research shows that many victims found the ordeal of going through a trial made them relive the attack and that they gained little in terms of closure, with some high-profile cases seeing the alleged offender getting as much protection as the victim.

This and the low conviction rate mean that many victims are deterred from reporting their crimes and pursuing their attacker through the courts.

Last week, the Law Commission released its report on suppressing names of victims of sexual violence, which rightfully advocates the continuation of automatic name suppression. It acknowledges that sexual offences are a special category because of their highly personal and sensitive nature and that there is a need to protect the victim and the people around them. It also expresses concern at the low level of reporting.

However, in the same report, when considering name suppression for offenders, the recommendation is that judges should also take into account alleged offenders' high profiles, which could cause media interest and "extreme hardship" to the accused.

What about the extreme hardship of the victims, who are likely to wear the emotional and physical scars for the rest of their lives?

The removal of that protection for offenders in all cases, where it does not identify the victim, can send a powerful signal to the zero tolerance attitude that we should adopt as a nation towards sexual violence. It will go some way to encourage reporting and may even help to restore the destroyed souls.

Pansy Wong is Women's Affairs Minister.