Gillen Review recommendations on Rape Myths: campaign launched

This week the Department of Justice launched an education campaign focused on busting rape myths. This is one of the Gillen Review recommendations, published in 2019, designed to address issues within the justice system when dealing with sexual offences.

The recommendation itself was focused on the fact that rape myths have two major negative impacts; they make it less likely that a person will report sexual violence, instead blaming themselves or experiencing shame, and if a person does report it has an impact on how a jury might perceive their evidence.

In 2021, WRDA were part of a working group that carried out substantial research for DoJ on which myths were most pervasive, and while it has taken a long time to reach this stage, it is a really positive development. The campaign, called Rape Myths = Real Harm, which WRDA will be sharing online in the coming months, is focused on the most common myths and those that are most damaging to justice. It directly addresses the myths and is designed to be shared.

Sir John Gillen is clear about how important this campaign is. He said: “These rape myths are outrageously outdated tropes that deny years of intensive expert research on how victims should or should not respond to traumatic and violent sexual attacks. I know from my experience in interviewing many victims and survivors in the course of my Review in 2019 that the presence of rape myths is one of the reasons that victims feel so helpless, ashamed and consumed with self-blame. They feed their reluctance to report to police, or engage with the criminal justice system, allowing perpetrators to escape justice and repeat their crimes.”