The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government is committed to protecting the rights of victims and survivors of crime, and ensuring that our criminal law describes the sexual abuse of children with the clarity, severity and condemnation that it deserves
Today I was pleased to see the House of Assembly agree to a Bill to modernise the language used by the Criminal Code in a number of sexual crimes, especially those involving young people, to better reflect the true nature and gravity of those crimes.
For example, the language used in the crime of ‘maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person’ in no way reflects the gravity of that crime and is an additional cruelty for the victim.
Our reform will rename this crime ‘persistent sexual abuse of a child [or young person]’ to better reflect the predatory and exploitative nature of the offending.
This Bill is the product of extensive consultation with the legal and survivor communities, and is another step towards exposing the realities of child sexual abuse.