NCJ Number
74354
Editor(s)
J A Scutt
Date Published
1980
Length
413 pages
Annotation
These edited proceedings of a National Conference on Rape Law Reform that was held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in May 1980 deal with substantive rape law reform, the law of evidence during rape trials, police and community issues, and the politics of rape.
Abstract
The American experience is recounted in an introductory paper by the drafter of Michigan's sexual assault legislation. The problems facing law reformers in Michigan in 1974, prior to the passage of the Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Act, are outlined. The paper analyzes the law passed to correct inadequacies of the prereform situation and evaluates the operation and effect of the new Michigan law. The Australian situation is addressed by a New South Wales solicitor who reviews proposals from the Royal Commission on Human Relationships, examines the Women's Electoral Lobby Draft Bill on Rape and other Sexual Offenses, and considers the possible local application of the Michigan legislation. Additional papers on substantive law reform discuss law reform and rape under the Tasmanian Criminal Code, reform of the law of the Australian Capital Territory which relates to rape and other sexual offenses, and marital rape and the South Australian law. Evidence laws and their operation, the role of the jury in rape cases, and the part played by the judge are covered in a series of papers that deal first with jury research and then with specific cases in Western and South Australia that were processed before and after reforms of evidence laws in those jurisdictions. Sociopolitical, police, and community issues are discussed in papers that describe the inadequacy of research into rape and rape law effectiveness, the role of the police, the work of the Sexual Assault Referral Center at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Australia, and the reactions of women following rape. A final section contains both a feminist and a politician's views of the politics of rape and rape law reform. The text of 16 conference resolutions, footnotes, and tabular data are given. Four appendixes contain workshop materials; the text of the Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Law and the Women's Electoral Lobby Draft Bill on Sexual Offenses; the Royal Commission on Human Relationships Recommendations in Relation to Rape and Other Sexual Offenses; the program from the National Conference on Rape Law Reform; and a selected bibliography of about 100 citations. For individual papers, see NCJ 74355-69. (Author abstract modified)