"Commission calls for overhaul of rape trials"

This morning I awoke to a Newspaper story that really made me want to cry with relief, as it is something that really is ahuge deal for New Zealand, and we are in desperate need of. The Law Commission of New Zealand have finally recognised that rape trials in this country are so extremly unfair and taxing on survivors that many women dont bother reporting, or following through with reports, I am one of them. The law commission has stated that how rape trials are carried out in this country are "brutalising and distressing victims, and the system must be overhauled".

I have been to counselling on and off for a while now, to more than one counsellor, all of whom have explained to me that if I was to go to trial, the process is often not worth it and moving on is the best step. So often the male sex offenders are found not guilty, especially in my case when it is a wealthy man, and the survivor comes out worse off than before. This has been a decision that has haunted me since the day I chose to make it, and to se it written on the front page that many of the senior lawyers in our country wouldnt advise women who have been raped to go to trial because of the harsh process they would have to endure and the outcome is likely to be against them, almost made me weep.

It saddens me that this is the advice women are getting, which is stopping women from reporting crimes against them, but it saddens me more that in many cases the survivors do not get justice. In most cases the survivor is the one who ends up on trial.

We are way overdue for this silencing and blaming of survivors to stop, and hopefully something big will come out of this inquiry. I finally have a little hope for the women of my country, that we will eventually be safe from the enabling of sexual abuse and rape and the silencing of its victims, which has gone on for far too long here.

Its only the start, but it is a big big thing in a place like this.